Red River Cereal

The Red River Cereal is a porridge, or hot cereal, made with a blend of cracked wheat, rye, and brown flaxseeds that was first created in 1924 in Manitoba, Canada and patented in 1929.[1] In July 2022, Arva Flour Mill announced it had acquired the brand from a subsidiary of J.M. Smucker Co.[2]

History

1924-2009

Created in 1924, it was initially manufactured by the Red River Grain Co.[3] In 1928, manufacturing was taken over by Maple Leaf Milling Co.[4] The cereal takes its name from the Red River of the North, more specifically the valley surrounding Winnipeg. The Red River brand name was acquired in 1995 by Robin Hood Multifoods, Inc. of Markham, Ontario, part of the Smucker Foods of Canada Co.[5]

Smucker's, the new owner of the brand, then made a decision to withdraw Red River Cereal from the US retail market,[6] making Red River available in the United States only through mail order and internet sales.

2010-2019

On 24 September 2011, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued an allergy alert[7] that the 1.35 kg size of the product sold in Canada contained undisclosed soy, one of the nine most common food allergens.

Voluntarily, the manufacturer temporarily removed the product from the marketplace. The packaging was altered to include a warning about the presence of soy.[8][9]

On 18 November 2014, following the recall of the product, the recipe was altered and the ingredients list became: "Steel-cut Wheat, steel-cut Rye, cracked and whole Flax. May contain Barley, Mustard, Oat, Sesame seed, Soybean, and Triticale ingredients" [5].

Imported by Smucker Foods of Canada Corp., Red River cereal was re-labelled as a product of the United States.

2020-present

Then in mid-2020, near the beginning of the CoViD-19 pandemic, Red River Cereal was no longer distributed in Canada, but was rumoured to be available by November 2020 after packaging changes were made. However, in March 2021, Smucker's announced that production of Red River Cereal had ceased entirely.[10][11]

On July 19, 2022, it was announced Arva Flour Mills, North America’s oldest continuously operating commercial flour mill based in Arva, Ontario, was acquiring the Red River Cereal brand (RRC) from Smucker Foods of Canada Corp., a subsidiary of The J.M. Smucker Co. Officially acquiring the historic cereal brand on June 1, 2022, it plans to launch RRC later this month at their onsite retail store and their website. Further plans to distribute the brand into other retail locations are projected for later in 2022.[12]

References
  1. "Gertrude Skilling Kavaner and The Invention of Red River Cereal". redriverbreakfastcereal.blogspot.com. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  2. "Arva Flour Mills Announces Acquisition of Red River Cereal Brand from The J.M. Smucker Co". Business Wire. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  3. "Hearty breakfast cereals basic to multigrain bread". Edmonton Journal. 16 April 1986. p. 38. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  4. "Maple Leaf Milling Co. Takes Over Manufacture Red River Cereal". Edmonton Journal. 17 November 1928. p. 26. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  5. Drinkwater, Rob (7 December 2011). "Red River cereal returning after label change". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  6. "Red River Cereal Discontinued (USA only)". Canada's Food. Canadasfood.com. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  7. "Allergy Alert: Undeclared Soy in Red River Brand Hot Cereal". Canadian Food Inspection Agency. 24 September 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  8. Drinkwater, Rob (7 December 2011). "Dec 2011: Red River cereal returning after label change". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  9. "Red River will return to shelves, but faces challenge". CTVNews. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  10. "Smucker's tweet". Twitter. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  11. "Smucker's tweet". Twitter. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  12. "Arva Flour Mills Announces Acquisition of Red River Cereal Brand from the J.M. Smucker Co".
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