At one time, Grape-Nuts was the seventh-most popular cold breakfast cereal, but sales declined as Post was sold from one company to another. Around 2005, it held less than 1% of the market. In 2004, the formula was changed. Prior to that change, the mills spat out the husks for cattle feed. After 2004, the husks were put into the "nuts" so Grape Nuts could be sold as "whole grain." This roughened the cereal's texture and detracted significantly from mouthfeel.I remember when they made that change to the formula. That was the year I stopped eating Grape-Nuts. Prior to that, it had been a favorite of mine. Kind of like the horrible changes they made to Hydrox cookies when they started using lard in the frosting which changed the texture and mouthfeel. Two wonderful childhood favorites gone just like that.In 2009, Jennifer Marchant, marketing chief, said "Men aspire to it. It's strong and stern, the father figure of cereals. It tends to break your teeth sometimes."
Not all Grape Nuts loyalists welcome the focus on maleness in 2009. Sylvie Dale, 38, an editor in New Jersey, and a woman, said: "The rhythmic crunching that reverberates around your skull could be ambient sound meditation. To have the patience to get through a bowl, you have to practice mindfulness. I have a special place in my heart for this cereal."
With all the wokeness these days, I wonder if they can still pitch it as a "male" cereal. Maybe now it's branded as a CIS-Gender heterosupremacist/racist patriarchal cereal. Or something like that.
when I eat Grape-Nuts, I pour on the milk, not too much mind you, and then microwave it, just enough to heat it a bit to slightly soften the nuts. It’s a balancing act between still slightly crunchy and soggy.