Red River Cereal facts for kids

Red River Cereal is a type of hot breakfast cereal, like oatmeal. It's made from a mix of cracked wheat, rye, and brown flaxseeds. This special cereal was first created in 1924 in Manitoba, Canada. It was officially patented in 1929. In July 2022, a company called Arva Flour Mill announced they had bought the brand.

The Story of Red River Cereal

How It Started (1924-2009)

Red River Cereal was first made in 1924 by a company called Red River Grain Co. A few years later, in 1928, Maple Leaf Milling Co. took over making it. The cereal got its name from the Red River of the North, which flows through the valley around Winnipeg, Canada.

In 1995, another company, Robin Hood Multifoods, Inc., bought the Red River brand. This company was part of Smucker Foods of Canada Co.. After Smucker's became the owner, they decided to stop selling Red River Cereal in regular stores in the United States. People in the US could only buy it online or by mail.

Changes and Challenges (2010-2019)

On September 24, 2011, there was an important alert from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. They found that some packages of the cereal sold in Canada had soy in them, but it wasn't listed on the package. Soy is one of the most common things people are allergic to.

Because of this, the company temporarily stopped selling the product. They changed the packaging to clearly warn people about the soy.

Later, on November 18, 2014, the recipe for Red River Cereal was changed. The new ingredients list included: "Steel-cut Wheat, steel-cut Rye, cracked and whole Flax. May contain Barley, Mustard, Oat, Sesame seed, Soybean, and Triticale ingredients."

Red River Cereal, which was imported by Smucker Foods of Canada Corp., was later labeled as a product made in the United States.

A New Chapter (2020-Present)

In mid-2020, around the start of the CoViD-19 pandemic, Red River Cereal was no longer sold in Canada. There were rumors it would return in November 2020 after some packaging changes. However, in March 2021, Smucker's announced that they had stopped making Red River Cereal completely.

Then, on July 19, 2022, exciting news came out. Arva Flour Mills, which is North America’s oldest flour mill, announced they were buying the Red River Cereal brand. They bought it from Smucker Foods of Canada Corp. Arva Flour Mills officially took over the brand on June 1, 2022.

They planned to start selling Red River Cereal again later that month at their own store and on their website. They also planned to sell the cereal in other stores later in 2022. As of August 2025, the cereal is available again.