Sunny Boy Cereal facts for kids

Sunny Boy Cereal is a porridge or hot cereal made of wheat, rye, and flax, produced in Camrose, Alberta, Canada. Sunny Boy Cereal is often consumed with the addition of brown sugar and cream.

The makers of Sunny Boy Cereal produce a variety of other products as well including conventional and organic flours, pancake mixes and additional grain based food products.

History

1926

Two brothers, Walter and Edgar Byers, moved to Camrose, Alberta from Nova Scotia and started Byers Flour Mills.

1929

Byers Flour Mills developed a new hot cereal using locally grown wheat, rye, and flax and called it Sunny Boy Cereal.

1991

Byers Flour Mills was sold to the Alberta Wheat Pool and the plant operated under the name "Prairie Sun Grains".

1998

The Alberta Wheat Pool merged with the Manitoba Wheat Pool to form Agricore Cooperative Ltd.

2000

Agricore sold the Prairie Sun Grain and Sunny Boy brands to Calgary food broker Pat Maloney. The sale did not include the mill but Maloney continued to use the facility until a new mill owner is found.

2003

In June, Prairie Sun Grains 2000 Ltd. and Camrose Milling Company Inc. were placed in receivership.

2003

New owners Jim, Elmer, Larry and Randy Schroeder took possession of the Camrose mill and Sunny Boy brand in December. The company operated under the name Schroeder Milling Ltd.

2007

Patricia and Brad Shapka purchased the Sunny Boy brand and the Camrose mill. Sunny Boy Foods Ltd. of Edmonton is created.

Packaging

Over the years, the packaging of Sunny Boy Cereal for retail sales has evolved.

The original iconic cardboard box was updated when it became necessary to show both imperial and metric weights on all packaging and again when imperial weights from packaging were removed completely. Eventually cardboard boxes were replaced by resealable plastic pouches.