Rice Krispies. Never running out has a price.
A quieter bowl of Rice Krispies opens a bigger question: what gets lost when a product can be made from anywhere? Huw traces the trade between a dependable supply and the particular thing you grew up with.
THE GIST ON RICE KRISPIES
What changed in the bowl?
Huw describes Kellogg’s moving from grains of rice to a blend of rice and corn flour after poor harvests in Spain. The change reaches beyond the ingredients: the familiar snap, crackle and pop can change too.
Why does a blend change the supply?
A grain is a particular thing grown in a particular place. Huw contrasts that with flour that can be milled from rice sourced in different countries and blended with other ingredients. The aim is a product that can keep reaching the shelf when a particular harvest cannot.
What is the price of never running out?
The brand can remain familiar while the thing inside becomes less particular. Huw’s question is whether reliable availability quietly trades away the qualities that made a product recognisable in the first place.
Quick answers
What changed in the bowl?
Huw describes Kellogg’s moving from grains of rice to a blend of rice and corn flour after poor harvests in Spain. The change reaches beyond the ingredients: the familiar snap, crackle and pop can change too.
Why does a blend change the supply?
A grain is a particular thing grown in a particular place. Huw contrasts that with flour that can be milled from rice sourced in different countries and blended with other ingredients. The aim is a product that can keep reaching the shelf when a particular harvest cannot.
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