Wednesday, September 26, 2018

I want my Maypo; I hope I'm not alone in that.

 

     Lance Archibald is a 21st century CEO with all the right credentials: Harvard Business School, of course, via BYU, where he played basketball. He worked at Snapfish and Logoworks before joining his current cutting edge transformative technology company, Homestat Farm, turning abandoned urban industrial spaces into hydroponic gardens growing organic, artisanal produce for ...
     Just kidding: Homestat Farms owns Maypo, the 68-year-old hot cereal, which is why I sought him out. I've been shoveling warm, delicious Maypo Instant Maple Oatmeal into my eager maw for over half a century.
     Maypo had disappeared from shelves at my local Sunset Foods. Must be a restocking issue, I told myself. The intense, cult-like popularity of classic, comforting Maypo must make it difficult to keep in stock.
     But time passed, and nourishing, nostalgic Maypo wasn't returning. I did something completely out-of-character: I asked a manager at Sunset to stock the stuff. "If you carry it, I'll buy it," I promised.
     So — mirabile dictu — they did. A dozen boxes appeared on the shelf. I bought one, enjoyed a bowl the way I like it, doctored with wheat germ, bran and a tablespoon of real maple syrup to enhance the maple effect.
     But I can only eat so much. The rest of those boxes just sit there, reprimanding me. I feel responsible for Maypo, though I'm really not. Lance Archibald is. How did he get himself into this predicament?
     "I bought this business about four and a half years ago from a gentleman in his late 60s, looking to retire," Archibald, 44, told me. "When I looked at this business, I saw a category, the hot cereal category, that is growing, due to health trends, as people get away from cold cereal. I saw this brand, these brands — we also own Wheatena and Maltex — that have a really passionate customers base."

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13 comments:

  1. I can't find that anywhere either. And the maple flavored instant oats aren't the same. In the meantime, Maltomeal will have to do. Or one can add maple syrup to the plain oats.

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  2. Sorry, can't join you in your crusade for Maypo. I can't say for sure, but I think my usual breakfast is healthier and cheaper than yours. Almost every day, I eat brown rice with a little skim milk, a bunch of fruit, usually grapes (one grape per mouthfull of rice) and three heaping spoonfuls of Greek yogurt. Occasionally, I eat oatmeal, but it's more trouble and less satisfying. If I'm too lazy to make rice, I eat Cheerios with the same milk, grapes and yogurt. And as filling as these breakfasts are, there's usually room for a cup of coffee and a nice chocolate donut an hour or so later. So, sorry again, no Maypo for me.

    john

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    1. Sounds good, John, except there is a lot of sugar in grapes. Melon or blueberries might be a good alternative on occasion:)

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    2. Sandy, I go for the blueberries when they're 2 for 1, but they do spoil quickly.

      john

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  3. You can get 12 boxes for $50 from AMZN, delivered straight to to your door. I'm not a big fan of online shopping - I like to support my locals, but many stores are making life head that way.

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  4. Maypo is good stuff, but I'm a Malt-O-Meal guy myself, and I considered myself extremely lucky to have had excuses to travel through Northfield, Minnesota, where my niece was an undergrad at Carleton College. Northfield is where they make the stuff.

    To reach the town and the campus, you have to leave I-35 at Exit 69 and head east for seven miles on State Route 19...which takes you right past the plant where Malt-O-Meal is produced. I would open the windows and let that wonderful smell fill my vehicle as I drove past...even in a frigid Minnesota winter. Never had the chutzpah to stop in and ask for free samples, though.

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    1. Went to high school in Niagara Falls, Canada, close to a baby food factory that wafted its pungent barley smell throughout the area when the wind was blowing from the right direction. Lived in Milwaukee a few years later and smelled the very same odor...coming from a Miller brewery.

      john

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  5. Woodman's has Maypo. Leave your VISA at home, they won't accept it. Bonus points for them-bulk candy station has Dad's Root Beer barrels.

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  6. I've always been a Coco Wheats person. It was the only chocolate breakfast item that my mom would allow. Malt-O-Meal is pretty good too, but I could never get into maple flavored cereal. Maple syrup on pancakes or waffles? Yum. Not in anything else.

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  7. Maybe if Maypo had more maple flavor it would have sold better.

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  8. you can buy some Maypo right here: https://homestatfarm.com/products/maypo-instant-maple-flavored-oatmeal

    that's the manuf. site Nikki, yes Coco Wheats or Farina is good too

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  9. My memories are not as fond when it comes to oatmeal. That may be since I had it day after day for breakfast during junior high and high school. I recall having a dream where I wound up in Hell. Like Sisyphus, I had one task but I could never complete it. I was at the bottom of a giant bowl of oatmeal and by the time I ate my way to the top someone always poured another large ladle of oatmeal on top of me so I had to start all over again.

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  10. The only oatmeal I eat is in my home made milk chocolate macadamia nut cookies. 😊

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