Sunny Boy Cereal
Sunny Boy Cereal is a porridge or hot cereal made of wheat, rye, and flax, produced in Camrose, Alberta, Canada. Two variations of the cereal are now available - regular and organic. Sunny Boy Cereal is often consumed with the addition of brown sugar and cream. It is also used in many recipes, including Sunny Boy muffins.
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 move to Camrose, AB. from Nova Scotia and start Byers Flour Mills.
- 1929
- Byers Flour Mills develops a new hot cereal using locally grown wheat, rye and flax. They call it Sunny Boy Cereal.
- 1991
- Byers Flour Mills is sold to the Alberta Wheat Pool and the plant operates under the name "Prairie Sun Grains".
- 1998
- The Alberta Wheat Pool merges with the Manitoba Wheat Pool to form Agricore Cooperative Ltd.
- 2000
- Agricore sells the Prairie Sun Grain and Sunny Boy brands to Calgary food broker Pat Maloney. The sale does not include the mill but Maloney will continue to use the facility until a new mill owner is found.
- 2003
- In June, Prairie Sun Grains 2000 Ltd. and Camrose Milling Company Inc. are placed in receivership.
- 2003
- New owners Jim, Elmer, Larry and Randy Schroeder take possession of the Camrose mill and Sunny Boy brand in December. Company operates under the name Schroeder Milling Ltd.
- 2007
- Patricia and Brad Shapka purchase the Sunny Boy brand and the Camrose mill. Sunny Boy Foods Ltd. of Edmonton is created.
Packaging
Over the years, 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.