You Won't Believe How Much Rice Is Used Each Year Just For Fruity Pebbles
If you are a '90s baby, you are likely familiar with Fruity Pepples — the colorful, rice-based, fruit-flavored cereal that has been bringing joy to children and adults alike since 1971, according to Post Consumer Brands. About 55 million boxes of the Flintstones-inspired pebbles are sold annually, which equates to more than 1.4 billion bowls. But what's even more staggering is the amount of rice that's used to make the cereal. In fact, so much rice is used that it gets transported to the factory in railcars, as Food Network explains.
This massive amount of rice gets cooked, colored, smashed, toasted, and flavored before they're bagged, boxed, and shipped to store shelves. You've probably never even thought about the preparation process, let alone how much rice is used to make Fruity Pebbles, but you'll likely still find the number pretty surprising.
So, just how much rice is used every year to make Fruity Pebbles? Here's a clue: It's more than 52,000 tons. Yes, tons.
Billions of rice grains are used for Fruity Pebbles annually
According to Statista, rice is "one of the most popular grains in the United States." In fact, Americans ate about 4.6 million metric tons of it in the year 2021-2022. That includes steamed rice, fried rice, rice pudding, Rice Krispies, and yes, rice-based cereal. But just how much of that rice is used for Fruity Pebbles each year? Approximately 105,000,000 pounds. That's almost 735 billion grains (via YouTube/Food Network), hence the need for railcars.
And since rice is already such a popular grain with Americans, it's no surprise that this rice-based cereal is a smash hit as well. Every year, employees package a whopping 44 million pounds of the colorful, crispy, fruit-flavored cereal. Needless to say, America loves its Fruity Pebbles. In fact, Restaurant Clicks included the cereal in its "17 Best Breakfast Cereals," among a couple of other rice-based cereals.
And while Fruity Pebbles may not be among your favorite cereals, you've got to admit that 735 billion grains of rice is a lot of rice.