and have even developed products that feature the text, "I thought you were Dale." A subsequent ad campaign generated another catchphrase, as Euell Gibbons became the spokesperson for the brand, promoting Grape-Nuts as the "Back to Nature Cereal.” The line "Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible" drew attention to the product from consumers, as well as from comedians. Grape-Nuts is credited as the first widespread product to use a coupon in sales promotion when C.W. Post Company offered a penny-off coupon to get people to try their cereal in the late 1890s. Until recent years, Grape-Nuts packaging set it apart from other cereals, in that no sealed film bag was used. It was sold in the usual "tombstone" cardboard box; rather than featuring lightly glued flaps at the top which could be separated to open the top face completely, perforations could be broken to form a small opening for pouring, near the intersection of one of the narrow side faces and the top surface. At one time, Grape-Nuts was the seventh-most popular cold breakfast cereal, but sales declined as Post was sold from one company to another. Around 2005, it held less than 1% of the market. About this time, the formula was changed; the husks from milled grain were ground into the flour and the cereal was pitched as "whole grain", albeit at the cost of roughening the cereal's texture and detracting significantly from mouthfeel. The addition of vitamins and minerals allowed it to qualify for food-stamp programs. History Grape-Nuts sponsored Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd’s 1933 expedition to Antarctica, which resulted in the first two-way radio transmission. Maps of Admiral Byrd's expedition appeared on Grape-Nuts boxes at the time. During World War II, Grape-Nuts were included in the Allied Forces jungle rations on missions to Panama and various other tropical locations. In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay brought Grape-Nuts along on their trek to the peak of Mount Everest when they became the first to reach the mountain's summit. Due to production issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic Grape-Nuts were temporarily discontinued in 2021 before returning in mid-March. Ingredients Modern-day original Grape-Nuts contain whole grain wheat flour, malted barley flour, salt, dried yeast, and the following added vitamins and minerals: iron, vitamin B3, zinc oxide, vitamin B6, vitamin B1, and folic acid. Grape-Nuts Flakes contain sugar as well. According to the Grape-Nuts website,