ARVA, ONTARIO, CANADA — Arva Flour Mills, the oldest continuously operating water powered commercial flour mill in North America, acquired the Red River Cereal brand from Smucker Foods of Canada Corp., a subsidiary of the J.M. Smucker Co., on June 1. The cereal, which will be made entirely onsite, will be launched at the Arva Flour Mills retail store and the company website later this month with plans for distribution to other retail locations later this year.

“Since acquiring Arva Flour Mills last fall, hardly a day went by at our retail store without a customer asking if we carried Red River Cereal,” said Mark Rinker, owner of Arva Flour Mills. “This prompted our initial research, and we soon came to the decision that this iconic, nearly century old brand would be a natural fit alongside the historic, Arva Flour Mills brand. We know that the countless customers who used to start their day with Red River Cereal share in our excitement to get this beloved brand back on store shelves.”

The cereal recipe was altered in 2011 to include steel cut wheat and rye, a change the company plans to revert by returning to the original recipe containing cracked wheat and rye. Currently, the mill is in the process of acquiring a hammer mill to crack the wheat, rye and flax ingredients in the cereal.