Sad news for RyKrisp cracker fans:  ConAgra has announced plans to curtail production of the popular Minnesota-made cracker starting in March.

The news comes following lagging sales and changing customer tastes.  RyKrisp once had a nationwide footprint, but in recent years has seen its space on grocery store shelves shrink.  The move is especially sad for Minnesotans:

RyKrisp always has been produced in the Twin Cities, although its exact origins are a bit murky.

A company history says the cracker was launched in 1899 in downtown St. Paul, when immigrant Arvid Peterson began selling hard rye crackers like those in his native Sweden.

A different version places its founding in Minneapolis in 1904. And the current RyKrisp carton notes the "first baking" occurred in 1913.

The ConAgra plant - located on the southeast side of Minneapolis - included many longterm employees that had been with the company for more than 30 years.  Officials say that some of them might be able to obtain positions at other ConAgra plants that are scattered across the Twin Cities.

 

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