Shreddies
Shreddies is a square, woven whole-grain wheat breakfast cereal sold primarily in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
Last updated August 22, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
Shreddies is a breakfast-cereal brand built around small, square pieces of woven whole-grain wheat. The product was first made in Canada in 1939 by Nabisco, with production beginning at a food-manufacturing plant on Lewis Avenue in Niagara Falls, Ontario. That facility remained associated with Shreddies production as of 2024, giving the brand a long-standing Canadian manufacturing base. The brand's ownership history in Canada reflects the consolidation and restructuring of the packaged-food industry. Shreddies was produced under Nabisco until Post Cereals acquired the Canadian brand in 1993. Post's corporate ownership subsequently passed through a series of parent-company changes: its parent became Kraft General Foods in 1995; Post was sold to Ralcorp in 2008; and Post Holdings was spun off from Ralcorp in 2012. In the current Canadian structure, the brand is held by Post Consumer Brands, a Post Holdings business. Shreddies also has a separate operating history in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The cereal was initially made by Nabisco's former UK division. Production later moved within the Cereal Partners network, which operates under the Nestlé brand name in those markets. A Welwyn Garden City factory, opened in 1926, began producing Shreddies in 1953. The site was briefly owned by Rank Hovis McDougall in 1988 before being sold to Cereal Partners in 1990. Production also began at Nestlé's Staverton, Wiltshire site in 1998, and UK manufacturing was consolidated there in 2007. The UK formulation is based predominantly on whole-grain wheat, reported at 96.2 percent, with sugar, invert sugar syrup, barley malt extract, molasses, and salt providing sweetness and flavour. The cereal is also fortified with several nutrients, including iron and vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6, and B9. Exact formulations and product variants can differ by market. Marketing has been an important part of Shreddies' identity. In the United Kingdom, a 2005 campaign positioned the cereal as "school fuel" and depicted children concentrating on schoolwork after eating it for breakfast. The UK's Advertising Standards Authority required the television advertisement to be withdrawn because it compared children eating Shreddies with children eating nothing, rather than comparing the product with another cereal. In Canada, a 2008 campaign promoted "Diamond Shreddies," a playful presentation of the same square cereal rotated by 45 degrees. Developed by Ogilvy and Mather and co-written by Tim Piper, the campaign received major advertising recognition, including a Grand Clio and Cannes awards. The brand has also appeared in popular-culture and food-media contexts. Vintage boxes from the early 1970s attracted collector attention when they were discovered in a village shop and listed on eBay in 2012. In 2019, recreating Shreddies was featured as a challenge on Channel 4's Snackmasters, with chefs Daniel Clifford and Claude Bosi. Shreddies remains an active cereal brand with distinct Canadian and UK/Ireland ownership and production arrangements.
History
Shreddies originated in Canada in 1939, when Nabisco began producing the square woven-wheat cereal at its Lewis Avenue food-manufacturing plant in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The Canadian facility remained connected with the brand for decades and was still operating as of 2024. The product's early history was therefore closely tied to Nabisco's Canadian manufacturing and cereal portfolio. In 1993, Post Cereals purchased the Shreddies brand in Canada from Nabisco. The transaction placed the cereal within Post's expanding breakfast-food business, although the corporate parent associated with Post changed several times afterward. In 1995, Post's parent became Kraft General Foods. Kraft later sold Post to Ralcorp in 2008. Post Holdings was subsequently separated from Ralcorp in 2012, creating the corporate structure under which Post's cereal operations developed. In Canada, Shreddies is now associated with Post Consumer Brands, part of Post Holdings. The British and Irish history of Shreddies developed separately from the Canadian business. The cereal was first produced in the United Kingdom by Nabisco's former UK division. The Welwyn Garden City factory, which had opened in 1926, began making Shreddies in 1953. Ownership of that site and the surrounding cereal operation changed during the late twentieth century: Rank Hovis McDougall briefly owned the facility from 1988, before selling it to Cereal Partners in 1990. Cereal Partners operates under the Nestlé brand in the UK and Ireland. Nestlé's Staverton site in Wiltshire began making Shreddies in 1998. Production was gradually consolidated, and all UK manufacture had moved to Staverton by 2007. This created a distinct regional supply chain from the Canadian one, with Post Consumer Brands controlling the Canadian brand and Cereal Partners handling the Nestlé-branded UK and Irish business. The cereal is made principally from whole-grain wheat. The UK description identifies whole-grain wheat as 96.2 percent of the product, with sugar, invert sugar syrup, barley malt extract, molasses, and salt used for flavour and sweetness. The formulation also includes added iron and several B vitamins, including vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6, and B9. These details describe the UK product and should not automatically be assumed to apply identically to every market or variant. Advertising has provided several notable turning points. A 2005 UK campaign used the slogan "school fuel" and showed schoolchildren appearing focused after eating Shreddies for breakfast. The Advertising Standards Authority required the television commercial to be removed because its comparison was considered unfair: the relevant contrast was between eating Shreddies and eating nothing, rather than between Shreddies and another cereal. In Canada, the 2008 Diamond Shreddies campaign used humour and visual reinterpretation to present the existing square cereal as a diamond. The campaign was created by Ogilvy and Mather, co-written by Tim Piper, and received a Grand Clio and Cannes awards. Shreddies later appeared in food-media and collecting contexts. In 2012, early-1970s boxes reportedly found in a village shop were offered on eBay and attracted substantial reported prices. In 2019, Channel 4's Snackmasters used the cereal as a recreation challenge for chefs Daniel Clifford and Claude Bosi. The brand remains active in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, but its ownership, manufacturing, and brand presentation vary by region.
- 2012
Post Holdings is spun off from Ralcorp
[1]Post Holdings separates from Ralcorp, becoming the parent company associated with Post's Canadian cereal operations.
- 2008
Diamond Shreddies campaign launches
[1]A Canadian advertising campaign promotes the ordinary square cereal as a diamond by rotating it 45 degrees.
- 2007
UK production is consolidated at Staverton
[1]All UK Shreddies production is moved to the Staverton site.
- 1998
Staverton begins Shreddies production
[1]Nestlé's Staverton, Wiltshire facility starts making Shreddies.
- 1993
Post Cereals acquires the Canadian brand
[1]Post Cereals purchases Shreddies in Canada from Nabisco.
- 1953
UK production begins at Welwyn Garden City
[1]The Welwyn Garden City factory, opened in 1926, begins manufacturing Shreddies for the UK market.
- 1939
Canadian production begins
[1]Nabisco begins producing Shreddies at a food-manufacturing plant on Lewis Avenue in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Products and positioning
A long-established whole-grain wheat breakfast cereal positioned around recognisable square pieces, everyday breakfast consumption, and family-oriented nutrition and energy messaging.
Breakfast cereal · 1939
Original Shreddies
The core Shreddies product is a small square made from woven whole-grain wheat. The cereal is marketed as an everyday breakfast food and, in the UK formulation described by reference material, is predominantly whole-grain wheat with sweetening and flavour ingredients plus added iron and B vitamins. Product composition and packaging may vary between Canada and the UK/Ireland.
Breakfast cereal presentation and campaign variant · 2008
Diamond Shreddies
Diamond Shreddies is the standard square Shreddies piece presented as a diamond through a 45-degree rotation. The concept became the centre of a prominent Canadian advertising campaign in 2008, using the apparent geometric transformation as a humorous demonstration of product innovation while retaining the underlying cereal.
Marketing campaigns
- 2008Diamond Shreddies
Canada
Ogilvy and Mather developed a humorous campaign around the idea that rotating the familiar square cereal by 45 degrees created a diamond-shaped product. Tim Piper was identified as a co-writer.
Outcome. The campaign received a Grand Clio and Cannes awards.
- 2005School Fuel
United Kingdom
The campaign portrayed schoolchildren as more focused after eating Shreddies for breakfast and positioned the cereal as "school fuel."
Outcome. The Advertising Standards Authority required the television advertisement to be withdrawn because it made an unfair comparison between eating Shreddies and eating nothing.
Brand decisions
2008
Launch of the Diamond Shreddies positioningOtherBackground
The brand sought a distinctive Canadian advertising idea based on the recognisable shape of its cereal pieces.
Action taken
The campaign reframed the existing square cereal as a diamond by rotating it 45 degrees.
Aftermath
The campaign won a Grand Clio and Cannes awards.
2007
Consolidation of UK production at StavertonStrategyBackground
Shreddies was being produced at more than one UK site within the Cereal Partners and Nestlé manufacturing network.
Action taken
All UK production was moved to Nestlé's Staverton, Wiltshire facility.
Aftermath
Staverton became the sole UK production location identified for Shreddies.
Recent events
- 2019
Shreddies recreation featured on Snackmasters[1]
Other
Channel 4's Snackmasters featured the recreation of Shreddies as a culinary challenge involving chefs Daniel Clifford and Claude Bosi.
- 2012
Vintage Shreddies boxes attract collector interest[1]
Other
Boxes of Shreddies dating from the early 1970s were reportedly discovered in a village shop and offered on eBay, where they attracted reported prices of about £160 per box.
- 2008
Diamond Shreddies campaign receives major advertising awards[1]
Campaign
A Canadian campaign presented the existing square Shreddies piece as a diamond by rotating it 45 degrees. The campaign was associated with Ogilvy and Mather and received a Grand Clio and Cannes awards.
- 2005
UK Advertising Standards Authority orders removal of Shreddies school-fuel advertisement[1]
Regulation · Campaign
The UK advertising regulator found that a Shreddies television advertisement created an unfair comparison by contrasting children who ate Shreddies with children who ate nothing, rather than with children eating a comparable cereal.
Sources1 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/shreddies · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled