BrandlandUSA Reader Wants a Carnation Breakfast Bar

Dan Goodsell's Carnation BreakfastOur reader Pat Seger writes BrandlandUSA to ask the important question.

When will they re-release the Carnation Breakfast Bar?

She pointed us to the blog of pop culture archaeologist and archivist Dan Goodsell, who posted a few images  of the snacks on his blog last year. Not so hot on Peanut Butter and Granola. Sounds way too healthy, much too much like a Nutri-Grain bar.Carnation Instant Breakfast

In fact, we wonder what other Carnation products there are that we miss. Luckily, Carnation Instant Breakfast is still sold. And my how wonderful it is to think of a big chocolate drink as a nutritious substitute for a full meal of bacon, eggs and toast. Nestle now makes it. Good.

Look online at www.carnationinstantbreakfast.com for a full array of advertising from over the years.

And then there is a more important question. What happened to Figurines? They were more candy-like, but still for dieting.

Author

  • Garland Pollard

    J. Garland Pollard IV is editor/publisher of BrandlandUSA. Since 2006, the website BrandlandUSA.com has chronicled the history and business of America’s great brands.

104 Comments

  1. Please bring these back. I loved those and would buy them now if they were available. I lived on these between 1974-1977 in high school. I would love to have these to take to work now.

  2. I’d happy buy a case or two of the Choc Chip right now. (sigh)


  3. My friend and I would eat these all the time. I believe I liked Chocolate Chip the best. If they were going to be making them again I’d take a whole case to start off with, when the supply ran out I’d buy a box a week definitely.

  4. I would love for these to come back. They are missing a market for these. I am 45 and remember them from when I was younger. One day went to get some and they where gone. Have craved them ever since. Would buy a box a week at least, don’t know why but I loved those suckers. Don’t skimp either bring back the original size bar, don’t shrink it like all other manufactures seem to do to everything to hold the price. I don’t think Nestle is going to listen though. Looks like people have been asking for a while and no action has been taking. Yet another product from the 70’s and 80’s chopped that is better than anything on the market today.

  5. I have been missing this wonderful breakfast treat for some time now. Growing up poor as we were my mother bought these as a weekend breakfast treat. They were amazing. I have wondered about there absence and how one could get them to return. I suppose if enough of us submit our extreme interest then perhaps it might just happen. Here’s hoping it comes to pass! So much of yesterday is gone and missed, maybe just a small blast from our past could be the very spring forward we need to appreciate what once was. Simple pleasures, go figure.

  6. Oh my gosh, I LOVED the Carnation Breakfast Bars. We used to buy them in the HS cafeteria, I would buy several at one time and hoard them in my locker to eat between classes. THey were delicious! The closest thing I’ve found that comes close to the taste is the Zone Perfect bar, (Chocolate Graham flavor). But the texture is not quite the same. I hope they bring them back!

  7. Still waiting for those wonderful old bars to be made again so I can buy about 100 boxes and stock up for the apocalypse.


  8. Why do companies make new products and push them into test markets that fail? Yet, they won’t give proven customers a proven product that they are actually begging for?

    This is weird marketing practice.

    Have they lost the recipe or something?

  9. Definately the best breakfast Ever. That would be soooo awesome if they brought those back. Please bring’em back!!!!!

  10. Chocolate Chip please. Who can stand the chewy ones? I want the old school ones.

  11. i emailed nestle and was told they are asked alot about the breakfast bars. for what it is worth i think if they were flooded with emails they might perk up and listen to the once kids who ate them who are now todays spenders. i encourage everyone who would like to see them brought back to get on the nestle website and drop them an email.

  12. Although I was not allowed to have them for breakfast (dessert only), my favorite was the malted milk! I’ve been craving them since I had my last bar. They discontinued a few flavors so I settled for the chocolate chip or peanut butter, but than they took those away too! Bring them all back!

  13. Please bring them back. No other bar compares…. and I have tried many. The texture and taste were just perfect!

  14. Please bring them back! They were awesome!

  15. Please bring back the Chocolate Chip Breakfast Bars! They were a childhood staple for my brother, sister and me. we all miss them so much!

  16. Please, please, please bring back the chocolate chip Carnation Instant Breakfast Bars! I ate them all the time when I was a little girl and I am craving them!

  17. Omygosh I thought I was the ONLY one craving the bars! I love them in the morning with a big glass of milk!

  18. I have been wanting to have a breakfast bar since the 90’s. My grown children would love them. Please make these wonderful breakfast bars again.

  19. That bar and a glass of milk was the best.
    Carnation please make these again. I have
    been craving these for years. We all have cash to spend on you BB:-)!!

  20. I too have craved the chocolate crunch bars everyday!!!!! Please. We need them back

  21. Oh my gosh, I thought I was the only one who was still obsessed with Carnation Breakfast Bars. My mom used to buy them for us for breakfast and whenever we went on roadtrips since back in the 80’s when I was a kid we never could afford to fly. My siblings and I would gobble up boxes of these! I would love to see these brought back. I would literally eat them daily. Nothing has ever tasted the same since these were discontinued. Do you think the Carnation people have ever seen websites like these?

    Now I will seriously be “sleepless in Seattle” thinking of these tonight and wishing I could buy cases of them.

  22. I thought I was alone in my crazy craving!! 30 years later I still miss my Carnation chocolate chip bars!!! Please bring them back!! I’m so tired of all of the chewy overly sweet granola bars on the market today!

  23. I have craved them for years. That sticky, crunchy, chocolate covered bar was the best. That was the only thing my mother could get me to eat in the morning before school.

    Let’s go!! Bring em back!

  24. Nothing comes close to the original Carnation Breakfast Bar. I too sent an email to Carnation. The typical response; “We appreciate your interest and if we find enough interested parties, we will consider your request.” Well Carnation peeps, take a look at this page and tell me you don’t have enough interest!! Com’n, do the public a favor. For every one who writes in requesting your Breakfast Bars, there are most likely 50 who don’t bother to take the time. Do us and yourself a favor. We’ll LOVE you for it!!

  25. I miss these so much. Choc chip was my favorite. I’ve tried others trying to find something similar but nothing comes close! I keep hoping to see them on the supermarket shelves again.

  26. Please, Chocolate Chip. I caught myself complaining about them being replaced by those crappy Chewy things. Terrible mistake

  27. Count my wife and I in! By far the best quick breakfast/snack food ever. The newer replacements are terrible. Tastes like chemicals, and the whole “chewy” thing just has to go.

    Please bring them back! We will make it worth your while!

  28. Oh, man . . . I thought I was the only one who missed these! I can still taste them in my mind . . .

  29. Please bring them back! Pretty please???

  30. I also want the original carnation breakfast bars. Please bring them back. Loved the chocolate chip. Would buy them buy the case. Is there anyone who can make this happen!!

  31. I want the original carnation bars. Please bring them with no changes in. I’m about to be a grandma and I would love to buy some for him.

  32. I have contacted Nestle on a few occasions and keep getting the same canned response that many are requesting them , they have no information, and a suggestion to try their nasty line of energy bars.

    It might take picketing outside their corporate offices, folks.

  33. I agree, bring back the Carnation Breakfast Bars. I used to eat these every am for breakfast. I’ve been looking for these everywhere. My 10 year old has heard my mother and me talk about these and wants to try them. Until I began searching the internet, I just thought they were one of the victims of Wal-mart’s new merchandising cuts. BRING BACK THE CARNATION BREAKFAST BARS! (chanting, over and over)

  34. AMEN!!! They need to bring them back soon, I am dieing to have one!!!!

  35. I agree bring back the Chocolate Chip Carnation Breakfast Bar. The waxy chocolate covering was delicious and what I think we are missing when we say dry taste is the carnation milk flavor. I loved theses and ate the entire box at once as a child. I had no will power when it came to these things.

  36. we need these bars to come back….BUT not if they will be the bioengineered, fake, cardboard CRAP that most things are made out of these days….just the basics!!! IF IT AIN’T BROKE…DON’T FIX IT AND DONT STOP MAKING IT EITHER!!!

  37. My friend is depressed and I ‘m looking for a way to cheer her up. We used to love the breakfast bars so much, I wanted to get her some from a hard to find grocery website, unfortunately they are discontinued! Her mother used to bribe her with them and she would practically do anything for one! Bring back the breakfast bar!

  38. I just had to look and see if anyone else remembered these! I would buy them by the case if brought back. The chocolate was the best. Is it my imagination or do I remember there being a cinnamon flavor?

  39. I have never stopped my craving for the Peanut Butter Crunch Bar – I would buy every box on the store shelf. Never could understand why a company would discontinue an item that was so popular that the stores could not keep them on the shelves ! Customers would fight over the last box !
    Someone needs to contact Carnation and get them to bring these ORIGINAL Food Bars back – we demand it ! And today we NEED them – as a survival food besides !
    Today’s artificial garbage I won’t come close to those ORIGINAL Peanut Butter Crunch Bars that were so easy to eat and swallow without having to wash it down with liquids. I could eat them anywhere, anytime. WE use to take them to eat at work and at he movies too.

    They were very healthy for you, not like the artifical junk they have out today loaded with artifical killer sweeteners, colors, and additives !

    We have to get Carnation to bring the ORIGINAL food bars back ! Even if they only brought back the two most favorites – Peanut Butter Crunch is the all time favorite, and some like the Chocolate Chip Crunch too.

    Come on Carnation -= give us back those wonderful ORIGINAL breakfast food bars !
    There is nothing today that can compare to them ! WE NEED THEM !

  40. Please bring back Chocolate Chip breakfast bars. Uniques texture unlike anything today. Really miss those!

  41. I miss these Sssooo much!!! I would love to see them re-released.. I would buy a case or two the minute I found em.

    They were great for that morning bus ride to bschool… aaahhh memories..

    THEY NEED BRING THEM BACK!!!

  42. I would love for carnation to please bring back Carnation instant breakfast bars. there is nothing like them. I have looked every where and for anything like them . Nothing out there.

  43. I really miss the peanut butter ones. I would eat one every morning, and were great. Why did you take them off the market? I do not care for the instant breakfast drink, it is not the same as eating one of the bars.

  44. I would love it if they brought these back!!!!
    Way better than granola bars. I ate these when I was like twelve.

  45. PLEASE bring these back! My husband and I were both talking about how wonderful these were as kids. We both would eat an entire box in two days. We even decided we’d be willing to pay $50 just to eat one! We’ve already signed the petition. Come on Carnation!!!!

  46. I signed the petition AND wrote Nestle…they recommended their new Power Bars which are NOTHING like the old Carnation Breakfast bars…and the Power Bars are overpriced. The Chocolate Chip flavor was THE BEST!!!! I never got tired of them. I would by cases if i ever saw them again.

    Nestle, WAKE UP and sell the freakin’ things again!!!! PLEASE!!!

  47. I have been waiting for Nestle to bring back the carnation breakfast bars for years!!! Those were my absolute favorite bars ever!!! PLEEEEEAASE bring them back!!!

  48. Have had this conversation several times with a coworker! BRING THEM BACK!!! Haven’t had one since I was a child but I can remember the taste so vividly!

  49. Please bring the carnation breakfast bars back. I love them. I have been craving them so bad. I dont think you would have to worry about them not selling. I would buy as many as I could.LOL

  50. Does anyone have a box for sale? Empty or full? MILTON who posted he found some in his Grandma’s freezer… would you sell them?? I loved these. They should bring these back for sure. email me general331@aol.com

  51. I lived on the chocolate chip breakfast bars in college. I would love for Carnation to bring them back.

  52. Nothing like a good ole Carnation Instant Breakfast Bar. The are easy on the taste buds, easy to carry in a purse or lunch bag and are a terrific food item for those of us who don’t like or have time for breakfast. Enough with the fruit bars and the like. I want my CIBB!

  53. I miss Rice-A-Roni Risotto. There was nothing else quite like it. We did manage to find another brand of risotto, but it’s just not the same!! Rice-A-Roni made THE best risotto. Who owns Rice-A-Roni these days? Maybe I can contact them to ask about the possibility of bringing back Rice-A-Roni Risotto.

  54. Wow! I had no idea that so many other people were also looking for these bars and craving them. Omg! We sure miss them too. We were in high school in the 80’s and my boyfriend then, Now, my husband ate them every day. Such fond memories. Those bars were part of our high school and forever memories please bring them back. We would like to reminese more over carnation breakfast bars.. the original ones.. ya 80’s

  55. If they refuse to bring them beautiful bars back, then at least give us the recipe so that we could try to make them ourselves? How could it hurt? It would only help all of us out here who are suffering…

  56. Me too!!! There is nothing comparable today. They always hit the spot. I sure hope they bring it back so I can let my kids enjoy them.

  57. I have been hoping that the Carnation Breakfast Bars would come back for years now!
    However, someone please help me. The box at the top of this page is NOT the breakfast bar I am remembering. The one that I am thinking of looked more like a brownie. There were two each, in individual packages. I believe six in each box. The came in several different flavors; chocolate, chocolate malt, peanut butter, butter pecan. Can someone please help me out here!
    I want these back so bad!

  58. Yes! Please bring back the old Carnation breakfast bars. I really want the chocolate chip back!!!

  59. One thing that should be made clear: the bars were changed and they added some syrup to the formula and may have changed other ingredients as well. So my fear is, they’ll re-release the failed final version of the bars. Which were dreadfully awful!! I complained to Carnation when they changed the formula. And all they offered was coupons to buy more of the new-failed formula! I told them not to bother. A year or so later they went off the market completely. The marketing idiots who changed the formula did not smartly go back to the original formula, but, instead just took it off the market when they most likely received mostly a negative reaction from loyal buyers of the original formula!! Coke-a-Cola made the right decision when they screwed-up with their New Coke formula. But not all companies learn their lessons quickly enough! Or some are too prideful and stubborn ans react like children when they mess-up a product and they seemingly would rather pout and throw it all away instead of humbly go back to the original formula and processes for making those uniquely textured and tasty breakfast bars that I crave to this day as well. Anywho, I am working on a concept to re-release and/or market and distribute and/or produce nostalgically appealing food products and other products which have been thrown away for no good reason. If you are interested in participating, please email or call 843-467-3912. David

  60. I was amazed to find all the responses to these yummy bars. I LOVED these bars and had the choc chip one every day for lunch. Most days had one after school too. I agree I think I would buy every box on the shelf. The question is how long do we have to beg to have one?

  61. I am surprised to see that others miss these as much as I do! I’ve looked everywhere and cannot find anything that compare to these. I think if Nestle brought them back I would buy every last peanut butter and chocolate chip one on the shelf!!!

  62. Peanut butter!!…. I’ve been craving them with this pregnancy! Thought the instant breakfast has been my favorite 3am snack and 8am breakfast.
    But would love to have those bars back… have been scouring stores now just to realize they don’t exist anymore. So sad….. They tasted so much better than the Luna bars I eat now.

  63. I need those bars back. The chocolatety ones were the best. the fudgiest. Didn’t feel much like a diet bar and didn’t taste like one either. Now everything has oats in it and I am allergic to oats and soy!

  64. I just found 6 boxes of these in the bottom of my grandmas deep freezer and looked them up online.

    They have been in there since the 80’s. I thawed a box out and tried one. They have a dry malty chocolate flavor.

    With a glass of milk, these can’t be beat. I ate one whole box that day. I’ll try to save the other boxes for special occasions.

  65. PLEASE bring them back we all love’em. Peanut Butter is the best.

  66. OOOH! I would love to have one right now. There are days I can just taste a chocolate chip bar! Everything is retro these days….let’s get these back.

  67. I have looking for them also. I sure they bring them back. I liked both the Choc chip and the chocolate ones.

  68. Maybe if we tell all our families, friends, co-workers to come to their website and make a post telling them how much we would all like for them to bring them back?

  69. I would love to have The Carnation Breakest Bars back. Loved the Chocolate Chip ones ate them every day until there saw’nt any more of them. My mom and i ran a store so i had order a lot extra at the time to sell and a few case to take home. I really miss eating them , I don’t like all the other bars that are out there. So i just dont eat anything for Breakest any more unless it’s on the weekend and I fell like making something to eat.

  70. Ok already… BRING THEM BACK! Are you, (Carnation), worried about advertising? This site is full of “free” advertising! I’ll advertise for you…just BRING THEM BACK ALREADY!!! Honestly, they are the best combination of crunchy, sweet, and chocolatey bars ever made… and just the right size for breakfast or to hold you over between meals. You could make a sweet little deal just releasing the recipe but why do that when you could maximize your profits with the right angle and re-release of the infamous Chocolate Chip, and Peanut Butter-(the softer version, those were delicious too),Carnation Breakfast Bar.

  71. Please once again I am begging!! Please Please Please bring the Carnation Breakfast Bars back!!! I am craving one soooooooooooooo bad right now!!!! Please!!!!!

  72. PLEASE BRING THE CARNATION BREAKFAST BARS BACK…I HAVE BEEN CAVING THEM FOR YEARS. I HAVE TRIED SO MANY OTHER BARS,BUT TO ME THEY ALL TASTE LIKE PAPER…SO WHY DON’T YOU BRING BACK THE BREAKFAST BARS AND GIVE THE OTHERS A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY…SHOW THEM WHAT A GREAT BAR SHOULD TASTE LIKE.PLEASE!!!!

  73. My husband and I were just talking about the Carnation Breakfast Bars, so he had me google it and wow, thought we wer the only ones missing them. Wish there was a way to get them back! Best of luck to us and all of our Breakfast Bar lovers.

  74. Is it possible to get the recipe?

  75. The Carnation Breakfast bars were the best! Today’s busy lifestyle would certainly benefit from having this bar! I have difficulty making time for breakfast and they were a refreshing morning break as I traveled to work during my pregnancy. I would love to have these refreshing and tasty bars to enjoy again.

  76. carnations breakfast bars you really need to bring them back. there nothing out there that even comes close to what you had!

  77. Please, please, please bring them back. I’ve been craving them for 20 years!

  78. Please bring them back. I have been looking every where for them, then a friend told me they stopped making them & told me about this website!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  79. It’s a perfect example of a corporate takeover gone bad. The new owners have no clue about food, so they cancel the most important product line of the company they take over. The stupidity is resounding for decades and the fact that so many people are clamoring to have the product reinstated is evidence of their gross misjudgment of the American consumer.

  80. I am not a physician, but years ago when I had a serious digestive illness and couldn’t tolerate roughage, these seemed to be effective nutrition for me. Were they good nutrition for people who aren’t ill? Probably not.

  81. PLEASE BRING THEM BACK! I have been looking for them for years. If there is a number to call, or someone to write, please email me with the info! I would Love them to be brought back. Not ony did I eat them for breakfast, but as snacks as well……

  82. Please bring them back. I grew up on them actually. I am 25 years old now and my mother introduced them to me when I was about 8. I really love them, because I am not one to eat breakfast, but this simple snack did the trick. SOOOOOO PLEASE BRING THEM BACK!!!!!

  83. I would like to see the Carnation Breakfast bars return as well. I ate them in my early 20’s, they were the best breakfast out there! Not only did they keep me full but kept me satisfied all day so I could maintain my weight! They were delicious and healthy! PLEASE BRING THEM BACK!!!!

  84. I agree with all others…I was born 12/30/70 and loved havinf the Carnation Breakfast Bars…Please make them again so we can ALL enjoy your great “Breakfast” snack. Thank You

  85. Please bring back the breakfast bars!!! These were apart of my childhood and I would love for my kids to experience the taste of them and enjoy them like I did when I was their age. They are a great source of breakfast food!! So please bring them back. PLEASE!!!!!

  86. Please, please, please, please bring back the Carnation Breakfast Bars. I love them and have ever since I was little. I miss the taste of them!! Please bring them back, I would love for my kids to taste the delicious flavors of them and enjoy them like I did when I was little…

  87. please bring back the Carnation Breakfast Bars, they are a great item that keeps you full in between meals.
    Why is it so hard for company’s to keep the great products that sell well on the shelves? Instead they stop producing these items and leave the consumer with crap items that we wish they would stop making. so you heard it again from people, bring back the Carnation B-Bar.
    Thanks.

  88. I thought I was the only one who ate Carnation Breakfast Bars and that’s why they quit making them. That was my breakfast for years. PLEASE BRING THEM BACK!

  89. I would die for an entire box of Carnation Breakfast Bars-Chocolate Chip flavor. I too, crave these after 25 years and nothing else on earth tastes like them.

  90. I loved the chocoalte chip bars soooo much. I remember eating them for many years for breakfast before going to school. Please bring them back to the Chicagoland market. I would purchase them by the cases.

  91. I KNOW!!! I thought I was the only one! I found this web site because I’M CRAVING ONE RIGHT NOW!!! How could they take those away from us?!

  92. OMG I loved those breakfast bars the chocolate chip was my favorite too. I ate them everyday. I miss them too why can’t they bring them back or sell the recipe to someone to make them again.

  93. Yes! Please bring back the old Carnation breakfast bars. They were soooo good!!!

  94. I loved those bars! They were excellent for camping, but I would eat them all the time. I emailed Carnation years ago and their response was basically “oh well, sorry about that”.

    I’m off to sign the petition(s)!

  95. I loved Carnation Breakfast Bars in the Chocolate Chip flavor. It’s the only thing I ate for breakfast before going to school for years. There’s nothing in the market today like this! Everything nowadays is chewy or gooey (yuck) or dry as a bone (double yuck). I miss the crumbly texture and the flavorful mix of grains and chocolate. Like the other’s who’ve posted here, I truly miss this and would love to have it again! I’d even be willing to make them myself if I could lay my hands on a recipe!

  96. John..I think your merely mentioning it here helps to tell them that there is a market for them again. But I would definitely go on their website and email their contact person. I also saw that Petition Online has a number of petitions going, one of which is to bring back Carnation Breakfast Bar.

    http://www.petitiononline.com/cb01/petition.html

  97. I know … I loved these things, carnation could definitely make money off of them. My wife 10 yrs younger than me “Cali Girl” had never heard of these. She thought I was just making stuff up, then I Googled it and bam had all the proof I needed hahaha. Is there anyone we can email to get this back.!?

  98. Please Bring these back !
    I crave these after 30 + years.

  99. I’m really hoping they bring back the old Carnation Instant Breakfast Bars, especially the flavor Chocolate Chip. It’s a great memory and I’ve been craving one for about 25 years! I would buy them by the cases now!

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