With soft, rounded edges and a hole in the center, these friendly and cheery mini pastas, called pastina, have graced grocers’ shelves for countless decades. Yet, as of the beginning of the year, things are awry. One of the two biggest manufacturers of this pasta shape is ceasing production — but why?
If you grew up in the Northeast, chicken soup wasn’t your classic run-of-the-mill chicken soup. Even if you weren’t Italian-American, chicken broth with pastina soup was a mainstay in many households. It wasn’t just for sick days. This pasta shape was (and still is) loved by children, and the fussiest of eaters would have no qualms with this pasta shape.
So when Ronzoni announced they would discontinue pastina production, many people got upset. Like with many things that are discontinued, the reality of not having a nostalgic childhood food hits people hard. The backlash and moaning on social media were intense.
While Ronzoni regretted and didn’t want to end production, they said they were in a technical pinch. A spokesperson for Ronzoni stated that the manufacturing of pastina was operated by a third party, and since the manufacturer is ceasing production, Ronzoni was put in a pasta pinch.
With pastina’s popularity Ronzoni and 8th Avenue (which owns Ronzoni) are terminating the endearing pasta indefinitely. They hope and plan to find another manufacturer who can fill order demands and production operations.
Until then? Well, prepared to be sticker shocked. Even though Barilla makes the same shape, many brand purists seek out Ronzoni’s. Prices of Ronzoni’s discontinued star-shaped pasta are likely to skyrocket in price.
Did you eat pastina growing up? If you saw the pastina in your store, would you buy the small pasta and cook with it?