Boo-Berry And Franken Berry Need To Be Sold Year-Round

Fall is full of wonderful seasonal foods. You have pumpkin spice everything, maple pecan lattes, and chocolate bars in the shapes of bats and pumpkins. But there is one fall food that trumps them all: the Monster Cereals. Franken Berry and Boo-Berry, the lesser known companions to Count Chocula, pop up in stores around the country every October to the delight of cereal fans and Halloween geeks. But we have a bone to pick with General Mills. Because while Count Chocula seems to be in stores year-round, his spooky companions only appear to haunt our cereal aisles every October. And that's a darn shame.

For the uninitiated, Franken Berry and Boo-Berry follow the same general cereal makeup as Count Chocula. They feature puffed rice cereal in strawberry and blueberry flavors, respectively, along with colorful, fruit-flavored marshmallows. When mixed with milk, these fruity cereals create a subtly sweet flavor that is scarily satisfying.

Until 2010, Boo-Berry and Franken Berry were available on store shelves year-round. You could pour a big bowl of blueberry-flavored cereal any time of the year and have a great start to your day. But then, in a heartbreaking decision, these cereals were put into seasonal rotation only, and we're not sure why.

OK, yes — the mascots of these cereal brands are monsters. But the flavors have literally nothing to do with Halloween. It's not like you're eating peppermint and cocoa in the spring or pumpkin spice in the summer. Blueberries and strawberries are eaten and enjoyed all 12 months of the year and are actually in season in the summer, not the fall. So why should it matter that their marshmallows look like bats?

I love Boo-Berry. It is 100 percent my favorite cereal. And I'm here to tell you right now that if it were available on store shelves 12 months of the year, I would buy it each and every time I go grocery shopping. But I can't.

So it's time to stop the madness. Bring back Franken Berry and Boo-Berry, 24/7, 365. I don't want to have to suffer through boring, healthy cereals. I want to party with some monsters at breakfast.