Cubs' Rizzo cereal knocks it out of the Jewel park
Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo bypassed Wheaties and introduced his own brand of cereal, and is now hitting it out of the park, er, stores.
The honey nut flavored oat cereal, called RizzO's, have been quickly selling at 185 Jewel-Osco stores around the region since it debuted about a week ago on April 14, said Jewel-Osco spokeswoman Mary Frances Trucco.
"I can confirm that some stores have sold out of RizzO's," Trucco said.
The box features an image of Rizzo along with his story on the back of his survival from cancer. The cereal sells for two 14-ounce boxes for $6 at Jewel. Proceeds from the cereal also will help support the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, which aims to raise money for cancer research and to provide support to children and their families battling the disease.
About a year ago, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based PLBSports.com approached Rizzo about featuring him on the box of his own branded cereal after having similar success with other athletes and cereal, said Doug Ritchart, director of sports at PLBSports.com.
"We took it to Anthony and he taste tested some samples and we started talking about it at the end of last season," Ritchart said.
The cereal, which is made by a private label manufacturer, will be offered for a limited time. Ritchart was unsure exactly how long that will be.
"It's really up to Jewel on how long they plan to sell it in their stores. It's also available on Amazon.com. We're hoping it will be available through the season," he said.