(NEXSTAR) – In news that may come as a blow to pasta lovers and Italian-American children who are home sick from school, Ronzoni will be discontinuing its pastina variety in 2023.
8th Avenue Food & Provisions, which owns Ronzoni, recently issued a statement announcing the product’s discontinuation, explaining that the decision to discontinue this specific pasta variety was not their own.
“We regretfully announce that Ronzoni Pastina is being discontinued,” a representative for 8th Avenue Food & Provisions wrote in a statement shared with Nexstar. “This beloved product’s unique small size and star-shape require specialized production from a third-party manufacturer. Our long-term manufacturer informed us they would cease producing Ronzoni Pastina effective January 2023.”
The company claims its “exhaustive efforts” to find a new manufacturer have so far been fruitless.
“We haven’t given up, but as of today, we can no longer offer Ronzoni Pastina,” the brand’s parent company wrote.
Pastina, which literally translates to “little pasta,” is generally applied to any such variety of pasta. Pasta brands including Barilla and San Giorgio, among others, still currently produce the product.
Ronzoni fans on social media, however, seemed especially bummed that they might no longer find their preferred ingredient for "Italian penicillin" — i.e., a simple pastina soup that some say they often ate as children, when sick. One Facebook user said she hoped it was “fake news” or just a “joke,” while another claimed the discontinuation of pastina was cause for a boycott of Ronzoni altogether. A petition to “Save Pastina!” on Change.org has also garnered over 900 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, others tried to put the news in perspective.
“Can we stop acting like ronzoni is the only pastina manufacturer[?]” one Twitter user wrote in response to the outcry.
“Ronzoni pasta wasn’t that good,” another bluntly offered. “Let it die.”
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