The grains race, where companies compete to stockpile grains inside various food products, has yielded seven-grain bread, 12-grain bagels and a plethora of foods featuring the vague multigrain label. Dare Foods enters the fray with Grainsfirst, a cracker that boasts 11 whole grains. The key word here is “whole,” according to Dare’s director of business development, Lucinda Wallace, pointing out that while grains contain three elements-bran, the endosperm and the germ-most multigrain crackers contain only the endosperm. Grainsfirst has all three, with five crackers accounting for one of the five to 12 daily servings of grains recommended by Canada’s Food Guide. Dare is embarking on a promotional campaign that includes in-store sampling and a free coupon for a box of Grainsfirst crackers (which normally sells for $3.49) included in General Mills cereals. Dare has accelerated the grains race, hoping consumers will lose their taste for all those endosperm-only poseurs.
