In the ranks of highly coveted discontinued snack foods, few rate higher than Planter’s Cheez Balls. Far tastier than their other artificial cheese puff counterparts, they became my go-to junk food as a kid. Nothing was better than a can of Cheez Balls and a stack of cartoons on VHS.
Vintage Cheez Balls can
They were in production for several decades, and re-labeled with “Cheez Mania” in the 90’s. Then, around 2001 or 2002 (if memory serves me right) they ceased production. It was one of those things that hit me out of the blue. I suddenly realized while walking the grocery store one day that Cheez balls were no where in sight, and in fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen them available.
Over the years I frequently longed for their cheezy goodness. Cheetos and generic Cheese puffs just couldn’t compare. Nothing had that flavor I craved. I desperately began scouring the internet for them, when, after many a Google search, I encountered a piece of information that was paramount in my re-discovery of them. Many fans of this product had conclusive information that it had been officially discontinued. However, there seemed to be occasional sightings across the US in which people had found them exclusively at convenience stores, and oddly enough, Blockbuster. I remember running across a feature on the MSN homepage one day. In it, they discussed the most-wanted discontinued foods. I was pleased to see that I was not alone in my desire for this product to spring back to life. I read that piece a few months ago… and then, just a week later.. I hit the jackpot.
One afternoon not long ago, I was having kind of a bad day. So my Fiance Daniel and I treated ourselves to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, after that we decided to walk over to the blockbuster in the same parking lot. We watch a lot of movies, so we’re frequently present at this location.
I was getting ready to leave when he stopped me. He was hidden by a shelf of snack foods. I heard his voice call out to me . “Laura! guess what I have?” All in a moment, a whirlwind of thoughts rushed through my head. “No, it couldn’t be. Here? But, I’ve never seen them. Cheez Balls? I just read about them! Oh.. it would be a dream come true. Its been so many years!”
Daniel then proceeded to reveal himself and extended forth his arms. He was grasping a can of Planter’s Cheez balls. I squealed. My heart was racing with excitement. I felt a rush of happiness. He then pointed out to me a small shelf, which was stocked with a meager amount of Planter’s snack products. THEY DO EXIST! I quickly grabbed 3 cans and headed to the check out. I mentioned to the manager my excitement of finding them. He said that he too, had read the same article from the previous week. He said he knew they’d go over well seeing as he is the only one around who has them.
At last!
Later that night I indulged in that delicious, savory cheez (which is close to cheese, but not quite the same taste) flavor for the first time in years.
Since then, I have managed to keep one can in reserve. Unfortunatley, as I had suspected.. they haven’t resurfaced. Someone else bought the few remaining cans, and I had the majority of them in my possesion. I do hope they are re-ordered. Otherwise I may have to ask the management to do so. I found further evidence today of the demand for Cheez balls. Check out this auction currently running on Ebay. $25.00 per can for this luxury. Anyone who has actually taken the time to read this obviously has the same goal that I did. So, take hope from this article. Yes, they do exist.
