A FAN of Ronzoni's pastina has shared his excitement at securing himself a box after searching for over a month.
The cancellation of the Ronzoni Acini de Pepe was announced on January 3, which saw superfan Large Dave embark on a journey to find his "holy grail."
Dave, a writer on i95rock.com claimed that the tiny dried shapes are "the holy grail of pasta."
He even mentioned that following the news of Ronzoni's discontinuation, people have been selling boxes on eBay for up to $25.
After scouring Connecticut since January, Dave finally found his "holy grail" in family-run grocer LaBonne's.
The bagger and the cashier told him that "they've noticed that there have been a couple of shoppers loading up" with No. 155.
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It caused an outcry among loyal fans of the miniature pasta.
The discontinuation has been likened to "an erasure of childhood."
Local Italian stores are seeing sales of Acini de Pepe rocket since Ronzoni's announcement about Pastina No. 155.
Dominic Petruzzelli from the family-run New Deal Fruit Inc. in Revere, Massachusetts, discussed how the demand for the pasta is impacting his business.
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The Petruzelli family has been running the Italian specialty store for four generations.
Speaking to Boston Globe, Petruzzelli said that since the announcement, "I've seen all my sales of Acini de Pepe double."
He added: "People are coming in and, instead of buying one or two boxes, they're buying three and four because they're afraid they're not going to be able to get it later."
Meanwhile, another small local Italian store is reaping the benefits of the discontinuation.
Seven Hills Pasta Co. is located at Boston Public Market and Italian owner Giulio Caperchi has also seen a boost in sales.
Sales of Caperchi's craft-dried Stelline, or small star-shaped pasta, have increased.
He said that while it is "nothing crazy," he and his wife Carol, who own the organic brand, have "seen an uptick both at the market and wholesale inquiries."
He added: "We've got [online] form requests from California, Michigan, Georgia!"
Pastina (little pasta) has been branded "Italian Penicillin" and is often served as part of a soup or a dish with butter and cheese.
It got its healing reputation from the Italian tradition that Nonnas would serve it when people are sick or in need of comfort.
Someone even threatened Ronzoni with their Nonna after they heard the news of the discontinuation.
"You'll be getting a call from my nonna," they replied to the announcement.
The statement on Instagram by Ronzoni read: "We hear you and greatly appreciate your love for Ronzoni Pastina.
"After extensive efforts, we regretfully announce that Ronzoni Pastina is being discontinued.
"This wasn't a decision that we wanted to make."
It continued: "Unfortunately, our long-term supplier informed us that they would no longer be making Ronzoni Pastina as of January 2023.
"We searched extensively for an alternative solution but were unable to identify a viable option to make Pastina in the same beloved small shape, size, and standards you have come to expect from Ronzoni.
"As a result, we had to make the difficult decision to discontinue this product."
While some Italian specialist shops are stocking other brands of the small dried pasta, the news still shocked fans with some calling it a "tragedy."
NPR editor Jennifer Vanasco wrote on Twitter: "It's like an erasure of my childhood!
"What am I going to do now when I'm sick? I've had it on my grocery list for a week and now I feel panicked."
Meanwhile, Today's Al Roker shared a funny anecdote of his mother giving him pastina as a baby.
Speaking on the show, he recalled how as a baby his mother worried about him not eating well enough.
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A friend told his mother to make pastina and when she later asked how it was working, his mother said that Al kept spitting the food out.
Her friend then asked how long she had been cooking it for and his mother replied, "cooking it?"
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