Hope Shelley scoured grocery and convenience store shelves for months looking for that most elusive of cookies: Dad's Goodie Rings.
Generations of children have grown up on the cookie, known for its chewy centre of peanut butter, oats and coconut compressed together and dipped in a waxy chocolate covering.
"It was one of those good nostalgic treats from your childhood," Shelley, a Saskatoon mom and nanny said.
The cookies come sealed in the iconic yellow Dad's bag and have been a mainstay of the snack aisle for decades.
But they've become nearly impossible to find.
"People are saying online that they have found them at Shoppers [Drug Mart] or Walmart and I'm like, I'm not sure where because they're not there," Shelley said.
For Goodie Ring devotees the mystery has an unfortunate answer.
The company that manufacturers Goodie Rings in Canada inexplicably stopped production on the treats.
"Our Goodie Ring cookies haven't been in production for some time now. We're sorry to disappoint," said a spokesperson for Mondelez International, manufacturer of the cookies.
In 2012, Mondelez — one of the world's largest snacks companies — took control of the Dad's brand. Dad's has been renowned for its crunchy oatmeal cookie since 1929 and "flourished" across Canada, according to its website.
The cookie became available in a variety of flavour combinations, textures and formats. Goodie Rings — sometimes sold as part of a variety pack with chocolate coated oatmeal cookies — were often a household favourite and the first to be eaten.
The Mondelez spokesperson was unable to provide further details, including when the company stopped making Goodie Rings, why they stopped production and if it might ever start making the cookie again.
"Unfortunately, we wouldn't know the exact reason as products can enter a non-production state for numerous reasons," the spokesperson, who didn't provide their name, said in a Facebook message.
People search for the popular cookies
There are Facebook threads and Reddit posts devoted to finding Goodie Rings and some people have tried to replicate the recipe.
"Where can I find dad's goodie rings? I'm looking for these amazing cookies and I legit cannot find them at all, anywhere," user GreGmirezz posted on the r/Alberta page of Reddit.
"Does anyone know of a store that carries these still? I'd pay for shipping if they are available where you are," GreGmirezz asked.
"I've tried a couple copycat recipes but never been pleased. I'd love a good one too," Tara Robinson posted on Facebook.
Charles Tooke, owner of Lakeview Fine Foods in Regina, said he started noticing that his orders for Goodie Rings weren't getting filled by distributors in early 2021.
At first he assumed it was related to the pandemic, like the toilet paper shortages of 2020.
"Usually we could find a reason like this a temporary thing or production issue because of the pandemic. But this one seems to be the one that is just kind of a mystery," Tooke said.
The cookies were a top seller and for the first few months Tooke regularly had people stopping in or phoning to see if he had stock.
"They sold very well. People love them. People are looking for them all the time," Tooke said.
"So it wasn't an issue of, you know, things that just don't move. They moved quite well, but they just kind of disappeared. And from what I've been able to tell, no one really has a concrete answer to why," Tooke said.
Mondelez's Facebook spokesperson did note that Goodie Rings aren't discontinued, they are just in a non-production state, giving hope to snackers that the chewy, chocolatey treats could again one day grace grocery store shelves.
It's also not the first time Mondelez has dropped a cookie from its Dad's line.
In 2017 it drew the ire of consumers for discontinuing its chocolate chip cookie.
The disappearance of Goodie Rings has a particular sting in Saskatchewan.
Dad's cookies were once manufactured in Regina.
The company originally manufactured cookies from a plant on Dewdney Avenue, moving to Albert Street in the 1950s and then to White City in the 1960s, according to the City of Regina.
In 1984, Dad's cookies left the province, moving its operations to Toronto.
