TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Shoppers used to be able to buy Ronzoni pastina for about $2 a box, but if they want to enjoy the miniature, star-shaped pasta now, it could cost anywhere from a dozen to hundreds of dollars.
Online resellers have listed multi-packs of the discontinued pasta for over $100 on eBay, including one on sale for nearly $200. Individual boxes have been listed as high as $20, with each listing indicating they’ve sold dozens of them.
Pastina is commonly used in broths and soups and, due to its small size, is often fed to children. Ronzoni announced it was discontinuing the product due to manufacturing issues.
A spokesperson for 8th Avenue – the company that owns Ronzoni told MarketWatch that the “small size and star-shape require specialized production from a third-party manufacturer” and that “despite exhaustive efforts, we have been unable to identify a viable, new manufacturer who could make Pastina in the same shape, size and standards that Ronzoni customers have come to expect from this comforting classic.”
Of course, other companies make their own versions of pastina, but fans of Ronzoni still mourn the discontinued dish. Food publication Bon Appétit called it “the first devastating food casualty of 2023.”