In sixth grade my mom took me to our local Hollywood Video so I could rent Fellowship of the Rings. I had started reading the trilogy, and wanted to watch each movie as I finished the corresponding book. Shockingly, my mom acquiesced — I’m guessing she wasn’t wholly familiar with its contents.
More importantly, I saw a box of Buncha Crunch on the shelf.
I have immense fondness for the old style of Nestle Crunch bars, when it was a lovely rectangle with a huge “CRUNCH” embossed across it. I would nibble around the edges to leave only the word, and subsequently consume it letter by letter. Finding a snackable version of this excellent crisped rice treat was thrilling.
Reading the box back then, the suggested approach was to mix the candy in with your bucket of popcorn. I tried that the first time, and it didn’t settle well with me. I’m not a “sweet” popocrn person, it turns out.
So, I quickly switched to eating it in the standard style of boxed movie candies: picking at pieces on the top, then pouring it into my hand once I can no longer slide it farther into the box, and finally pouring it directly into my mouth.
Over the years I’d always look for it at movie theaters, and typically I could find it. It was a pleasant treat. However, my local theater in San Diego didn’t carry it, so I struck out to the grocery store to satiate myself during at-home movie nights.
I strolled to the candy aisle, and quickly found the “movie candy” section populated by Junior Mints, Raisinets, Milk Duds, and their ilk. I rapidly scanned the shelves for the characteristic blue box I associated with the movie-watching experience, only to find their spot labeled on the shelf, entirely empty.
I naively thought that I simply wasn’t the only one who understood which of these boxes held the premier movie snack. Time would quickly show me that, no, that spot on the shelf would shortly disappear as Buncha Crunch was evidently removed from shelves at every grocery store near me.
I went to Amazon in desperation, only to discover that any options were in large quantities that would take weeks to ship. I was afraid my days with Buncha Crunch may already be over.
Enter the CVS a few blocks down the street. When picking up some items there, I happened to be in the mood for a bit of chocolate. Behold their own small movie snack area where Bunch Crunch was prominently displayed among the other options.
I bought three boxes immediately.
For the remainder of my time in San Diego, that CVS always had some Buncha Crunch in stock, and I never saw it anywhere else.
I’m now about eighteen months removed from San Diego, and the Safeway nearby is similar to my previous local grocery store: all the classic movie snacks in boxes except my beloved Buncha Crunch. So, imagine my surprise when we hosted a movie night a few weeks ago and one of our friends showed up with a bag of movie snacks, including four boxes of Buncha Crunch. It was one of the kindest actions — everyone in this group knew of my fondness for Buncha Crunch, because luckily the local AMC theater sometimes has it available.
I asked this friend where he got the delicious candy. He told me he stumbled upon it at CVS while looking for something else.