The Discontinued Canned Marie Callender's Stew Fans Dearly Miss

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The Marie Callender's brand, with its signature green packaging, is instantly familiar from the freezer aisle of the grocery store. Yet, the brand's empire extends well beyond the many Marie Callender's frozen meals on offer. There are still a number of Marie Callender's restaurants open, spread throughout California, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. But one unexpected product from the brand found itself with quite a cult following: Marie Callender's Angus Beef Chili.

A brief glance across the internet will show that this particular chili is ranked by many among the very best. Much to the dismay of the dedicated fans of this canned meal, however, the producer, Conagra, has seemingly discontinued its production. But fans have not been shy in sharing their opinions and begging for its return. All you have to do is take a gander at the product listings on the websites for stores like Walmart or King Soopers, and the dedication — and sorrow — is plainly apparent. There are countless five-star reviews with comments to the effect of "the best chili I have eaten [in my 70 years]" and "this is the best canned chili ever. Bring it back!"

One user even shared their experience with reaching out to Conagra directly to lobby for a return of this canned favorite. Unfortunately, the response did not sound particularly promising. "Thank you for letting us know that you were a fan of our Marie Callender's Angus Beef Chili with Beans," the company reportedly wrote back. "I'm sorry that it's no longer available. However, there are many reasons we discontinue products, including how consumer preferences change over time. Your feedback is very important to us and will be shared with our team."

It is never easy to watch a favorite product disappear from the shelves, and it is no surprise that fans are eager to share their dismay and desire to see it return to production. If you fall into this group and also consider yourself to be on the more action-oriented side of the spectrum, the best bet is to reach out to the company directly. However, Conagra is a giant food manufacturer, managing production for many major brands, such as Birds Eye, Duncan Hines, and Healthy Choice, to name a few. As such, it would likely take an extensive movement to bring this product back to shelves — but it never hurts to ask.

For the more passive fans (and the pessimists) out there, your best bet is probably to just explore a ranking of the absolute best canned chilis. It may not be exactly the same, but there are likely other options on that list that can help fill the void left by Marie Callender's. And if you look with a careful eye, you might be able to pick up something quite similar.

In addition to producing these now-famous cans of chili for Marie Callender's, Conagra also produces chili for several other labels. For example, canned Wendy's chili is now available at grocery stores as another product from the same producer. Another can that might be familiar to you from the shelves of your local grocer is Wolf Brand Chili, which is another Conagra product. But, if all else fails, and you just have to have that original recipe, you can still find some cans listed on sites like Amazon, albeit at grossly inflated secondary-market prices of around $14 a can.