NATIONAL DAYFOOD & DRINK

National Raisin Day

National Raisin Day on April 30 honors the dried-grape treat that fueled Roman armies, sweetened medieval pastries, and now lives in every American cereal box, trail mix, and oatmeal cookie. Official day since 1909, founded by the California Associated Raisin Company (later Sun-Maid) to promote the brand. Turned out to be one of the longest-running and most successful branded observances in US history.

APR30

Friday, April 30Every year on April 30

days to go

Vibe: Wholesome & Ancient
Also on Apr 30: International Jazz Day · Prepareathon! Day · Sarcoidosis Day
Hashtag: #NationalRaisinDay

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Ways to celebrate

Take raisins seriously:

🥣 Eat them on purpose. Raisin Bran with cold milk. Raisin bread with butter. Trail mix at the peak of a hike. They're still delicious when we pay attention.
👩‍🍳 Bake raisin bread or raisin oatmeal cookies. April 30 is conveniently also National Oatmeal Cookie Day — combine them.
🍷 Pair wisely. Plumped raisins with cheese (especially sharp cheddar, aged gouda) plus a dessert wine. Sophisticated.
📖 Read Sun-Maid's history. The girl on the red box is a real person; the story is fantastic.
🇬🇷 Try Greek currants. Dried Corinth grapes — smaller, more intense than regular raisins. The Mediterranean's original raisin.

Make it your kind of celebration

Family
Raisin 'boxes' in lunchboxes is a kid classic. Still the healthiest handheld sweet snack available.
Kids
Play the 'Raisin Experiment' — drop raisins in sparkling water and they'll dance up and down for 20 minutes. The bubbles lift them; they sink; they rise. Science-y magic.
Couples
Plumped raisins (soak in rum or brandy overnight) are a hidden gem of an appetizer with strong cheese and dark chocolate.
Office
Dried fruit mix in the break room instead of candy. Quietly virtuous.
School
Classic social studies/geography lesson — where do America's raisins come from? What's the supply chain? Grade 4+ stuff.
Community
Food bank donations of raisin boxes are welcome — shelf-stable, no-cook, kid-approved.
Just me
One handful, one coffee, one clear-minded moment. Raisins reward the close attention.

Plan ahead

National Raisin Day is observed on April 30 every year. Here is where it lands for the next ten years, handy for planners, marketers and party people.

2026Thu, Apr 30this year

2027Fri, Apr 30

2028Sun, Apr 30

2029Mon, Apr 30

2030Tue, Apr 30

2031Wed, Apr 30

2032Fri, Apr 30

2033Sat, Apr 30

2034Sun, Apr 30

2035Mon, Apr 30

2036Wed, Apr 30

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Fast facts

1909

The story

Raisins are one of humanity's oldest preserved foods. The ancient Phoenicians and Armenians were drying grapes 3,000 years ago. Roman legions carried raisins as ration food on long campaigns. Medieval European bakers used them as the primary sweetener in cakes and bread, honey was expensive; raisins were cheap.

Read the full story

The American raisin industry started by accident. In September 1873, a heatwave in California's San Joaquin Valley ruined a grape grower named Francis Eisen's crop, the grapes dried on the vine before he could harvest them. Instead of throwing them away, he sold them to a San Francisco grocer as a novelty. They sold out immediately. Within 5 years, California farmers were intentionally drying grapes.

The industry grew fast. By 1900, California was producing most of America's raisins. In 1912, growers banded together as the California Associated Raisin Company, the co-op that became Sun-Maid. The iconic red bonnet and red box appeared in 1915. An ad director saw a young woman named Lorraine Collett drying her dark hair in the sun at her mother's Fresno home; she was wearing a red sunbonnet. He asked her to model. She became the Sun-Maid.

National Raisin Day was declared in 1909 by the California Associated Raisin Company as a marketing move, and it worked spectacularly. Raisin consumption tripled in the first decade. Kellogg's put raisins in Raisin Bran (1942). Post made Raisin Nut Bran (1989). Every oatmeal cookie recipe in America started specifying raisins. The April 30 observance endures, 116 years later, as quietly as the raisin itself.

Four varieties of American raisin, each with its own character:

Six great raisin traditions worth knowing, and tasting:

Did you know?

The Sun-Maid girl is based on a real person.

Lorraine Collett, a 16-year-old in Fresno, CA, was spotted in 1915 drying her dark hair in the sun in a red bonnet. She agreed to model. Her image has been on every Sun-Maid box since, the longest-running brand mascot using a real person in US history.

4 pounds of grapes = 1 pound of raisins.

Drying grapes causes massive water loss and concentrates sugars. Which is why raisins have more calories per gram than fresh grapes, all the sugar, none of the water.

California Raisins had a hit album.

The 1980s animated 'California Raisins' commercials, singing, dancing claymation raisins covering 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine', spun off a 1987 Christmas TV special, a line of toys, and an album that went platinum. One of the most successful ad campaigns of the decade.

Raisins are in chocolate-covered form, too.

Raisinets (introduced 1927 by Blumenthal Brothers Chocolate Company, now owned by Nestlé) are the #2 most popular movie theater candy in the US. They've been in continuous production for nearly 100 years.