Crunchie Cereal, Type III is the third iteration of the Canadian Forces standard-issue breakfast cereal, with Strawberry Crunchie Cereal, Type II another standard variant, issued primarily to combat arms and units on deployment to temperate regions.
All Crunchie Cereal variants are packaged in milspec 50g foil/paper packets, approximately 10 cm x 14 cm, with indentations near the top to permit rapid cereal deployment. The text - printed on one side of the packet only, in both official languages - indicates the Crunchie Cereal variant, as well as instructions on its usage. For ease of identification, standard Crunchie Cereal packets have coyote brown text, whereas Strawberry Crunchie Cereal packets have high-visibility pastel red.
While bearing many similarities to the civilian models of Crunchie Cereal as produced by the civilian cereal industry, the military Crunchie Cereal differs significantly in a number of respects. For example, both the Crunchie Cereal, Type III and the Strawberry Crunchie Cereal, Type II contain coconut, toasted oats, and - in the case of the Strawberry Crunchie Cereal, Type II - morale-enhancing strawberry flavouring. Furthermore, these models of Crunchie Cereal may be used with or without water and/or milk, hot or cold; even civilian water may be used in the absence of a dedicated military water supply.
Crunchie Cereal, Type III and Strawberry Crunchie Cereal, Type II have been deployed with various Canadian military units as part of both UN peacekeeping missions and the ongoing War on Terror in Afghanistan. Notably, Strawberry Crunchie Cereal, Type II has been deployed with Joint Task Force 2, Canada's elite special forces unit, in a counter-terrorism role; however, the specific details of its employment remain highly classified. The Dutch Korps Mariniers have also been known to employ Crunchy Cereal, Type III in the course of their duties, albeit with modifications to better suit their operational needs (e.g., changing of packaging, coconut content, etc.).
In the minds of military analysts worldwide, Crunchie Cereal, Type III ranks among the most versatile and reliable Crunchie Cereal variants used by and manufactured for a modern military force.