Pamela Low graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1951 with a degree in microbiology. She went to work as a flavorist for Arthur D. Little, an international consulting firm based in Boston.
In the early 1960s, Pamela was tasked with devising a flavor for a new cereal to be introduced by Quaker Oats, a client of Arthur D. Little. Pamela thought… and remembered a dish that her grandmother would prepare and serve to her family. The dish was rice in a butter and brown sugar sauce. The flavor stuck with Pamela and she began to work towards recreating the taste. Her efforts resulted in the flavor of Cap’n Crunch… a taste that she described as “want more-ishness.”
Cap’n Crunch — as a concept — was developed long before Pamela was involved. It was conceived by Allan Burns, who would later co-create The Munsters and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The character of blustery Cap’n Horatio Crunch and his intrepid crew was developed in the Marketing Department of Quaker Oats. They just needed a cereal to go with their idea. When Pamela’s concoction was delivered to approving Quaker executives, little did they suspect that Cap’n Crunch would one day lock in as the second most popular cereal after Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes. Needless to say, Quaker was very pleased.
Pamela worked on various other projects during her 34 years with Arthur D. Little, including Mounds, Almond Joy and Heath Bars. Pamela collected various pieces of Cap’n Crunch memorabilia, but, as she admitted in a 2002 interview, she never cared too much for cereal.
Pamela passed away in 2007 at the age of 79.