The rising popularity of breakfast cereal
In the beginning was Shredded Wheat.
Today, there are Alpha Bits and Apple Jacks, Bran Buds, Bran Flakes and Raisin Bran, Cheerios, Corn Chex, Rice Chex, and Wheat Chex, Cocoa Krispies, Cocoa Puffs, Concentrate, Corn Crackos, Corn Flakes, Corn Nix, Crispy Critters, Froot Loops, Frosty O’s, Grape Nuts and Grape Nuts Flakes, Honeycomb, Krumbles, Lucky Charms, OKs, Puffa-Puffa Rice, Quake and Quisp, Rice Krispies, Special K, Stars, Sugar Crisp, Sugar Frosted Flakes, Sugar Jets, Sugar Pops, Sugar Smacks, Sugar Sparkled Rice Krinkles, Total, Trix, Wheat Stax, and, of course, Wheaties — to name a few of the breakfast cereals now on the market.
The list amounts to second-degree assault on the language, but it adds up to about 1.2 billion pounds of cleverly disguised corn, oats, rice, and wheat that will be sold to Americans this year as breakfast food. Americans, obviously, buy a lot of ready-to-eat cereals. Retail sales of dry cereals will total about $660 million this year. The business can be very profitable: even a one percent share of that market can generate something on the order of $1 million in pretax profits.
With sales up 43 percent in the past five years, the dry cereal business has been one of the fastest-growing segments of the food industry. It is no coincidence that this growth has paralleled a surge in the number of very young Americans. Children consume about half the cereal eaten in the US.
MORE: Saturday morning cartoons & cereal ads (1967)
The industry’s ability to reach this market so well rests on two things: persuading mothers of the nutritional value that is built into even the most ridiculous names on those gaudy packages; and persuading the children themselves, on afternoon and Saturday morning television shows, to demand cereals featuring “go power” or “crunchability.”
This bifold approach has sold a lot of cereal. It has also enabled the manufacturers to promote the uniqueness of their brands, and thus insulate themselves from private labeling and price competition that raise havoc with other package groceries.
Post cereals
Post Toasties corn flakes, Alpha-Bits, Grape Nuts, Raisin Bran, Corn Flakes & Blueberries, Honeycomb, Sugar Crisp
MORE POST: The Flintstones help debut Fruity Pebbles & Cocoa Pebbles cereals (1970)
Kellogg’s breakfast cereals
OKs, Concentrate, Krumbles, Shredded Wheat, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Frosted Flakes, Special K, Froot Loops, 40% Bran Flakes, Product 19, Puffa Puffa Rice, Raisin Bran, Cocoa Krispies, Apple Jacks, Sugar Smacks, Sugar Pops
MORE FROM KELLOGG’S: The original Rice Krispies Treats recipe & their delicious history
ALSO SEE: Giant Raisin Bran cookies recipe (1998)
Quaker, Nabisco & Ralston Purina cereals
Quaker: Cap’n Crunch, Quisp, Quake
Nabisco: Spoon Size Shredded Wheat, All Family Team flakes
Ralston Purina: Wheat Chex, Rice Chex
MORE QUAKER: Instant Quaker Oatmeal flavors for kids (1972 & 1986)
General Mills cereals in 1967
Cheerios, Wheaties, Kix, Trix; Jets, Sugared Frosty O’s, Total, Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms
MORE FROM GENERAL MILLS: Hot buttered Cheerios recipe (1982)
