PG Web Extra: Beyond Breakfast

Who says cereal should only be eaten in the a.m.? That’s the thought behind recent efforts to reposition the breakfast staple as an appropriate food choice at any time of the day, as well as to impart the high recognition factor of familiar cereal brands to other products, as Minneapolis-based General Mills was able to do with its Fiber One portfolio, which now encompasses such items as bars, brownies, cookies and baking mixes.

"We are seeing significant gains across superfood cereals such as Qi'a and more indulgent options like granola, which are both versatile and provide eating occasions outside of morning breakfast," says Darren Mahaffy, VP marketing at Richmond, British Columbia-based Nature's Path Foods, while Noel Geoffroy, SVP for morning foods marketing and innovation at Battle Creek, Mich.-based Kellogg Co., notes that two new flavors from the company's Bear Naked Granola line -- Sea Salt Caramel Apple and Coconut Almond Curry -- "are great in a bowl with milk or straight from the bag as a snack."

"Increasingly, [cereal] has become 'not just for breakfast anymore,' and is commonly enjoyed at different parts of the day, consumed as a snack, used to bridge meals, replace meals [and] even help with satiety and weight management," affirms Leslie Sabino, senior business manager, cereal category and supplier management lead at Stamford, Conn.-based Daymon Worldwide. "Consumers partake in the category [to feed] their desire to snack, indulge and reward themselves, as well as maintain a reliable, affordable option that works for them nutritionally."

Sabino adds that consumption of RTE cereal is driven by consumers' need for snacking alternatives. "Today's snacking culture is so prevalent that cereal brands are offering various packaging for on-the-go consumption to facilitate its snackability."

Among those companies is Post Foods LLC, whose parent company, Post Holding Inc., in St. Louis, recently revealed its pending acquisition of fellow cereal company Mom Brands, based in Lakeville, Minn.  "Consumer behaviors are shifting, affecting the RTE cereal category as a whole," explains General Manager Tony Shurman. "Consumers are seeking fresher, leaner, more on-the-go options, which are having a meaningful, exciting influence on Post's innovation pipeline."

To that end, the Parsippany, N.J.-based manufacturer has "expanded our offerings to include drinks, snack mixes, granolas and biscuits to evolve with America’s evolving tastes," notes Shurman, citing such recent rollouts as "great-tasting Breakfast Biscuits, which deliver over 55 percent of your day's whole grains; Great Grains The Bar Undone granola snack mix; [and] in the drinks space … Post Goodness-To-Go Breakfast/Anytime Shakes." Additionally, for home bakers, there's the Honey Bunches of Oats Granola Snackers line, which goes from mix to oven in five minutes.

The food's versatility is also obvious to retailers. "Customers are looking for alternatives –- quick meal solutions, on-the-go items, single-serve packages that they can eat on the go," affirms Alex Cabrera, category director at Anaheim, Calif.-based Northgate Gonzalez Markets.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Store Inc., meanwhile, is actively engaged in changing perceptions of the category. According to Senior Buyer Amanda Madrid, "We are working with our suppliers [to] focus on taste and convenience and to help break the conventional mode of thinking that cereal is just a breakfast food -- it can be enjoyed many other times throughout the day."

Some Like it Hot

Somewhat intertwined with RTE cereal's evolution beyond breakfast-only fare is the rising trendiness of hot cereals such as oatmeal –- a state of affairs that threatens to steal market share from their cold counterparts. As a result, purveyors of RTE cereals are feeling the need to be more resourceful in product development and marketing.

"RTE cereal and hot cereal are competing for market share and consumer loyalty, leveraging similar attributes toward health and nutritious fortification, and using flavor and textural enhancements," acknowledges Sabino, of Daymon Worldwide. "Hot cereal has a more dominant seasonality for consumption, not really present with RTE cereal. Interestingly though, Millennials have taken an interest in hot cereals, adding another demographic group –- traditionally [they're] a favorite of the older generations."

She adds, "Quick-serve restaurants have oatmeal on the menu as a quick, hot option … and this has facilitated the renaissance of hot cereal today."

In response to the convenient, on-the-go packaging typically employed by hot cereal brands, "RTE cereal has competed … by offering convenient cup options, and has extended into snack-size flow packs for lunchboxes, or office snack alternatives," Sabino points out.

"RTE cereal manufacturers must remain nimble in this challenging environment," asserts Post's Shurman. "At Post, we're focused on excellence in innovation and a concerted focus on product enhancements, leveraging the strong health attributes cereal provides, ensuring we provide compelling value, and evolving to meet consumers' needs."

Continues Shurman: "We're also aiming for future buy-rate growth through a dynamic recipe strategy. Post has been creating eye-catching epicurean recipes using Grape-Nuts, Honey Bunches of Oats and Pebbles cereals. … Fruity Pebbles-topped doughnuts are popping up at specialty bakeries all over the country, and Grape-Nuts can provide a crunchy addition of whole grain and fiber to surprising recipes like vegetarian chili or chicken salads. We're marketing cereal-based recipes online, in public relations efforts and on boxes to show consumers new ways to incorporate Post cereals into their daily routine."

"The interest in hot cereal is a reflection of consumers looking for convenient breakfast options that fill them up and keep them full," observes Gibson at General Mills. "The RTE cold cereal [segment] will compete by offering more cereal options that address this relevant consumer need, including a variety of higher-protein cereal options such as [General Mills'] Cheerios Protein, Nature Valley and Cascadian Farm protein granolas."

At retail, Northgate Gonzalez's Cabrera agrees that all concerned need to up their cold cereal game. "One of the reasons the hot cereal category has been increasing the last few years is due to customer eating habits," he says. "The trend has changed to eating healthier, and hot cereals fulfill that need. Innovation in this category has also helped it; new items such as ready-to-eat and instant oatmeal have been a hit in this category. We need to take these trends, innovations and successes in this category and implement them in the RTE cereal category. Our customers will consume these items as long as we provide the products they need."

There's no rule, however, that cold cereal manufacturers can't also take advantage of hot cereals' popularity by introducing their own items in the latter segment, including category stalwart Kellogg, which has introduced Special K Nourish hot cereal. Nature's Path has also thrown its hat into the hot-cereal ring.  "Our latest innovation, Q'ia Superfood Oatmeal, combines the winning nutrition of our Qi'a cold cereal –- chia, hemp and buckwheat seeds –- with organic gluten-free rolled oats in individual hot-oatmeal sachets," notes Mahaffy, describing the new product line as a "perfect ready-to-eat option for people on the go looking to fuel their day."

Open Season

Kellogg Co. describes its new Open For Breakfast initiative, launched last month in the United States, as "an open forum in the digital and social media space to hear what’'s on peoples' minds and share stories about Kellogg's branded food, its commitments to communities around the world and its pledge to care for the environment."

The iconic cereal maker is inviting consumers to engage with Kellogg via OpenForBreakfast.com or social media. On its side, the Battle Creek, Mich.-based company will provide facts and figures, along with visuals and videos featuring employees, partners and just plain folks. Topics covered will include family nutrition and food sourcing.

“Listening to our consumers and offering a great start to their day is the foundation of Kellogg's business,” notes Noel Geoffroy, Kellogg's SVP for morning foods marketing and innovation. "With Open For Breakfast, we want to earn a seat at peoples’ breakfast tables by opening up and showing how we're working to make their mornings better."

Adds Geoffroy: "Today, people expect more from food companies. Open For Breakfast is our promise to be available for deeper, real-time conversations about the ways we can continue to improve."

In other Kellogg news, the company has launched "Tomorrow," a new marketing campaign reaffirming its status as an early-morning constant. "We know that consumers are eating cereal, as it is the No. 1 breakfast option,” observes Geoffroy. "At Kellogg, we want to keep our place at the breakfast table by getting them thinking about cereal at a new time and in a completely different way. Tomorrow … centers on Kellogg's belief that when you prepare the night before, you set yourself up to better claim the possibilities of tomorrow. So we invite consumers to set their table the night before with Kellogg's cereal and close with our invitation, 'See you at breakfast.'"

Kellogg's latest cereals include Raisin Bran with Cranberries, Special K Gluten Free, Kashi Sprouted Grains Multi-Grain, Special K Protein Cinnamon Brown Sugar Crunch and Froot Loops Bloopers.

Target Debuts Exclusive Kids' Granola Line

Target stores nationwide are now exclusively offering Jr. Organic Granola Cereal, a product line from San Francisco-based artisan granola and bar maker 18 Rabbits. Featuring organic and non-GMO ingredients, the kid-oriented, low-sugar breakfast line comes in Caramel Apple and Chocolate Banana varieties. Minneapolis-based Target also carries 18 Rabbits' Gracious and Felicitas granolas, aimed at a wider audience.

"At 18 Rabbits, everything we do is for the love of food, from the farmers we work with to each ingredient we put in every batch," says Alison Bailey Vercruysse, the company's founder and CEO, who creates all of its offerings from scratch in her kitchen. Vercruysse describes Jr. Organic Granola Cereal as "a delicious yet good-for-you option that will nourish little bodies and provide them with the nutrition they need, without additives and preservatives."

The item retails for a suggested $4.99 per 8-ounce resealable bag. 18 Rabbits donates 1 percent of all of its granola and bars to programs and partners that help children affected by food insecurity, through its 1% for Kids initiative.

Cereal Progression

• Weight Watchers' line of RTE cereal, introduced at select retailers last October, is now available nationwide. Lakeville, Minn.-based Mom Brands, soon to be acquired by Post Holdings Inc., in St. Louis, is licensed to manufacture and distribute the product line, which is available in Oat Clusters With Almonds, Whole Grain Honey Nut Toasted Oats, Frosted Shredded Wheat With Protein, and Oat Clusters With Cherries and Almonds varieties. Retailing for a suggested $3.49, boxes of the cereal range in size from 12.3 ounces to 15.5 ounces.
• Tualatin, Ore.-based Pacific Foods is breaking into the breakfast category with a line of organic ready-to-eat steel-cut oatmeal that goes from box to bowl in just minutes. Due to hit store shelves in April, the vegan, dairy- and soy-free, non-GMO product line will come in the following varieties: Apple & Cinnamon, Flax & Chia Power, Lightly Sweetened, Maple & Brown Sugar, and Unsweetened. A 10-ounce package will retail for a suggested $2.99.
• Uncle Sam Original Wheat Berry Flakes and Uncle Sam Skinner's Raisin Bran, from Eugene, Ore.-based Attune Foods, will now feature the well-known Heart-Check mark of the American Heart Association on their packaging. "For those utilizing the New Year as an opportunity to get back on track with their health and nutrition goals, we want Uncle Sam to be the go-to choice that jump-starts the mornings and nutritiously powers them throughout the day!" says Rob Goluba, director of marketing for the Non-GMO Project Verified fiber and protein cereal brand.
• Minneapolis-based General Mills has joined forces with popular children’s video franchise Skylanders, published by Santa Monica, Calif.-based Activision, to place Skystones cards inside specially marked boxes of Big G cereals. The cards will be playable on the game board found on the reverse side of the boxes. Starting in March and for a limited time only, fans can collect all four Skystones game card sets, each with a downloadable code to unlock characters in the mobile game, which aims to facilitate family fun and bolster development through imaginative and cognitive play.
• Los Angeles-based thinkThin is expanding its product offerings beyond bars with thinkThin Protein & Fiber Hot Oatmeal, which it says is the first in the hot cereal category to offer a combination of protein and fiber at 200 calories or under. Made with a blend of whole rolled oats, steel-cut oats and quinoa, the item will be available in a box of six packets or a single-serve bowl in the following varieties: Farmer’s Market Berry Crumble; Madagascar Vanilla, Almonds, Pecans; Original Sprouted Grains (box only); and Honey Peanut Butter (bowl only). The suggested retail prices are $1.99 for a bowl $1.99 and $4.99 for a box.