New and Noteworthy
They come in formats ranging from boxes to bowls, sticks to bars. They run hot, cold and somewhere in between. They come in grab-and-go and single-serve formats, as well as family-size.
Today’s new breakfast food launches reflect consumers’ shifting needs and demands, from better-for-you choices spanning organic, natural, humanely raised, nutrient-dense, gluten-free and other attributes, to convenience-oriented breakfast foods that can be opened and consumed in a matter of a few minutes while dashing out the door.
Frozen breakfast foods have been a particularly bright spot in the overall breakfast market, aimed at the convenience-oriented segment of the market. While sales of other frozen foods, such as entrées, have been rather flat, sales of frozen breakfast entrées and other breakfast foods have increased, according to sales data from Chicago-based IRI.
The freezer case features a growing array of frozen breakfast choices. Battle Creek, Mich.-based Kellogg Co., for example, recently introduced a new line of waffle-based Eggo Breakfast Sandwiches. The Hot Pockets line of hand-held frozen meals has entered the breakfast daypart in a bold way with new Hot Pockets Breakfast Bites in Bacon, Egg and Cheese; Ham, Egg and Cheese; and Sausage, Egg and Cheese varieties.
Packaging in the freezer case has also become more user-friendly For instance, Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes and waffles, from Chicago-based Quaker Oats Co., are now sold in stand-up, resealable flexible packaging.
Nutrition bars and cookies are other hot spots within the breakfast arena. According to a 2015 report on nutritional and cereal bars from Rockville, Md.-based Packaged Facts, sales of bars should reach $8 billion in 2019.
Examples of new bars and cookies for breakfast include Nature Valley’s Salted Caramel Peanut Crisp Bars, Nabisco’s BelVita Bites mini breakfast biscuits, Honey Bunches of Oats Breakfast Biscuits and Quaker’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies.
Speaking of oatmeal, that longtime favorite breakfast food is getting a new look and taste, too. Last year, the venerable Quaker brand, owned by Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo, added new Quaker Warm & Crunchy Granola hot cereal and Quaker Real Medleys Cereal. Another oatmeal innovation comes from The Chia Co., with U.S. headquarters in New York: Chia Pod Oats, a ready-to-eat, microwaveable breakfast made with oats, chia seeds, fruit and virgin coconut oil.
Toaster pastries, another favorite type of morning meal, include new products as well. Kellogg recently added Gone Nutty varieties to its Pop Tarts line, along with a frosted Blue Raspberry flavor.
As for yogurt, it’s hard to keep track of all of the new varieties that have hit the market in recent years, many of them consumed not only as part of morning meals, but as anytime snacks as well. The latest entry from General Mills’ Yoplait brand, for instance, is Yoplait Plenti, which the Minneapolis-based company describes as “Greek yogurt reinvented and made more plentiful.”
Even basic morning coffee has received a jolt, thanks to a variety of new ready-to-drink refrigerated coffee beverages sold under such brands as High Brew, Stumptown and Grady’s.