Dive Brief:
- With a new year came a listing of more than 50 new products Kellogg Company is launching — including seven new varieties of cereal, according to a company statement.
- The new cereals include fresh takes on old favorites, such as an apple strawberry Raisin Bran, a granola version of Special K, and Cinnamon Frosted Flakes.
- Kid-targeted sweet cereals are also among the launches, including branded varieties from movies "Moana" and "Despicable Me," a Disney Princess variety, and Keebler Cookie cereal, with miniature chocolate chip cookies and cookie dough flavored bits.
Dive Insight:
With so many new cereal products, it's easy to think that breakfast in a bowl is thriving and popular, but cereal has been steadily losing market share to other more convenient breakfast foods. One of the nation's top cereal makers, Kellogg's recently reported quarterly net sales declined 2.2%, with consumers buying 1% less cereal.
Kellogg's leadership has continued to be optimistic about the potential for cereal growth as a snack, as a dessert, and without milk — and these new products represent an effort to revive sales and expand cereal's stomach share beyond breakfast. The offerings feature charged-up flavors that could be easy to grab as a quick snack and hold their own without the need for milk. Whether they will be what the company needs to bring back sales will become increasingly evident in upcoming earnings reports. Only time will tell if consumers are willing to eat more cereal.
The new children's cereals also play up recognizable characters, popular cartoons, and the kid staples of marshmallows and cookies. It's worth noting that many health and consumer groups oppose targeting children with marketing for unhealthy food. While these boxes will certainly attract attention of the youngest shoppers — especially the sparkling ones for the Disney Princess variety — they aren't likely to please many parents. While studies have shown that parents' grocery decisions are swayed by what their children want, the healthiness of those products drives 91% of those choices.