Dive Brief:
- General Mills has announced the upcoming release of two varieties of Girl Scout cookie-themed cereals, Star Tribune reported.
- The cereal flavors include Thin Mints and Caramel Crunch, which likely draws inspiration from the cookies known as Caramel deLites or Samoas.
- The cereals should hit stores by January, a General Mills spokesperson told CBS News.
Dive Insight:
With these new cereals, consumers can now enjoy the taste of their favorite Girl Scout cookies year-round, rather than wait to enjoy them for a limited time once a year.
However, this new development seems to undermine General Mills' efforts to make its cereal more healthy. In recent years, this initiative has included removing artificial ingredients and releasing gluten-free cereal varieties, among other strategies.
The Girl Scout cookie-themed cereals could be part of a strategy to align cereal with the snacks category. These new varieties demonstrate that cereal can be both a breakfast food and an indulgent snack or dessert, like Girl Scout cookies. General Mills has already worked to separate cereal from milk by selling its products in single-serve containers and snack bars, and these snack-friendly cereal varieties are another step in that direction.
This isn't the Girl Scouts' first brand partnership. The organization also partnered with Pillsbury, owned by Smucker, to create baking mixes themed after its iconic cookies, announced earlier this year. The flavors have also been featured in PepsiCo-owned Quaker Chewy granola bars.