Cereal upstarts I

One aspect of the cereal industry that has regularly captured my attention is the attempt by small, emerging companies to break into the cereal marketplace and take on the "big three". There are dozens of alternative brands out there focusing on a particular niche, some appear to be reasonably successful. A few, like Kashi, became so successful that they were actually taken over by one of the big cereal giants (i.e. Kellogg in this case).

Over the next week I will be writing several posts that look deeper into "upstart" cereal companies that are currently trying to gain a foothold into a very crowded cereal marketplace. To do so I have contacted three such companies, representing a diversity of approaches and strategies. Company officials have provided me their perspectives and I will be sharing those in the coming days. A couple have also given me samples to try.

The three companies I will be highlighting are:

• Carman's Find Foods an Australian firm just starting to make a presence in the U.S.
• [me] & goji one of the custom cereal companies, and
• Pro-Oats a small instant oatmeal manufacturer just getting started

I know you will find their stories and insights interesting.

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