Why not veggies?

We're on a roll. Innovation is in full gear this year, evidenced by some recent posts highlighting cereal that doesn't require milk and some made from beans. The novel use of ingredients may be a significant way for new companies to gain a foothold in this challenging market.

Now we turn our attention to cereal made with vegetables! Bitsy's Brainfood is a company that's been making children's "smart snack foods" for a couple of years. Recently they expanded their offerings to include three vegan cereals that include veggies among other ingredients. This does make the cereals stand out from competition, especially for parents that are wanting highly nutritious foods for their children. Perhaps this is about marketing to a large degree, but the company highlights the highly nutritious qualities including the fact that they are organic, good sources of some key nutrients, without GMOs, among other things.

Currently the three varieties are Banana Squash Squares, Carrot Raisin Crunch and Fruit & Veggie 1,2,3. With limited retail distribution I haven't actually seen these for sale, but look forward to getting my hands on some to try.

So, what's next?

Beans for Breakfast?

If you think my recent post on cereal with water marks innovation, you may be even more impressed with what Love Grown Foods has to offer. The health food cereal company has introduced Power O's, a new line of cereals made from navy beans, garbanzo beans, lentils and brown rice. The rice sounds right, but beans?

Why not? As more and more people seek after highly nutritious foods, the use of beans might be a unique selling point that stands out in the market. Of course, this cereal had better taste good if it's really going to make a difference. Power O's currently come in strawberry, honey, chocolate and original flavors, and that sounds intriguing. Nutritiously they contain 4-6g of protein per serving, low sodium, and 1.5g fat or less per serving.

I haven't tried Power O's yet. In fact, apart from online sales they don't appear to have wide retail distribution. Nevertheless, when I do get my hands on some I will definitely give them a spin for a review.

Mornflake - just add water!

Life has been extremely busy the last month, and I haven't posted here for quite some time. With things starting to get back to normal, watch for lots over the next week!

In order to turn around the slump facing big brand cereals it is going to take innovation. And, one aspect innovation needs to address is convenience. From the across the pond in Great Britain we just might have one of those solutions.

Mornflake claims to be the oldest cereal company in the UK, but their latest idea is fresh and new. Their new Superfast cereal pots contain dried skimmed milk powder meaning that all you have to do is add cold water and you are ready to eat breakfast. No need to have milk around. A great idea for eating on the run, etc.

The biggest challenge is changing consumers habits and perceptions. The convenience factor could help people change their habits, but powdered milk also has mental barriers for some people to overcome. Nevertheless, if the cereal tastes great and is well marketed this could be a breakthrough.

There's no word when will these will be available in the U.S. Perhaps this is an idea some enterprising American company wants to undertake?