The growing significance of Bear Naked

In the past month some new Bear Naked cereals have been appearing on some grocers' shelves. While that might not sound like big news, it actually is since these are the first of their cereals to come in boxes and not as pure granola plays. It appears that there are three new Bear Naked varieties: Chocolate Almond Clusters, Toasted Coconut Clusters, and Sweet Honey Clusters. While they contain granola clusters, these cereals are based around multigrain flakes.

I first came across Bear Naked 11 years ago, and at that time was impressed with their creative marketing and pouch packaging. Kellogg also took notice, and by the end of 2007 had purchased the cereal startup. Since then, despite some branding updates, Bear Naked has largely been a granola manufacturer. Things started to change, however, last year when they began a serious foray into custom cereals, the first time for one of the major cereal companies. Now, in 2017, with these new boxed cereals Bear Naked is ready for the mainstream. Within the larger Kellogg family Bear Naked appears to be focused on delivering hearty, natural cereals; a unique position compared to the health-food image of Kashi, and the more conventional varieties under the Kellogg label. It may also be that Bear Naked will accomplish what big K was hoping to accomplish in their lackluster Origins line launched two years ago.

Bear Naked is quickly emerging as a strong brand, and with continued focus could provide Kellogg a powerful new place in the minds of consumers.

Bear Naked goes wild

Recently I highlighted the new custom cereal venture at Bear Naked, a Kellogg company. Since then I've placed my first order in order to test the process. Within a few days my canister arrived, presented in an attractive box, along with a handwritten note, thanking me for my order. The experience has been pleasant, reinforcing my observation that they are really trying hard to get this right.

Another feature of Bear Naked's version of customization is the inclusion of unique ingredients not commonly found in breakfast cereals, such as jalapeno, lavender, kale and olives. The whole point of that is to position granola as something that can be eaten not just at breakfast, but even at other times in the day when you want stronger, savory flavors. Since my first post, Bear Naked has added several more novel flavors that should definitely get consumers' attention. Most notable, are two non-alcoholic wine varieties, and also a bourbon flavor.

Not having tried any of these truly wild flavors, I can't really comment as to whether these types of granola will start a new eating trend. At minimum, however, these bold additions to the ingredient options should generate buzz, whether or not people actually try them. Of course, the key will be marketing, something I haven't really seen too much of so far.

Give Bear Naked credit for an worthy experiment, and we'll keep watching to see if this adds new life to the cereal industry in the U.S.

Bear Naked goes custom

I've long been an advocate of customized cereals, largely because of the innovation and success of mymuesli in Germany. There were several attempts in the U.S. over the years, but earlier this year when the last one closed, it looked like those small-scale ventures were the last gasp for giving American consumers the opportunity to create their own cereal mixes. But, others are still seeing the potential, including MyCerealMix, a small player; and, now I have discovered that Kellogg-owned Bear Naked also launched their own customization effort earlier this year.

Bear Naked Custom Made Granola is a website (bearnakedcustom.com) that allows consumers the opportunity to create their own granola recipe and have it shipped to them in an attractive canister. On the surface this is very similar to the other companies that have entered this field at some point, but there are some noteworthy differences. First, this is a well-designed online store, backed by one of the major cereal manufacturers. Second, they are stepping outside the ordinary with fifty different non-GMO ingredients, including several very novel ones for cereal, such as jalapeno, lavender, kale and olives. These diverse ingredients allow for some out-of-the-box combinations, including some "chef blends" with names like "Chocolate Strawberry Jalapeno," and "Olive You, Kale."

The ordering process is pretty simple, although there are certain limits when creating your mix. There are only three granola bases to start with, and you can only add three additional ingredients. Bare Naked brags that their website is powered by IBM's Watson to help you create the perfect blend, but I have not found that feature to be that useful. Once you have determined your recipe, you get to choose from one of five canister designs, featuring a different styled bear. The price is $9.99 for 11oz, and that includes shipping.

This is a major development. For the first time a major U.S. player is entering the custom cereal market. So far, this seems low profile, as I haven't seen any advertising, other than a few social media posts. It somehow passed my notice until now, and I doubt that many others have really tapped into it yet either. If Kellogg wants this to be successful they will need to find some way to get the word out, and entice consumers with the opportunity to create cereals that they might actually eat!

The Bear Naked story

The New York Times recently ran an article on Kelly Flatley and Brendan Synnott, founders of the successful Bear Naked granola cereal brand. Bear Naked is an innovative, alternative brand that recently was purchased by Kellogg, leaving the two partners with tons of money.

In many ways it is sad to see a small, upstart like Bear Naked get taken over by a big corporation. But, if you offered me $122 million I'd probably take it too!

Nevertheless, a story worth reading.

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