The Cereal Bowl leading restaurant race

Over the past few years I have been watching with interest the fledgling growth of cereal restaurants. It's an innovative concept that has much promise, but is still struggling to get traction.

Exactly one year ago today the initial frontrunner in the race, Cereality, was bought out by Cold Stone Creamery. While Cold Stone has experimented with two combo stores (one in Colorado, the other in Arizona), Cereality is down to four locations. They had such promise.

The clear leader in the race today is the The Cereal Bowl. They now have twenty-two franchise locations, and are looking ahead with new store designs suited for more urban areas than college campuses, and new sustainable packaging. They appear to be one to watch now. (Source: QSR magazine).

Technorati Tags: cereal, restaurants, The+Cereal+Bowl, Cereality, breatkfastbowl

Give it away

Cereal samples have been around for quite some time. But Kellogg is pushing the concept even further by actually giving away full boxes of cereal.

OK, they're not handing out boxes in the stores, but certain new cereals have a "Try FREE" banner on the top. You simply send in your receipt and a form from inside the box and they will send you a check for the amount. A creative way to get people's attention. But, like most rebate programs, the actual number of people who bother to send in the form will probably be low. Yet, it could be a good marketing investment for Kellogg.

This offer appears to be on the new Smart Start Strong Heart Strawberry Oat Bites, and I've seen it on the new Frosted Mini-Wheat Blueberry Muffin flavor. If successful you may see it on other new cereals too.

Technorati Tags: cereal, Kellogg, marketing, breakfastbowl

Alpha-Bits are back?

I have to admit, this one caught me off guard. Post has recently relaunched Alpha-Bits cereal. What surprised me is that I didn't even miss them. Apparently this class cereal brand was taken off the market in 2006.

According to Post, the new Alpha-Bits "is back with a great tasting formula that also has nutrients to support healthy brain development!" Must be so that they can spell better?

I can't speak for the cereal itself yet, but I like the new box!

Technorati Tags: cereal, Post, Alpha-Bits, breakfastbowl

Kellogg's meddles with recipes

Last year Kellogg announced major nutrition and advertising changes because of increased public pressure against their marketing to children. Most notable, so far, has been new nutrition labeling.

Kellogg recently announced that they will now be modifying recipes of many of their popular cereals, including Froot Loops, Corn Pops, Apple Jacks, and Cocoa Krispies. They will be reformulated to contain less than 12 grams of sugar per serving. Rice Krispies will now be lower in sodium. This is in compliance with their own new guidelines which limit advertising to children if certain nutrition standards are not met.

Certainly the world has changed, and the pressure on Kellogg is understandable. But, cereal purists will grieve over the changes. Some of the "fun" behind these sugar-laden cereals is being toned down, and that's a cultural loss.

Kellogg's press release

Technorati Tags: cereal, Kellogg, nutrition, breakfastbowl

Kellogg shrinks again

The high cost of fuel is impacting all facets of our economy. Cereal companies are no exception. Certainly rising prices have an impact on sales, but the one practice I find deplorable is tricking consumers by shrinking the box sizes. While not the first time that has been done, Kellogg appears to be doing it again with certain cereal (see mlive.com)

How small can they get?

Technorati Tags: cereal, Kellogg, breakfastbowl

Charming

General Mills has announced a new charm to Lucky Charms, the first permanent addition in more than 10 years. For those of you who keep track of these details it is a yellow "magical hourglass" to give Lucky "the power to control time".

This comes at a time when there is growing concern about the use of artificial food dyes.

But, who cares as long it sells cereal?

(reference TwinCities.com)

Technorati Tags: cereal, General+Mills, Lucky+Charms, breakfastbowl

Is it art or a light?

Refined Sugar Studio, a Cincinnati contemporary design studio, has created a fluorescent light fixture featuring cereal box images, all of whcih are sugared cereals.

It's called "Refined Cereal".

The perfect addition to the home decor of any cereal lover!

Technorati Tags: cereal, lights, art, breakfastbowl

It's the coffee

Cereal, as a high-carb food, often gets a bad rap for raising people's blood sugar. A recent Canadian study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that the real culprit could the caffeinated coffee you are drinking along with your cereal.

Stick to a glass of juice.

(Story from the London Free Press)

Technorati Tags: cereal, coffee, caffeine, breakfastbowl

Cereal Heroes - coming to a theatre near you

There is word this week that Fable Works, a movie production and animation company, will be producing a 3D-animated movie, Cereal Heroes, to be released in 2010. According to their press release,

The story follows the adventures of cartoon cereal-box-mascots who are mistakenly brought to life when a plan to replace the world’s fallen superheroes with characters from comic books goes awry. These unlikely “Cereal Heroes” with ridiculous powers soon find themselves alone and on the run in an unfamiliar world that only they can save from certain destruction.

There is no word if they will using real cereal mascots (i.e. advertising placements) or coming up with their own. Somehow I can't imagine Toucan Sam, Sugar Bear, the Trix rabbit and Tony the Tiger saving the world.

Press release link

Technorati Tags: cereal, movies, mascots, breakfastbowl

Cereal influences gender of babies

A recent study out of the UK examined the relationship between the foods eaten by pregnant women and the gender of their babies. The only food that showed a correlation was breakfast cereal. Women who ate breakfast cereal daily were more likely to have a boy.

Does this mean mothers will start changing their eating habits to help determine the sex of their next child?

Article from healthcarerepublic.com

Technorati Tags: cereal, gender, nutrition, breakfastbowl