Tempting Treats

Cereal marketers’ increasing tendency to extend their brands into other food categories was noted here more than two years ago, but the trend has continued to intensify since then.

Sales of these licensors’ core cereal product spiked during the early pandemic, but have since leveled off, due to a number of factors. They range from consumers spending less time at home and eating breakfast out again, to people trying to wean themselves from comfort foods such as sugary cereals that appealed to them during the lockdown.

Even so, the increased awareness and fondness for breakfast cereal fueled by the pandemic has given certain brands a foundation to extend into additional food categories. This allows them to generate some incremental revenue, maintain awareness through PR and social media activities around launches, and gain a foothold in new aisles of the grocery store. Analysts also expect eating occasions beyond breakfast, including snacking throughout the day, to remain a strong opportunity for the cereal industry. Bringing these beloved flavors into new food categories gives customers more options to choose from, aside from the cereal itself.

Among the examples of cereal properties that have been particularly active on the brand-extension front, especially in late 2021 and early 2022, include:

• General Mills’ Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Partners include B&G for a seasoning blend and a creamy spread; Milk Bar for flavored milk powder, baked goods, and ice cream; Krispy Kreme for donuts; and Sam’s Club for popcorn. In addition, the brand has been extended into a number of categories, including frosting, instant oatmeal, baking mixes, and protein bars, in collaboration with other of General Mills’ proprietary brands, including Betty Crocker.

• Post’s Fruity Pebbles. Deals include collaborations with International Delight for coffee creamers (along with Cocoa Pebbles), Mrs. Butterworth’s for syrup, Con Agra’s Duncan Hines brand for baking mixes, Frankford Candy for candy bars (also with Cocoa Pebbles), and Dymatize for protein powders.

• Kellogg’s’ Froot Loops. Pairings have included nutritional drinks (along with Frosted Flakes) from Carnation; gummies, candy canes, and cereal straws (the last with Cocoa Krispies) from Galerie USA; and flavored milk from Paul’s in Australia (with Coco Pops, the Australian name for Cocoa Krispies).

Additional initiatives involving brands from all three big cereal marketers include Lucky Charms baking mixes (in a collaboration between General Mills brands) and hot chocolate from Con Agra’s Swiss Miss; Rice Krispies Treats and Golden Grahams coffee creamers from Nestlé’s Coffee Mate; Golden Grahams nutritional drinks from Carnation; Apple Jacks and Rice Krispies chocolate Easter bunnies from Frankford; and Cap’n Crunch syrup and pancake mix from Aunt Jemima and popcorn from Smartfood, among other examples.

A number of unauthorized pairings in non-family-friendly categories such as craft beer, vape liquids, and marijuana strains have also arisen, something about which the official owners are generally not happy. But ventures such as these represent additional confirmation of the appeal of these brands for extension into new areas of consumables.

Cereal brands have also been taking advantage of their pop-culture moment by collaborating on non-foods ventures. For example, Post Consumer Brands has announced agreements for Fruity Pebbles in cosmetics, with Revolution Beauty; sneakers, with Nike and LeBron James, and hats, with Love Your Melon.