Cheerios’ cost-effective cheer is sweeping the U.S. as budget-conscious shoppers stay home instead of dining out.
Food manufacturer and cereal giant General Mills beat quarterly sales estimates, according to the company’s second-quarter results posted Wednesday.
General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening said that lower- and middle-income families are “continuing to feel significant economic pressure,” and are concentrating a bigger share of their spending on sale items rather than regularly priced ones.
Amid the facts and figures of the company’s earnings call, it also revealed plans to launch “new offerings” across several brands that sell cereal.
There will be a new line of Cheerios granola that will have “familiar flavors families will love,” the company said. General Mills noted that granola is the fastest-growing cereal segment, and that it’s addressing demand in the area with 10 new granola items.
Expect to see new offerings from the company’s protein-cereal collaboration with lifestyle sports nutrition brand Ghost. The collab has produced a protein-packed version of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and General Mills plans to expand the cereal’s availability in the months ahead.
General Mills also plans to launch “new indulgent flavors” in its booming Nature Valley Protein Granola line, which grew nearly 20 percent in the second quarter.
With consumers across the country looking to spend less this holiday season, cereal provides an affordable alternative to getting breakfast from a restaurant or fast-food location.
For example, a family-size box of Cheerios granola cereal may cost around $6 for 13 servings, whereas 13 servings of a McDonald’s Sausage McMuffin at around $3 per sandwich would cost $39.
Consumers can cut down their costs even more by picking up bulk boxes of cereal from wholesale clubs such as Costco, where one two-pack of original Cheerios may cost around $8.50 for 30 servings of cereal. Thirty servings of Sausage McMuffins? Around $90, depending on where you live.
