The Decline of Cold Cereal in the age of the Millennials

[joiei]

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

And pre microwave - you poured boiling water over your shredded wheat, drained it, added the cold milk and brown sugar.

You did? No one ever told me to do that.

[Kim Shook]

I have yet to find a granola bar that tastes as good as a bowl of Frosted Flakes at midnight! (I am 56.)  

[MetsFan5]

When I worked, my breakfast was a diet coke. Unless I was hungover, then I'd grab a pretzel croissant at City Bakery or a hash brown from Mickey D's in Union Sq. I was working in Manhattan then and even lunch wasn't a regular habit. My husband still works in the city and breakfast is a rarity for him. He skips lunch about once a week too. It's too time consuming to eat breakfast and lunch most days in the pace of certain cities and industries (I am barely a millennial, he is a Gen Xer). 

[andiesenji]

5 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

And pre microwave - you poured boiling water over your shredded wheat, drained it, added the cold milk and brown sugar.

We had "Ruskets" when I was a child, occasionally corn flakes but  mostly we had hot cereal, oatmeal or grits.

The cold cereal was a special treat.  

The "Ruskets" were one of the cereals sold by the Jewel Tea man.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@andiesenji, I had never heard of "Ruskets", so I Googled and came up with this link and this one that I will share for anyone else who may be interested in the history of breakfast cereals.

 

If anyone knows more, it looks like Wikipedia needs some help with the article.

[andiesenji]

Ruskets were not like shredded wheat.  They were like flakes pressed into a thick bar and some liked to break them up before adding the milk but I liked to see them float like little rafts in the milk.  We weren't allowed a lot of sugar but my grandmother would put some molasses on top - sorghum molasses were made on the farm - or sometimes honey.  

I remember reading about how Ruskets were made in "sunny California" in Loma Linda, a town whose name meant "Beautiful Hill" and I thought that was such a pretty name for a town.  

Interesting that almost 70 years later I would have open heart surgery in Loma Linda.

[MetsFan5]

Isn't this about the breakfast habits of millennials? 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

6 minutes ago, MetsFan5 said:

Isn't this about the breakfast habits of millennials? 

 

Yes. IMHO the history of the rise of the popularity of cold breakfast cereals is also part of exploring and discussing the reasons for it's current decline. 

 

It was quite an innovation when it first appeared, and not so much now. There are many more options today for a quick breakfast as has been discussed upthread.

 

Several have complained about the current pricing of name brand cold cereals, and I certainly concur. I don't think anyone has mentioned how much cheaper you can get knockoffs. I buy Cocoa Crispies chocolate crisp rice knockoff brand at the Dollar General and it's much, much cheaper, as are their other knockoff generic cereals, and tastes the same. Between the inflated price of the name brands, and the "uncoolness" that millennials might attach to shopping for generics, perhaps that's part of the explanation too?

[JeanneCake]

My favorite cereal growing up was Quisp, mostly because it was an infrequent treat, and more because I loved it when it got a little soggy.  Mostly though, I had instant oatmeal, because I was trusted to boil water on the stove at a young age (before microwaves which didn't appear in our house until my mother won one in a contest and it was way bigger than a bread box!) and could make my own.  When we did have cold cereal, it was corn flakes with bananas or strawberries or Kix.  I know we're talking about millennials but reading about the cereal in a box, the shredded wheat, grape nuts (remember grape nut custard?) is nostalgic.

[rotuts]

if its realty really hot and humid, get a fresh box of corn flakes and use ice cold orange juice instead of milk.

 

the box of CF's must be brand new and crispy with that corn aroma.

[Norm Matthews]

I was born in the mid 40's, and grew up in the 50's.  I hated cereal.  Mom made eggs and toast for my breakfast and either sausage or bacon. I would skip breakfast if she made something else.   As an adult breakfast was a meal I usually skipped.   Didn't much care for the whole idea of eating that early.   I didn't drink milk either.  It wasn't until I retired that I started eating breakfast again and it was usually an omelet and toast with coffee, some times some sausage but in the last year, I have started eating cereal and it's almost always either Honey Nut Cheerios or Oatmeal Crisp.  I started doing it out of a sense of needing more fiber and dairy in my diet rather than liking it. 

[Shelby]

I was born in '74.  Not sure what that makes me, but I remember not liking to eat in the morning.  Especially anything sweet.  Breakfast cereal......I guess we had some.  I seldom ate it.  I remember my Dad eating Life Cereal (is that still around?).  I do remember taking those multi-packs of cereals when we went camping.  I liked Frosted Flakes, but only a spoonful at a time went into the milk because I HATE soggy flakes. Always in that pack there was a box that I couldn't stand.  Can't recall the name of it now but it seems like it was a green box with a frog on the front???  Now, if I had to eat cereal it is for a sweet snack and my favorite is Captain Crunch  . 

 

I have a memory of Malt-O-Meal.  I always thought it sounded better than it actually tasted.  Later I remember my mom having some kind of powdered drink mix that you mix with milk that was supposed to be "healthy".

 

When I was in high school I never ate breakfast and seldom ate lunch.  Oh for the days of being that thin again lol.

[lesliec]

Let us not fail to acknowledge the good Doctor Kellogg:

Quote

Kellogg invented Corn Flakes breakfast cereal in 1878. He hoped that feeding children this plain cereal every morning would help to combat the urges of "self-abuse".

"John Harvey Kellogg" on @Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvey_Kellogg?wprov=sfta1

 

Could it be that this accounts for the fall in popularity of cereals?

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Very interesting article @lesliec.

 

I had never dreamed that Dr. Kellogg had such, erm, unusual ideologies. He had some very good ones too, and seemed to be a kind, well-intentioned and accomplished man, but...

 

Agreed that if his philosophy were widely known, his cereal would be quite unpopular among millennials.

[IowaDee]

For a funny look at Dr. Kellogg and the rest of the goofy ones, check out the spoof film. The Road to Wellville.  Made in 1994 and staring Anthony Hopkins.  Pretty funny in a warped sort of way.  

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Thanks for the recommendation @IowaDee.

 

I have bookmarked it. Wow! What a strange, strange story for a man we all grew up thinking so wholesome. 

 

He must have had an early version of a PR spin doctor. This is the first I've heard of any of this.

[IowaDee]

I think the best book on the subject of food faddists is The Nuts Among the Berries.  It was published in, I think, 1977 but worth searching out if the topic interests you.  I also seem to recall that the author did an updated version but have not read it as yet.

[Toliver]

On 2/27/2016 at 6:43 PM, Katie Meadow said:

...It really is amazing how much a box of cereal costs now.

This.

It makes it difficult for me to understand how the price of a box of cold cereal is remaining so high while, supposedly, consumption of it is in a downward spiral. 

Just a few years ago, there was consumer outrage at how high the cereal prices had risen and the cereal companies responded by lowering some of the prices. But now the prices are just as high as they were before and no one is saying a bad thing about them. Go figure...

 

edited for spelking

Edited February 29, 2016 by Toliver (log)

[cakewalk]

A very nice rebuttal: http://www.thekitchn.com/this-is-why-millennials-dont-eat-cereal-228985

 

[Chris Hennes]

1 hour ago, cakewalk said:

A very nice rebuttal: http://www.thekitchn.com/this-is-why-millennials-dont-eat-cereal-228985

 

Amen. I think it's silly to mourn the loss of cold cereal, as though cereal was some kind of wonderful, beneficial thing. The claim that Millennials are abandoning it due to their laziness is just a reporter drumming up pageviews. Of course Millennials are abandoning cereal! There are about a zillion and a half superior options! 

[Toliver]

I don't think anyone is actually mourning the loss. Sure, cold cereal can be nostalgic for anyone who's not a Millennial. Perhaps the argument could be made the Millennials are poorer for not knowing that feeling.

If you read the linked-to-(original) article within the article I mentioned in my original post, cereal makers are moving on from the breakfast we've known from the past themselves. They're basically throwing everything (granola bars, microwavable breakfast sandwiches, etc) against the wall to see what sticks and find that shifting breakfast market. 

I think it all boils down to convenience. You could equate that with laziness as the snarky article writer did. But overall it's an emerging market that might change the way we eat our first meal of the day.

[rotuts]

'''  Millennials are poorer for not knowing that feeling '''

 

especially if you dump the contents of the box of cereal for a stupid 3 cent 'toy'

 

which is why you pestered your mother for the box

 

then have to eventually eat the rest of 

 

the crappy cereal.

 

that's real nostalgia.

[IowaDee]

LOL, I would almost always get some crappy thing as a toy that required inserting tab A into slot A or bending tab B on dotted line and folding over tab B.  What four year old has a clue as to what that means.  And yup, it was always in the worst kind of cereal.  Kind of a wonder the cat didn't die or OD on the stuff I slipped him under the table.  At least with Cracker Jacks, even if the prize sucked, you got something good to eat. The coolest thing I ever got and I don't recall the details was a deed to a square foot of Alaska.  I don't suppose it had gold or oil but I could dream.  My luck it was where the Palin's dumped their garbage or something.

[cakewalk]

While I don't blame Millennials (or anyone else) for not eating cold cereal, I always loved it. And I still do, although I buy it only once in a while. Usually Special K, Rice Krispies, or Corn Flakes. When I buy a box I go through it way, way faster than I should. As someone else mentioned upthread, it's usually dinner, not breakfast. Pure indulgence.

[rotuts]

@IowaDee  

 

do you think you would be able to see Russia from your Square Foot ?