Did the Egg McMuffin Devastate the Cereal Business?

Consumer packaged goods companies have seen declining sales, mergers, acquisitions and continued customer migration.  When thinking about breakfast many customers fell in love the McDonald’s Egg McMuffin and today prefer a handheld breakfast sandwich to a bowl of cereal according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Customers have mixed feelings on breakfast, with some calling it the most important meal of the day and others skipping it entirely. Packaged Facts recently found that most “breakfast believers belong to the baby boomer generation or families with children.

Now how do legacy CPG companies plan to get back those fast food breakfast customers? In new research by Packaged Facts projects that one way is with “drinkable yogurt”.  The drinkable yogurt market will grow another 13% by 2022. New drinkable yogurt products can capitalize off of the nostalgia young adults may have for products such as Danimals, while also appealing to their more grown-up taste buds, nutritional interests and busy schedules according to Package Facts.

Drinkable yogurt pose a greater threat for restaurants as they for the most part do not sell packaged drinks and that just might be the leg-up legacy CPG retailers have been looking for according to Johnson. David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts stated “There is much room for innovation in breakfast foods,” “With the reputation for the most important meal of the day, maximizing the reputation of a product’s nutrition while highlighting its’ convenience, is critical in appealing to demographics across the board.”

Club stores sales of frozen breakfast croissants, handheld egg McMuffin copycats, and breakfast burritos are up over 123% over the past five years according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Scorecards. While cereal remains the most popular breakfast food, parents want kids have a fewer carbs, and more protein for breakfast and they are evolving breakfast buying habits fast. 

How are you going to address the next new wave of breakfast food consumption?  Are you going to continue selling what you have always sold and selling it the same way? How do you think that is going to work for you?

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.