Americans are acting un-American, eating less cereal
The cereal industry is tanking, and no amount of custom Lucky Charms marshmallow-and-red Froot Loop bowls can save it. Breakfast titan Kellogg's recently posted an earnings loss of 15%, which is just the latest in a series of depressing developments for the once-mighty morning meal.
According to AdWeek, cold cereal sales have been slowly dropping since at least 2001. In the decade between 2001 and 2010, sales slipped 3%, and just between 2009 and 2010, they dropped 6.3%. The reason for this trend is apparently three-fold. One: Moms have noticed that their kids' cereals contain kinda insane amounts of sugar, and they don't want to deal with the dentist bill or screaming sugar rushes. Two: more and more people are going gluten-free, and regardless of whether or not they're faking, cereal most definitely contains gluten. Three: many Americans are skipping breakfast entirely. Surveys reveal that 18% of us are cutting out the most important meal of the day -- and, what's more, the 82% who aren't want something fast and portable, like Greek yogurt or granola bars (Ever try eating a bowl of Lucky Charms on the subway? It's hard!). Sorry, Mikey.
Kristin Hunt is a food/drink staff writer for Thrillist. She frequently eats granola bars for breakfast, so she's part of the problem. Follow her at @kristin_hunt.