Why Cinnamon Toast Crunch and other iconic cereals are taking over the supermarket

I tend to reach for Cinnamon Toast Crunch at low points in my life. Early on in my career, I would have the sugary cereal for dinner to save money. Now, I pour myself a bowl late at night when I am on deadline. The cloying sweetness of the snack will always taste, to me, like low-grade depression.

These days though, if I want to feel broke or stressed, there are Cinnamon Toast Crunch-themed products I could eat any time of day. There are Cinnamon Toast Crunch treat bars, Cinnamon Toast Crunch popcorn, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Bugles, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch ice cream. If I am feeling industrious, I can turn to Cinnamon Toast Crunch cookie mix, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cake mix, and, of course, there’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch frosting. And if I want a healthy halo on my cinna-fix, there’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch oatmeal and Cinnamon Toast Crunch yogurt. Just need a quick hit? I could pop a Cinnamon Toast Crunch marshmallow (a Stuffed Puffs Big Bites) into my mouth. Thirsty? How about a Cinnamon Toast Crunch Swiss Miss or just Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cinnamilk? If somehow none of those satisfy, there’s always the shaker jar of Cinnadust seasoning for me to imagine my own cinnamon-sugar-tinged future.

None of this is by accident, according to Ricardo Fernandez, president of U.S. morning foods at General Mills, the maker of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The conglomerate that owns such brands as Annie’s, Yoplait, and Bugles, and has generated $19 billion in net sales during its fiscal 2022 (which ended last May), is pursuing a strategy of cross-collaboration to create new products that incorporate familiar cereal flavors. In doing so, such iconic cereal brands as Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs, Trix, and Cookie Crisp are now ingredients and flavor profiles that can move out of the cereal aisle and into other grocery categories including frozen foods, baking, and snacks. The company sees these brand extensions and collaborations as likely hits with customers, given the ubiquity and popularity of its cereal. And they could well help General Mills achieve its goals of 5% organic sales growth.

Virtually everyone knows what Lucky Charms tastes like. Not only is cereal consumed in 85% of U.S. households (General Mills is in 65% of them), but also it’s a recurring purchase. “[At General Mills], we get a lot of data on trends at the grocery store,” Fernandez says. “We look at what products and categories are growing to figure out what products to introduce to the market.”

He adds that his cereal division not only collaborates with other General Mills brands, but it also makes deals with outside companies. Sometimes, collaborations extend even outside the supermarket, like Nike’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch Kyrie 4s or Cinnamon Toast cosmetic brushes. Although these don’t incorporate the cereal’s flavor, they do increase brand awareness in a key demographic that the company is trying to reach: tweens and teens.

Younger consumers traditionally have a lot of sway with their family’s purchases, and they soon will have a lot of purchasing power. “The bullseye for Cinnamon Toast Crunch is older tweens and teens who grow up with the flavor and might want more of it,” says Fernandez, who adds that one of his many favorites is Cinnamon Toast Crunch with Cinnamilk. The fact that many of these cereals are loaded with sugar (both a cup of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and a cup of Lucky Charms represent some 24% of recommended daily sugar intake) makes them highly craveable as well.

While Fernandez says that the idea to collaborate among General Mills brands is something that happens organically when other brands approach his cereal division with an idea for a new product, it’s not hard to see the company emulating a winning strategy pioneered by PepsiCo in the snacking category. Collaborations in the company’s Frito-Lay division have yielded Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Tacos, Dorito Cool Ranch Lays, and a Tostitos Toppers line of sauces. The trend is set to continue. Earlier this year, Frito-Lay announced that it would bring Doritos and Cheetos flavors to even more new categories like pretzels, crackers, and . . . beef jerky.

 

I have to believe it’s only a matter of time before an unholy combination of conglomerates graces my local Key Foods shelves or Tik Tok FYP. Late at night, with a looming deadline, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Jerky might even seem appealing.