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Will Kellogg’s cereal café snap, crackle or pop?

July 1, 2016Written by RetailWire Staff

Photo: Kellogg's

It’s been more than a few years since cold cereal has been a hot seller on the shelves. The low-carb trend and other advancements in food science have brought foods like eggs, taboo throughout the 1990s, back to the breakfast table. People with busy schedules prefer breakfast on-the-go, with quick-serve restaurants stepping up with more options. Such trends have been rough on the once ubiquitous packaged product. But in one niche, cold cereal, has been in demand. Since 2008, New York foodies have talked up the “cereal milk” dessert at Momofuku Milk Bar. Now one of the oldest cereal manufacturers has gotten hip to the trend. On July 4th, Kellogg's is opening a cereal café in Times Square, created in partnership with Christina Tosi, founder and owner of Momofuku Milk Bar, according to Fortune. The café will be open all day and will offer a bowl of cereal with a 12-ounce container of milk for $7.50 (with a $2 added charge for yogurt or soft-serve ice cream). The menu will also offer foodie-targeted add-ons such as matcha and toasted pistachios. The café design includes an experiential element — customers will collect their orders from cupboards meant to resemble those in a home kitchen. Other manufacturers whose products that, once popular, are now considered passé have been making similar attempts at targeting the experience-loving, big-spending foodie audience. In January, Crain’s reported that Pepsi would be opening a restaurant called Kola House in the spring, featuring specialty drinks and trendy, themed food. The Kola House website, however, still advertises the restaurant as “Coming Soon.” Whether the Kellogg’s café concept will thrive beyond the Times Square destination remains to be seen. New York City is notorious for being able to bear trendy, single-item theme restaurants that might not fly elsewhere. Macaroni and cheese, rice pudding and pomme frites have all done well at standalone shops in Manhattan. And even within Times Square, success is not a foregone conclusion. Toys“R”Us and Aeropostale have both closed their Time Square flagships within the past year.

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