Breakfast cereal

Breakfast cereal (or cold cereal or simply cereal) is a traditional breakfast made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as breakfast primarily in Western societies. Warm cereals like porridge and grits have the longest history. Ready-to-eat cold cereals, appearing around the late 19th century, are most often mixed with milk (traditionally cow's milk), but can also be paired with yogurt instead or eaten plain. Fruit or nuts are sometimes added. Many breakfast cereals are produced via extrusion. Some companies promote their products for the health benefits that come from eating oat-based and high-fiber cereals. In the United States, cereals are often fortified with vitamins but can still lack many of the vitamins needed for a healthy breakfast. A significant proportion of cereals are made with high sugar content. Many are marketed towards children, feature a cartoon mascot, and may contain a toy or prize.

Between 1970 and 1998, the number of different types of breakfast cereals in the U.S. more than doubled, from about 160 to around 340; the forecasted trend for 2012 was 4,945 different types based on the mass customization of online shopping.[1] In this highly competitive market, breakfast cereal companies have developed an ever-increasing number of flavors (some are flavored like dessert or candy). Although many plain wheat, oat and corn- based cereals exist, other varieties are highly sweetened, while some brands include freeze-dried fruit as a sweet element. The breakfast cereal industry has gross profit margins of 40–45%,[2] 90% penetration in some markets,[3] and steady and continued growth throughout its history.[4]

Flaked breakfast cereal with milk and raspberries, served with juice and tea

History in North America

Cereal, oatmeal and porridge quickly became an important breakfast component in North America. Barley was a common grain used, though other grains and yellow peas could be used. In many modern cultures, porridge is still eaten as a breakfast dish.

Early America

North American Indians had found a way to make ground corn palatable, later called grits (from the Old English word "Grēot", meaning Gravel)[5] (hominy was another preparation). While this became a staple in the southern U.S., grits never gained a hold in the northern states.[6] Food reformers in the 19th century called for cutting back on excessive meat consumption at breakfast. They explored numerous vegetarian alternatives. Late in the century, the Seventh-day Adventists based in Michigan made these food reforms part of their religion, and indeed non-meat breakfasts were featured in their sanitariums and led to new breakfast cereals.[7]

A Quaker Oats advertisement circa 1900

Cooked oatmeal

Ferdinand Schumacher, a German immigrant, began the cereals revolution in 1854 with a hand oats grinder in the back room of a small store in Akron, Ohio. His German Mills American Oatmeal Company was the nation's first commercial oatmeal manufacturer. He marketed the product locally as a substitute for breakfast pork. Improved production technology (steel cutters, porcelain rollers, improved hullers), combined with an influx of German and Irish immigrants, quickly boosted sales and profits. In 1877, Schumacher adopted the Quaker symbol, the first registered trademark for a breakfast cereal. The acceptance of "horse food" for human consumption encouraged other entrepreneurs to enter the industry. Henry Parsons Crowell started operations in 1882, and John Robert Stuart in 1885.[8] Crowell cut costs by consolidating every step of the processing—grading, cleaning, hulling, cutting, rolling, packaging, and shipping —in one factory operating at Ravenna, Ohio. Stuart operated mills in Chicago and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Stuart and Crowell combined in 1885 and initiated a price war. After a fire at his mill in Akron, Schumacher joined Stuart and Crowell to form the Consolidated Oatmeal Company.

The American Cereal Company (Quaker Oats, but see below) created a cereal made from oats in 1877, manufacturing the product in Akron, Ohio.[9] Separately, in 1888, a trust or holding company combined the nation's seven largest mills into the American Cereal Company using the Quaker Oats brand name. By 1900 technology, entrepreneurship, and the "Man in Quaker Garb"—a symbol of plain honesty and reliability—gave Quaker Oats a national market and annual sales of $10 million (equivalent to $310 million today).[10]

Early in the 20th century, the Quaker Oats Company (formed in 1901 to replace the American Cereal Company) jumped into the world market. Schumacher, the innovator; Stuart, the manager and financial leader and Crowell, the creative merchandiser, advertiser, and promoter, doubled sales every decade. Alexander Anderson's steam-pressure method of shooting rice from guns created Puffed rice and puffed wheat. Crowell's intensive advertising campaign in the 1920s and 1930s featured promotions with such celebrities as Babe Ruth, Max Baer, and Shirley Temple. Sponsorship of the popular Rin-Tin-Tin and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon radio shows aided the company's expansion during the depression. Meat rationing during World War II boosted annual sales to $90 million (equivalent to $1.3 billion today), and by 1956 sales topped $277 million ($2.6 billion today). By 1964 the firm sold over 200 products, grossed over $500 million ($4.1 billion today), and claimed that eight million people ate Quaker Oats each day. Expansion included the acquisition of Aunt Jemima Mills Company in 1926, which continues as a leading brand of pancake mixes and syrup, the sport drink Gatorade in 1983, and in 1986, the Golden Grain Company, producers of Rice-A-Roni canned lunch food. In 2001 Quaker Oats was itself bought out by PepsiCo.[11]

History of ready-to-eat cold cereal

Early developments

The first cold breakfast cereal, Granula, was invented in the United States in 1863 by James Caleb Jackson, operator of Our Home on the Hillside which was later replaced by the Jackson Sanatorium in Dansville, New York. The cereal never became popular, due to the inconvenient necessity of tenderizing the heavy bran and graham nuggets by soaking them overnight.[12][13][14]

George H. Hoyt created Wheatena circa 1879, during an era when retailers would typically buy cereal (the most popular being cracked wheat, oatmeal, and cerealine) in barrel lots, and scoop it out to sell by the pound to customers. Hoyt, who had found a distinctive process of preparing wheat for cereal, sold his cereal in boxes, offering consumers a more sanitary and consumer-friendly option.[15][16]

Kellogg and Battle Creek, Michigan
1910 Kellogg's Corn Flakes advertisement

Packaged breakfast cereals were considerably more convenient than a product that had to be cooked and as a result of this convenience (and clever marketing), they became popular. Battle Creek, Michigan was a center both of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and of innovation in the ready-to-eat cereal industry. And indeed, the church had a substantial impact on the development of cereal goods through the person of John Harvey Kellogg (1851–1943). Son of an Adventist factory owner in Battle Creek, Kellogg was encouraged by his church to train in medicine at Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York City in 1875. After graduating, he became medical superintendent at the Western Health Reform Institute in Battle Creek, established in 1866 by the Adventists to offer their natural remedies for illness. Many wealthy industrialists came to Kellogg's sanitarium for recuperation and rejuvenation. They were accustomed to breakfasts of ham, eggs, sausages, fried potatoes, hot biscuits, hotcakes, and coffee.

In Battle Creek sanitarium guests found fresh air, exercise, rest, hydrotherapy, a strict vegetarian diet, and abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea. To supplement the center's vegetarian regimen, Kellogg experimented with granola. Soon afterwards he began to experiment with wheat, resulting in a lighter, flakier product. In 1891 he acquired a patent and then in 1895 he launched the Cornflakes brand, which overnight captured a national market. Soon there were forty rival manufacturers in the Battle Creek area. His brother William K. Kellogg (1860–1951) worked for him for many years until, in 1906, he broke away, bought the rights to Cornflakes, and set up the Kellogg Toasted Corn Flake Company. William Kellogg discarded the health food concept, opting for heavy advertising and commercial taste appeal. Later, his signature on every package became the company trademark.[17][18][19]

Charles W. Post

The second major innovator in the cereal industry was Charles W. Post, a salesman who was admitted to Kellogg's sanitarium as a patient in the late 1800s. While there, he grew deeply impressed with their all-grain diet. Upon his release, he began experimenting with grain products, beginning with an all-grain coffee substitute called Postum. In 1898 he introduced Grape-nuts, the concentrated cereal with a nutty flavor (containing neither grapes nor nuts). Good business sense, determination, and powerful advertising produced a multimillion-dollar fortune for Post in a few years. After his death, his company acquired the Jell-O company in 1925, Baker's Chocolate in 1927, Maxwell House coffee in 1928, and Birdseye frozen foods in 1929. In 1929, the company changed its name to General Foods. In 1985, Philip Morris Tobacco Company bought General Foods for $5.6 billion (equivalent to $13.3 billion today) and merged it with its Kraft division.[20] Because of Kellogg and Post, the city of Battle Creek, Michigan is nicknamed the "Cereal Capital of the World".[21]

Müesli
Main article: Muesli

Muesli is a breakfast cereal based on uncooked rolled oats, fruit, and nuts. It was developed around 1900 by the Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital.[22] It is available in a packaged dry form such as Alpen or Familia Swiss Müesli, or it can be made fresh.

United Kingdom

In 1902 Force wheat flakes became the first ready-to-eat breakfast cereal introduced into the United Kingdom. The cereal, and the Sunny Jim character, achieved wide success in Britain, at its peak in 1930 selling 12.5 million packages in one year.

National advertising

Kellogg began the breakfast cereal marketing and introduced the first in-box prize in the early 1900s.[23] Quaker Oats entered the market with Puffed Rice and Wheat Berries it had introduced at the 1904 World Fair, with raw grains shot with hot compressed air from tubes, popping up to many times their size.[24] They were marketed as a revolution in food science.[23] In the 1920s, national advertising in magazines and radio broadcasts played a key role in the emergence of the fourth big cereal manufacturer, General Mills. In 1921, James Ford Bell, president of a Minneapolis wheat milling firm, began experimenting with rolled wheat flakes. After tempering, steaming, cracking wheat, and processing it with syrup, sugar, and salt, it was prepared in a pressure cooker for rolling and then dried in an electric oven. By 1925, Wheaties had become the "Breakfast of Champions". In 1928, four milling companies consolidated as the General Mills Company in Minneapolis. The new firm expanded packaged food sales with heavy advertising, including sponsorship of radio programs such as "Skippy", "Jack Armstrong, The All-American Boy", and baseball games. Jack Dempsey, Johnny Weissmuller, and others verified the "Breakfast of Champions" slogan. By 1941 Wheaties had won 12% percent of the cereal market. Experiments with the puffing process produced Kix, a puffed corn cereal, and Cheerios, a puffed oats cereal. Further product innovation and diversification brought total General Mills sales to over $500 million annually (18% in packaged foods) by the early 1950s.[25][26] In 1944 General Foods launched a marketing campaign for Grape Nuts, focusing on nutritional importance of breakfast.[19]

Increased sugar
Breakfast cereal primarily marketed to children, such as Froot Loops, is commonly brightly colored and high in sugar.

After World War II, the big breakfast cereal companies—now including General Mills, who entered the market in 1924 with Wheaties—increasingly started to target children. The flour was refined to remove fiber, which at the time was considered to undermine digestion and absorption of nutrients, and sugar was added to improve the flavor for children. The new breakfast cereals began to look starkly different from their ancestors. Ranger Joe, the first pre-sweetened breakfast cereal, and little more than candy-coated puffed wheat or rice, was introduced in the US in 1939.[27] Kellogg's Sugar Smacks, created in 1953, had 56% sugar by weight.[28] Different mascots were introduced, such as the Rice Krispies elves[29] and later pop icons like Tony the Tiger and the Trix Rabbit.

Modern cereal

Over 2016 to 2017, Americans purchased 3.1 billion boxes of cereal, mostly as ready to eat cold cereal.[30] In a $9.8 billion cereal market, cold cereal purchases were 88% of the total (12% for hot cereals), with the overall cereal market declining due to reduced consumption of sugar and dairy products.[30] Kellogg's and General Mills each had 30% of the market share for cold cereals. Honey Nut Cheerios was the leading cold cereal.[30]

Processing of grains

The processing of grains is a process that helps remove the bran and germ. This process allows the grains to stay good longer, but it also removes important vitamins such as vitamin B, dietary fibers and iron.[31] Processing is the modification of a grain or mixture of grains usually taking place in a facility remote from the location where the product is eaten. This distinguishes "breakfast cereals" from foods made from grains modified and cooked in the place where they are eaten. The puffing process used in cereals like Kix and Cheerios often leaves a dust in the bottom of the bag.

Breakfast cereals therefore often are fortified with minerals and vitamins and these additives may be regulated. For example, if breakfast cereal in Canada is fortified, they must contain the following specific amounts per 100 grams of cereal: Thiamine (2.0 mg), Niacin (4.8 mg), Vitamin B6 (0.6 mg), Folic Acid (0.06 mg), Pantothenic Acid (1.6 mg), Magnesium (160.0 mg), Iron (13.3 mg), Zinc (3.5 mg).[32]

Gluten-free cereals

Breakfast cereal companies make gluten-free cereals which are free of any gluten-containing grains. These cereals are targeted for consumers who suffer from gluten-related disorders, as celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity and wheat allergy, among others.[33][34] Some companies that produce gluten-free cereals include Kellogg's, General Mills, Nature's Path and Arrowhead Mills.

Warm cereals

Most warm cereals can be classified as porridges, in that they consist of cereal grains which are soaked in hot water, cooked and/or boiled to soften them and make them palatable. Sweeteners, such as brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup, are often added either by the manufacturer, during cooking, or before eating. Porridge is especially popular in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and England. Porridge became important in Scotland due to the freezing winters. The Scottish people prefer porridge to be made with only water and salt while other prefer more creamier substances to be added. Wales had a perfect climate for cultivating oats making porridge common in Welsh households. Ireland mixes porridge with whiskey as a cure for the common cold while England references the dish to the royal family and their traditions.[35]

Canada

Common hot cereals in parts of Canada include oatmeal, Cream of Wheat (and Cream of Rice) and Red River cereal. These hot cereals are typically served with maple syrup or brown sugar and milk or cream. Yogurt is also added to Red River cereal. Many Canadians also enjoy cereals similar to those in the United States market.

China

In China, porridges such as rice congee, or those made with other ingredients (including corn meal or millet) are often eaten for breakfast. Eating breakfast cereal has become more important in China and specifically Hong Kong due to the increase of work and decrease in time.[36]

Greece

In Greece, cornmeal is poured into boiling milk to create a cereal of a thick consistency which is often served to young children. The cereal production in Greece has recently declined.[37]

Ireland

Oatmeal is a common breakfast in Ireland. Oatmeal and porridge have been consumed in Ireland since the 19th century.[35]

Russia

In Russia, a breakfast is kasha, a porridge of buckwheat (Russian: гречка, grechka), farina (Russian: манка, manka), or other grains. Kasha is found throughout much of Eastern Europe, including Poland and Croatia. Russia does not value breakfast cereals as much as other places. Most instances of cereal consumption is due to the desire for weight loss.[38]

South Africa

Pap is a porridge used in a variety of meals eaten throughout the day. In the Afrikaans culture of descendants of Dutch farmers and French Huguenots, it is usually sprinkled with sugar and then eaten with milk; it can be made to a very stiff consistency so that it forms—what could be described as—a softish lumpy crumble (called krummel-pap) or a more creamy porridge consistency (called slap-pap). It is generally made from maize ("mielie") meal and is sold under various brand names. Taystee Wheat is made into a creamy wheat-based porridge. Porridge brands unique to South Africa include Jungle Oats and Bokomo Maltabella (made from malted sorghum).[39] In other parts of Africa it is known as ugali, bota, and banku or "makkau".

United Kingdom

Scotland is famous for its consumption of oats. In Northern Ireland, the company White's has been milling oats in Tandragee since 1841.[40] England has incorporated porridge in their culture for centuries. Many of the different types of porridge were made specially for the royal family including a type of porridge called "pea porridge". This specific dish was made for King Richard II.[35]

See also

Notes
  1. Aichner T, Coletti P (2013). "Customers' online shopping preferences in mass customization". Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice. 15 (1): 20–35. doi:10.1057/dddmp.2013.34.
  2. Lawrence, Felicity (28 December 2006). "How constipation cure became huge business". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
  3. "Breakfast Cereals Market Report – Market Research Reports". Key Note Publications Ltd. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
  4. "Breakfast Cereals: A Report on the Supply of Ready Cooked Breakfast Cereal Foods" Archived 19 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine, The Monopolies C omission, 20 February 1973
  5. "grit | Origin and meaning of grit by Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  6. An Irresistible History of Southern Food: Four Centuries of Black Eyed Peas, Collard Greens, and Whole Hog Barbecue. The History Press. 2011. pp. 57–58. ISBN 9781609491932.
  7. Du Puis EM (2007). "Angels and Vegetables: A Brief History of Food Advice in America". Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture. 7 (3): 34–44. doi:10.1525/gfc.2007.7.3.34. JSTOR 10.1525/gfc.2007.7.3.34.
  8. Joe Musser, The Cereal Tycoon: Henry Parsons Crowell: Founder of the Quaker Oats Co. (2002)
  9. "American Cereal Company", Ohio History Central
  10. Arthur F. Marquette, Brands, Trademarks, and Good Will: The Story of the Quaker Oats Company (1967)
  11. Marquette, Brands, Trademarks, and Good Will: The Story of the Quaker Oats Company (1967)
  12. "Breakfast Cereal Beginnings". CyberPalate LLC. Archived from the original on 24 June 2011.
  13. Food and Nutrition / Editorial Advisers, Dayle Hayes, Rachel Laudan, Volume 2. Marshall Cavendish. 2009. ISBN 9780761478218.
  14. Firsts: Origins of Everyday Things That Changed the World. Penguin. 6 October 2009. ISBN 9781101159460.
  15. "A Century of Wheatena", HomeStatFarm.com
  16. "The Golden Heart of the Wheat" chapter, The Story of a Pantry Shelf: An Outline History of Grocery Specialties (Butterick Publishing, New York, c. 1925, pp. 219–21. WebCitation archive.
  17. Horace B. Powell, The Original Has This Signature – W. K. Kellogg (1956)
  18. Hotchkiss R (1995). "Kelloggs of Battle Creek". American History. 29 (6): 62–66.
  19. Mayyasi, Alex; Priceonomics (16 June 2016). "Why Cereal Has Such Aggressive Marketing". The Atlantic. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  20. Peyton Paxson, "Charles William Post: The Mass Marketing of Health and Welfare". PhD Dissertation Boston U. 1993. 443 pp. DAI 1993 54(3): 981–982-A. DA9319980
  21. "Cereal City USA – Closed, Battle Creek, Michigan", RoadsideAmerica.com
  22. J.A. Kurmann, et al.: Encyclopedia of Fermented Fresh Milk Products: an international inventory of fermented milk, cream, buttermilk, whey, and related products. Springer Verlang, 1992. p. 75: Bircher Muesli.
  23. Severson, Kim (22 February 2016). "A Short History of Cereal". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  24. Cruikshank, Jeffrey L.; Schultz, Arthur W. (2010). The man who sold America : the amazing (but true!) story of Albert D. Lasker and the creation of the advertising century. Harvard Business Press. pp. 102–104. ISBN 9781422161777. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  25. Tom Forsythe, et al. General Mills: 75 Years of Innovation, Invention, Food & Fun (2003)
  26. James Gray, Business Without Boundary: The Story of General Mills (1954)
  27. Kawash, Samira (15 October 2013). Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure. Macmillan. pp. 287–289 and color plate #15. ISBN 9780865477568.
  28. Percentage Of Sugar In Common Foods Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  29. "Breakfast Pals" (1939), Prelinger Archives; producer Cartoon Films, Ltd; sponsor Kellogg (W.K.) Co.
  30. Gill Hyslop (3 August 2017). "Cold cereals USA: The Top 10 brands in the first half of 2017". Bakeryandsnacks.com, William Reed Media Ltd. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  31. "All about the Grains Group". 17 February 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  32. Branch, Legislative Services. "Consolidated federal laws of canada, Food and Drug Regulations". laws.justice.gc.ca. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  33. Tovoli F, Masi C, Guidetti E, Negrini G, Paterini P, Bolondi L (16 March 2015). "Clinical and diagnostic aspects of gluten related disorders". World J Clin Cases. 3 (3): 275–84. doi:10.12998/wjcc.v3.i3.275. PMC 4360499. PMID 25789300.
  34. Penagini F, Dilillo D, Meneghin F, Mameli C, Fabiano V, Zuccotti GV (18 November 2013). "Gluten-free diet in children: an approach to a nutritionally adequate and balanced diet". Nutrients. 5 (11): 4553–65. doi:10.3390/nu5114553. PMC 3847748. PMID 24253052.
  35. "A Short History of Porridge". jordanscereals.co.uk. The Jordans & Ryvita Company. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  36. "Breakfast Cereals in Hong Kong, China". Euromonitor. October 2016.
  37. "Greece – Cereal production". Knoema. 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  38. "Breakfast Cereals in Russia". Euromonitor. November 2016.
  39. Pronutro, Cereals, Mealie Meal Archived 11 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  40. White's

References
  • Anderson, Heather Arndt. Breakfast: A History (2013) excerpt
  • Bruce, Scott Cerealizing America: The Unsweetened Story of American Breakfast Cereal , Faber & Faber, 1995, ISBN 0571198511
  • Caldwell, Elwood F. Breakfast Cereals and How They Are Made, American Association of Cereal Chemists, 2000, ISBN 1891127152
  • Kulp, Karel. Handbook of Cereal Science and Technology (2000) 790 pages
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