Café concept refreshes US cereal sector
and milk-based drinks all day long, is looking to take off in
Chicago led by a former executive of successful coffee chain
Starbucks, reports Chris Mercer.
The Cereality café chain launched its first store in Philadelphia just 20 days ago after almost a year of testing. But already it has decided to move operations to down-town Chicago, at the Wharton School of Business, in a bid to attract fast-living city workers.
The young firm's big idea is to sell branded breakfast cereals and cereal bars made by many of the big names such as Kellogg's, General Mills and Quaker Oats. Consumers can first choose between 30 different varieties of cereal and then from 30 different toppings in a variety of formats. Cereal bars are also on offer for those in a rush.
"We've been incredibly pleased with the national, and international, response to the Cereality concept," said David Roth, Cereality co-founder and chief executive, adding that "for Cereality to achieve the aggressive growth we believe we can achieve, we needed to move the company to a larger city".
The company may also be entering the market at the right time, tapping into a trend for healthy and convenient food on the move.
According to the US Department of Labor, the number of American couples where both partners work has increased dramatically over the last twenty years. During 2002 Americans worked an average of 1,812 hours each, more than a host of other western nations including France, Germany and Canada.
Many cereals, despite some containing high sugar levels, are also still viewed as reasonably healthy foods due to their vitamin, nutrient and mineral content. - something which fits well with well-documented consumer trends towards healthy eating. Only two months ago, Genera Mills announced it would make all of its breakfast cereals with wholegrains in-line with new recommendations from the US Food and Drug Administration that Americans should be eating at least three servings of wholegrains a day.
Cereality wants to take advantage of this by expanding aggressively and plans to open at least another 10 cafés within the next 15 months. The company also has Tim Casey, the former vice-president of operations at Starbucks, as its chief operating officer.
Casey carries weight in the retail industry after helping Starbucks to launch new stores in more than 50 new markets and improve average store sales by 40 per cent in his eight-year period in charge.
He said he was excited by his new role: "Cereality, an already brilliant brand, is built upon the ubiquity and comfort of cereal. In just the first few days of operation at our Philadelphia cafe, we've seen how our brand builds a sense of community among the customers and employees." Cereality workers start serving cereal clad in pyjamas at 6:30am on weekdays.
Mary Dillon, president of Cereality supplier and PepsiCo subsidiary Quaker Foods, said that "Cereality has energized the cereal category" by promoting breakfast cereal as an any-time snack.
