The fog that has enveloped the ready-to-eat (RTE) breakfast cereal category in recent years lifted somewhat in 2013, as breakfast cereal makers saw glimpses of something that had merely been a mirage in recent years: growth.
While the overall sales may be flat, growth in market sectors like granola provided much needed optimism in 2013. In late November, category titan General Mills reported granola was enjoying 17% sales growth, year-to-date, and the firm’s new Nature Valley Protein Granola Cereal was on track to exceed $30 million in annual sales.