NEWS-06
cereal sales, the latest soggy report for an industry that has seen an
estimated thirty percent slide over the past fifteen years.>
ELAINE QUIJANO: More Americans are changing how they start their day. General Mills just announced a six percent drop in second quarter cereal sales, the latest soggy report for an industry that has seen an estimated thirty percent slide over the past fifteen years. Here to explain this is CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger. So, Jill, what is going on here? What`s behind these numbers?
JILL SCHLESINGER (CBS News Business Analyst): We are eating twenty tons less cereal than we did just ten years ago. A lot of it has to do with diet. We see the advent of low-carb, no carb diets and we see the paleo diets and they really sort of look at cereal and say, oh-oh, too many carbs. We also see parents really waking up to this idea of gluten and sugar in cereal, they don`t want their kids to eat that. On top of that Greek yogurt, high in protein, low in carbs kind of stealing the show from cereal, put it together we`ve got diving sales.
ELAINE QUIJANO: So how are the big players responding?
JILL SCHLESINGER: Well, what`s really interesting is they`re trying to figure out how to rebrand themselves in some ways, reintroduce. So we have General Mills and Kellogg`s, they`re saying we have better for you products or relabeling something. In one case we have, you know, GM saying we`re going to remove all of our artificial flavors and colors. All the high- fructose corn syrup comes out by 2017. They make a gluten-free Cheerios. Kellogg`s launches all these new products with cereal to go, so you can put something in your cup, in your car.
ELAINE QUIJANO: And how are these companies trying to lure millennials?
JILL SCHLESINGER: They`ve got a social media campaign. It`s really aimed at this group. The hashtag on Twitter is StirUpBreakfast. They`re asking young foodies and chefs to create amazing concoctions. Let me just give you a couple. Corn flakes with butternut squash, kale and coconut, special K with avocado, restaurants are hosting events to highlight these. We`ll see if it makes a difference.
ELAINE QUIJANO: All right. Jill Schlesinger, thank you so much.
JILL SCHLESINGER: Thank you.
ELAINE QUIJANO: Next on tonight`s CBS EVENING NEWS, making windmills work where it`s too windy
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