General Mills Debuts First New Cereal In 15 Years

General Mills, Inc. GIS has announced its first new cereal in 15 years, Tiny Toast, which is "shaped like small pieces of toast and sprinkled with blueberries and strawberries."

The announcement comes as General Mills recalled of four specific flavors of Nature Valley Protein Chewy Bars and Nature Valley Simple Nut Bars.

Tiny Toast, which will be available in blueberry and strawberry varieties, is made with real fruit and other natural flavors, but contains no artificial flavors.

"Tiny Toast was created to have an all-family appeal similar to Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch," Monte Olmsted, a writer in Global Communications at General Mills, said in a blog post.

First In A Long Time

Tiny Toast is General Mills' first new cereal since 2001, when it launched Harmony cereal, which has since been discontinued. "Basic 4, which debuted in 1991, is the last newly branded cereal that remains part of our cereal portfolio," the post read.

Related Link: Citi Sees Kellogg As Prime Take-Out Candidate

Olmsted said work began on Tiny Toast more than a year ago. Olmsted said Mike Evenson, product developer in the innovation, technology and quality division, noted people were receptive to the idea of a layered cereal, where "the cereal pieces would sandwich either a cherry filling or a spread."

"This concept proved too expensive and too dense to pursue," Olmsted concluded.

"The team marched forward with the new idea, considering a number of flavors before settling on blueberry and strawberry [...] The fruity flavors come from blueberry and strawberry powders."

"The R&D team said, ‘Well, if fruit on the inside is good, maybe it's just as good on the outside.' This led to the coating of real fruit," said Alan Cunningham, senior marketing manager for Cereal Innovation.

Over the last 25 years, General Mills has launched dozens of new cereals, the post concluded, "However, those cereals arrived via extensions of existing brands or licensing agreements, such as Reese's Puffs."

At the time of writing, shares of General Mills were up 0.75 percent at $65.06.

Posted In: NewsMediaTrading IdeasBasic 4CerealHARMONYNature ValleyNature Valley Protein Chewy BarNature Valley Simple Nut BarsTiny Toast
We simplify the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...