Kellogg’s CEO faces backlash after suggesting people should eat cereal for dinner to save money
Kellogg’s CEO Gary Pilnick advised shoppers chalking up more of their paychecks to soaring grocery bills than they have in the past three decades to just eat cereal instead.
“The cereal category has always been quite affordable, and it tends to be a great destination when consumers are under pressure,” Pilnickan said in an interview with CNBC last week.
“If you think about the cost of cereal for a family versus what they might otherwise do, that’s going to be much more affordable.”
CNBC host Carl Quintanilla asked the Kellogg’s boss if encouraging cash-strapped customers to eat cereal for dinner could “land the wrong way,” to which a cheery Pilnick replied: “In fact, it’s landing really well right now.”
“Cereal for dinner is something that is probably more on trend now,” Pilnick insisted during an interview earlier reported on by CNN, noting that a bowl of cereal with milk and fresh fruit is under $1.
“We would expect [the trend] to continue as that consumer is under pressure.”
Kellogg’s — behind popular breakfast staples like Corn Flakes, Froot Loops, Frosted Mini Wheats and Raisin Bran, among others — has been banking on a breakfast-for-dinner trend catching on since 2022, when it initially launched a campaign to get Americans to add the notoriously sugary meal to their dinnertime rotation.
The push, which touted the tagline “give chicken the night off,” argued that aside from its low cost, cereal for dinner is a low-prep, low-mess option, according to a press release at the time.
Pilnick’s prediction, however, missed the mark, and viewers took to social media to share their disdain of having to swap pricier options that include meat and vegetables for cereal.
Another suggested that Kellogg’s initative was capitalizing on the struggles of Americans who, according to data from the Agriculture Department, gave up 11.4% of their disposable income to buy food in 2022 — the most since 1999.
According to the USDA, food-at-home prices increased another 5% last year compared to 2022 — or double the historical average rate at which retail food price inflation rose per year between 2003 and 2022.
“Anything @KelloggsUS can do to make more money off people during times of crisis. I wonder what their CEO is having for dinner? Smh… Price hiking all day without a care. Shame shame,” another user wrote to X.
“We live in a world where families have to choose cereal for dinner to save money. Sad,” another user shared Monday.
For reference, Pilnick’s annual compensation includes a $1 million base salary and over $4 million in incentive compensation, according to a September 2023 Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
“Each the rich instead,” another viewer suggested on Instagram, while another commenter chimed in: “Hearing welathy folks put a marketing spin on poverty is wild.”
Others, meanwhile, bashed the idea of having cereal for breakfast because of its poor nutritional value.
“Cereal for breakfast, lunch or dinner is garbage. Learn more about nutrition for your own health,” an X user wrote.
“Hey, everyone, how about a big bowl of empty calories for dinner?” another quipped.
For reference, a bowl of Rice Krispies — Kellogg’s most popular offering, according to Google data shared with Food & Wine — a 1.5-cup serving of the toasted rice contains 150 calories, 36 gramd of carbohydrates and four grams of added sugars.
A 12-ounce box Rice Krispies cereal retails for $3.99 at Target or $3.68 at Walmart, according to the retailers’ respective websites.
Per USDA data, the rate of price increases for cereals and bakery products stood at 8.4% last year.
Representatives for Kellogg’s did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
