Kellogg’s CEO advises cereal for dinner. Nutritionists have other thoughts

In a CNBC interview last week, Kellogg’s CEO Gary Pilnick offered a tip to cash-strapped consumers: swap out traditional dinners for cereal to save on grocery costs.

Kellogg’s is stirring the pot with a quirky dinner idea to save money on food: cereal.

But before you grab the milk, health experts are cautioning that this unconventional dinner choice might not be as whimsical for your health as it sounds.

In a CNBC interview last week, Kellogg’s CEO Gary Pilnick offered a tip to cash-strapped consumers: swap out traditional dinners for cereal to save on grocery costs.

“The cereal category has always been quite affordable, and it tends to be a great destination when consumers are under pressure,” Pilnick said in the interview. “We’re advertising about cereal for dinner… that’s going to be much more affordable.”

He added that he believes cereal for dinner “is more on trend now” and expects it will continue as consumers continue to grapple with their bills.

As grocery prices continue to steadily rise, Canadian consumers are opting more frequently for cheaper food options, neglecting to prioritize the nutritional value of their purchases, according to an October 2023 poll by Agri-Food Analytics Lab.

And ready-to-eat-cereals, like Fruit Loops, Rice Krispies and Frosted Flakes, have not been immune to inflation. Between January 2023 and January 2024, breakfast cereal was up 2.9 per cent in price, according to Statistics Canada.

“Sugary cereals are very expensive,” said Carol Dombrow, registered dietician and nutrition consultant with the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation. “Having oatmeal, for example, would be much less expensive. Having eggs would be much more economical than having sugary cereals for dinner.”