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.”