Americans Ditch Grocery Staples

Sales of cereal, juice and soda have been falling over the past few years.

December 16, 2015

PURCHASE, N.Y. – Americans are changing their diet—or perhaps, exchanging longtime staples like cereal, juice and soda for new, trendier options, Business Insider reports. Cereal sales plummeted 5% from 2009 to 2014, while soda sales per capita have dropped 25% since 1998. Consumption of orange juice has fallen 45% per capital also since 1998.

These items, once considered staples of the American palate, have begun to be replaced by different items, sometimes from the same companies that brought cereal, juice and soda to the table in the first place. For example, PepsiCo has diversified its offerings from carbonated soft drinks to include reduced or no-calorie beverages, juices and sports drinks. Rival Coca-Cola has added reduced calorie beverages, plus premium milk, carbonated water, coconut water and cold-pressed juices to its lineup. Kellogg’s will debut more than 40 new items in early 2016, plus expand its snack food lines and remove artificial flavors and colors from its cereals.

These companies want to change how Americans understand their products, such as Coke repositioning itself as a post-exercise indulgence and Kellogg’s new campaign to show how many ways cereal can be used outside of the breakfast bowl. The hope is that consumers will continue to buy these new and redesigned options, along with the old standby staples.

For more on edible and perishable grocery in convenience stores, read “Filling a Need” in the December issue of NACS Magazine.

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