ABSTRACT
Seeing a growing need for convenience, Kellogg launched Breakfast Mates, a product that combined cereal, milk, a bowl, and a spoon in one package, in August 1998. Breakfast Mates was originally targeted at working parents with small children. It was positioned as a product that children could use themselves without parental help, and something that parents themselves could take from the fridge and eat on the go. However, the packaging was too difficult for children to open by themselves. The product had many parts and required considerable effort to eat; you had to open the package, open the cereal, open the milk, pour the cereal in, and then sit down and eat it with a spoon. While promising greater convenience, the product was anything but convenient, especially compared to the portable breakfast bars that could be eaten with one hand on the road. Psychologically, the product’s high level of packaging was unacceptable to consumers concerned about the packaging’s impact on the environment. Americans believed that vacuum sealed milk was artificial and not nutritious, and most found the taste of warm milk disgusting. In response, Kellogg started selling the product in the refrigerator section, which caused the cereal to be cold. So customers had two unappetizing choices: warm milk and warm cereal or cold cereal and cold milk. Kellogg only offered four cereal options and customers could not choose the type of milk to be included in the package (e.g. 1 percent, 2 percent or skim). The product achieved a low level of Accessibility, since it was found in the refrigerated section, which is not where most customers look for breakfast options. In terms of Affordability, the cost per serving for 4 ounces of cereal and 4 ounces of milk was $1.39 with the Breakfast Mate and only $0.21 out of a regular box of cereal. Not surprisingly, Breakfast Mates was a big failure. One year and $30 million later, Kellogg discontinued the offering. 1
