About the market:

The breakfast cereal industry is mature and stable, and central to its success has been the enduring popularity of these products with children. Indeed around eight in ten children eat cereal for breakfast on a regular basis, making it an offering that is found in a large majority of households. Nevertheless, the market is increasingly open to challenges from a range of external market influences, which are forcing manufacturers to rethink how they position and market their wares. For example, pressure is increasingly being heaped on the cereals sector from health lobbies and the government, as part of ongoing campaigns to reduce fat, salt and sugar content in foods that are targeted at, and popular with, children.

Breakfast cereal manufacturers are also facing growing competition both from within their sector and from suppliers of other breakfast food options, such as yoghurts, fruit and sandwiches. This report not only presents market size and segmentation data but also shows which providers are managing to increase their share of this highly competitive market and which cereal brands are the most popular.

It is of paramount importance that cereal manufacturers and distributors monitor and react to changing consumer lifestyles and eating habits. Consequently, Mintel’s report offers exclusive independent consumer research, which examines consumer attitudes, preferences and buying behaviour in relation to the ‘first meal of the day’.