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Market Snapshot: Cereal & Grain

As breakfast cereal demand declines, portable snack bars are growing in popularity.

Cereal

According to “2019 Trends and Advances in Food Packaging and Processing,” a report by PMMI Business Intelligence, cereal and grain holds a 3.6% share of the nine food categories, with the number of establishments increasing to 546 between 2014 to 2017 (a CAGR of 2.6%), and the number of employees increasing to 32,341 in the same period, at a CAGR of 2.5%.

Cereal and grain product packaging trends include greater package variety such as pouches, smaller sizes and resealability. While there has been a decline in cold breakfast cereal, there has been an increase in on-the-go breakfast bars. And of those adults who do eat cereal, popular choices include cold cereal, high-fiber, weight-management cereals and granola. Nuts and seeds are also growing in popularity.

Of cereal packaging trends, one Packaging Engineer at a cereal and grain company said, “Cereal might be going to paperboard boxes with a liner and away from bags.”

Cereal and Grain Product Processing Trends

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