Choosing Breakfast Cereal: Help!!!!

By Shlomo Maital     

   Remember the days when the choice of breakfast cereals was, basically, Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies?

    Well, let’s do the math.  An average supermarket these days allocates at least 35 linear feet of shelf space to breakfast cereals, comprised of 5 shelves each 12 inches high, or 60 inches in total in height, times 84 inches (7 feet) long.  That is, 7 feet long times 5 shelves.

      An average cereal box is 12 inches high and 8 inches in width.  That means a 7 ft. shelf can hold up to 10 boxes per shelf, times 5 shelves, or 50 boxes.  Some could be the same type and brand – say, half.  So, there can be 25 different types of breakfast cereal on the shelf.

      And this is a huge underestimate.  25 different cereals to choose from! Worldwide, there are an estimated 1,000 types of breakfast cereals. Perhaps half of those in the US alone.

       Do we really NEED 25 different breakfast cereals on the shelf?   Do we need KrustyO’s and Green Slime? (those two didn’t last long, for good reason!). 

        The breakfast cereal shelf in a supermarket is a microcosm of capitalism gone wild.  It offers us a vast range of choices, that long ago ceased creating real value.  Part of the breakfast cereal dynamic is the use of ‘sharp elbows’ to gain more shelf space, because that means selling more product.  So, companies have a keen interest in proliferating brands, just to get more space on the shelf. 

        Let’s say, like me, you prefer Corn Flakes.  You still have to search through 25 different kinds of cereal, just to find the one you usually like and buy.  And it may be hard to find – because the sugary ones are the most profitable.   So Corn Flakes may get the bottom far right shelf…Siberia.  The science of product placement on shelves is very well developed.

        So, if you shop at the same supermarket each week, can you get to know the placement of what you usually buy – and save cognitive energy?  Sure – except, those diabolical shelf stockers keep mixing things up and changing locations.  Mainly, to feature prominently more profitable, or newer, products.  Sometimes, the stocking is done by the companies’ sales reps themselves…and they are diabolical!  

        The New York Times just published a neat article by Kashmir Hill, who used AI to help her make daily choices and simplify life.  Worth reading… but, alas, not much help when it comes to finding Corn Flakes hiding under big boxes of Green Slime. *

Kashmir Hill. “I took a decision holiday and put AI in charge of my life”. NYT Nov. 1 2024.