Kellogg’s rolls dice with Cinnamon Frosted Flakes
Some cereal lovers thought the idea of adding cinnamon to Frosted Flakes was grrreeeat. So Kellogg ’s got the message and is now rolling out its newest flavor.
Kellogg ’s Cinnamon Frosted Flakes will make its debut this month and become widely available at the start of next year.
The iconic cereal has offered variations before, including Cocoa Frosted Flakes and a version featuring marshmallows. But this newest cereal marks the first time in the brand’s 64-year history that the flakes have included cinnamon — an addition that came in direct response to demand on social media.
“We started to really notice it over the last couple of years,’’ says Brad Schwan, Kellogg ’s senior director, morning foods marketing. “We’d see fans on Twitter talking about how cinnamon would be so terrific on Frosted Flakes, and we really started to listen.’’
Cinnamon was the top-requested addition, company offi- cials say, and the effort to get the application and flavor exactly right took roughly a year and a sifting through more than 100 variations.
The company, and consumers acting as taste testers, considered questions like whether vanilla or caramelized sugar added the right burst of sweetness. They even looked at whether dusting the cinnamon on top of the flake was sufficient.
It wasn’t. Tasters said “it washed off in the milk, and they didn’t get the strong cinnamon flavor they were looking for,’’ says Joanna Grennes, senior director, Kellogg ’s Morning Foods R&D.
The final decision? Putting the cinnamon in the actual coating on the flake.
In recent years, more attention has been paid to cereals that feature alternate grains and less sugar as consumers become more health conscious. Frosted Flakes, however, remains the No. 1 kid’s brand in the ready-to-eat cereal category. Similar to the original Frosted Flakes, the new cinnamon version will have 10 grams of sugar in a 29-gram serving. Kellogg ’s has decreased sugar in its top-selling cereals by roughly 20% in the past few years, or by 2 to 3 grams per serving.