The first cereal cafe, Cereality, opened in 2003 as a cereal kiosk at Arizona State University. The kiosk's popularity led to the development of the 1,500 sq ft Cereality Cafe and Bar in Philadelphia.
At Cereality, the servers are called "Cereologists" and dress in pajamas. Cereality offers everything from sugary cereals to healthy options like The Life Experience which features Life cereal mixed with almonds, bananas and honey. According to their website, Cereality also offers catering and is trying to expand its franchise to places like airports, resorts, casinos and hospitals.
With cereal being served in "scoops" and a variety of toppings and mix-ins, cereal cafes could be confused with ice cream parlors. Customers can purchase the cafe’s concoctions or get creative by making their own blends from as many as 30 different brand-name cereals. To keep business going throughout the day, the cafes also serve snacks like smoothies, parfaits and juices.
Cereality: A Surreal Cereal Experience
The success of Cereality had lead to the creation of other cereal cafe chains throughout the United States. One such chain is The Cereal Bowl based in Miami. The Cereal Bowl provides an at home experience with couches and flat screen TVs playing cartoons. Founder Kenneth Rader describes his cereal cafes as "a cereal Starbucks". The Cereal Bowl offers cold and hot cereal combinations like Gimme Smores which is made of Golden Grahams, Cocoa Puffs, marshmallows, graham bites and chocolate chips and Mom Knows Best, which consists of apple pie filling, caramel and graham bites.
Cereal Past and Present
According to the Food Network show Heavyweights, the average American eats 160 bowls of cereal a year and Americans purchase 2.7 billion packages of cereal annually. However, cereal hasn't always been so popular. In the 1800s the average person's diet consisted mainly of meat and very little fiber. The first breakfast cereal, called Granula, consisted of heavy bran nuggets that had to be soaked over night before they could be eaten.
Ready-to-eat cereal, as it is known today, was invented by accident in 1894 while Dr. William Keith Kellogg was attempting to improve the diet of his hospital patients. He left a pot of boiled wheat standing so long that it softened. When he rolled the wheat, each grain turned into a thin flake, thus producing the idea for corn flakes. According to the official Kellogg’s website, Kellogg and his brother John Harvey started the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906 and began mass production of toasted corn flakes.
C.W. Post entered the cereal market in 1895 with a cereal drink called Postum. In 1897, he introduced Grape-Nuts. Today, Post is the home of kid -friendly cereals like Fruity Pebbles and more adult fare like Raisin Bran.
General Mills made its mark in cereal in 1921 with the creation of Wheaties. According to sales records, Cheerios, produced by General Mills, is the most popular cereal in the United States.
Cereal Cafe Locations
Cereal cafes are opening up all over the country with franchising opportunities available for some chains. Prices range from about $3 to $4 a bowl.
- Cereality Cafe and Bar: Phoenix and Tempe AZ, Philadelphia, Penn, Santa Cruz,CA
- The Cereal Bowl: Miami, FL (locations planned for Washington D.C., Coral Gables, FL, Hoboken, NJ, and Delaware)
- The Cereal Boxx: Tucson, AZ
- Cereal Barn and Peanut Butter Cafe: Bloomington, IN
These up and coming cafes aim to offer a fun and affordable dining out option and revolutionize the way American's eat cereal.
