In 1877, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg invented a granolalike, ready to eat breakfast cereal for the Adventists who shunned the American breakfast of ham and eggs. But not until his invention of corn flakes in 1902 did cereal become a commercial success. At first, most cereals were marketed as pure, whole-grain foods.
In 1894 Kellogg created the first flaked cereal, Granose and in 1898, the corn flake.
Eventually, however, competition resulted in the addition of sugar and other food additives and in marketing campaigns directed at children, such as the inclusion of a premium or toy in the box.
Another pioneer of the breakfast cereal industry was C. W Post, who had been a patient at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Among his invention was cereal based caffeine beverage called Postum and a granular cereal called Grape-Nuts.
Post an innovator advertiser, was one of the first to used national ad campaigns, coupons, premiums and samples to make Grape-Nuts a cusses.
By late 1905, the corn flake business was booming and other cereal manufacturers had gotten into this line. In January 1906, Post Cereals introduced a new version of the corn flakes.
The establishment of the breakfast cereal industry came about the time that United States began a transition from a predominantly agricultural society to a more industrialized, urban culture.
By the 1970s and 1980s, adults were again experiencing a renewed interest in the benefits of high fiber diet and new brands entered the marketplace. Cereal previously only available in health food stores began to enter the mainstream.
Breakfast cereal in America
