Latest news with #Trix
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Say goodbye to the rainbow: General Mills announces huge change
Growing up, I could always count on my cereal bowl being a swirl of bright pinks, blues, and yellows. Whether it was Lucky Charms, Trix, or Froot Loops, those colors were part of the the sugar rush. Even now, when I pass the cereal aisle, it's hard not to feel a little nostalgic looking at those rainbow-filled boxes. But in 2025, bright doesn't necessarily mean better. Consumer demand has shifted. More parents are checking labels. Clean ingredients are in, and artificial dyes are out. Related: Kraft Heinz announces drastic change to food products I eat extremely clean now. I've become one of those label-checkers, carefully scanning ingredients before buying. So while part of me misses the neon-colored nostalgia, I get why this shift is honestly, I'm here for it. That puts brands like General Mills in a tough spot: keep the bold, cartoon-colored classics or adapt to a new generation that cares more about what's inside than how flashy it looks. The pressure to evolve isn't new, but the next step might be the brand's biggest yet. General Mills is going all in. The company is officially committing to a 100% dye-portfolio across its U.S. food lineup. That includes removing certified colors from all cereals and K-12 school foods by summer 2026, with the full retail lineup following by the end of 2027. While nearly 85% of its retail offerings already avoid certified colors, and with that number even higher in school meals, this isn't just another quiet reformulation. It's a public, company-wide declaration that artificial dyes are out for good. "Across the long arc of our history, General Mills has moved quickly to meet evolving consumer needs," said CEO Jeff Harmening in the announcement. Related: Hostess, Twinkies face a troubling new consumer trend "Knowing the trust families place in us, we are leading the way on removing certified colors in cereals and K-12 foods by next summer." It's not the first time the company has made changes like this. In recent years, General Mills has doubled the vitamin D in its cereals, slashed sugar in its school lineup, and reduced sodium by 20% in key categories. This latest update doesn't mean cereal will go colorless. It just means colors will be sourced differently. Think beet juice, turmeric, and other plant-based options instead of Red 40 or Yellow 6. Still, some fans may notice a difference. For General Mills, this isn't just about food about brand positioning in a crowded market. Breakfast is more competitive than ever. Parents are skipping the cereal aisle in favor of protein-packed bars, Greek yogurt, or overnight oats. Others are switching to smaller brands that market themselves as "clean" from the start. This reformulation is a strategic attempt to win back trust and market share by aligning with consumer values. Especially in schools, where institutional buyers are under pressure to serve healthier meals, dye-free options may give General Mills an edge. And it's not just institutional buyers driving the change. According to a 2024 AP-NORC poll, about two-thirds of Americans support restricting or reformulating processed foods to remove artificial dyes and added sugars - a sign that dye-free cereals aren't just a trend but a necessity. It also signals a long-term shift. As food regulations evolve and retailers push for cleaner labels, moves like this won't just be be expected. Even U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made clean ingredients a focal point, backing broader efforts to "Make America Healthy Again" and calling for a national ban on artificial food dyes. This stance is putting even more pressure on food companies to align with shifting standards. And while some may mourn the slightly duller bowl of Trix, the message is clear: the rainbow might be fading, but General Mills is making sure their cereals stay magically delicious. Related: Popular candy pulled from shelves after strange discovery The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
American Military News
2 days ago
- Business
- American Military News
Take two: General Mills taking artificial colors out of its food
General Mills announced Tuesday it's taking artificial colors out of its products, its second attempt to ditch the dyes. The Golden Valley-based food company first tried with just some cereals in 2015 but eventually brought the original Trix ingredients back by popular demand two years later. This time, amid the broader 'better-for-you' trend dominating the industry and government pressure, the change seems to be sweeping and for good. The maker of Lucky Charms and Gushers will remove synthetic food dye from cereals and food sold in schools by next summer. The entire General Mills portfolio will be free of artificial colors by the end of 2027. 'It really comes back to listening to what consumers are interested in and then giving it to them,' General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening said Tuesday. 'Consumers have a high bar, and we're confident we can meet that bar consumers have for our brands.' Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said this spring the industry had 'voluntarily agreed' to end the use of petroleum-derived FD&C colors like Red 40, Blue 1 and Yellow 5. The FDA also banned Red Dye No. 3 in January before advocating for the elimination of all artificial dyes in April. But few large food companies had publicly revealed their plans until this week. Kraft Heinz, which makes brightly colored Jell-O and Kool-Aid, announced earlier Tuesday it will phase out artificial colors in the next two years. 'The company has invested significant resources, mobilizing a team to address this complex challenge,' Kraft said in a news release. Some companies are holding firm to their garish hues. The maker of Dum Dum suckers told Bloomberg the company expects to still be using synthetic food colorings come 2027. 'One, there might not even be the supply for these natural colors,' Kirk Vashaw, CEO of Spangler Candy Company, told Bloomberg, 'and two, we have to do what the consumers want, and it's not clear to us that these consumers want these natural colors.' That's what derailed General Mills' previous attempt, which was announced in 2015. But Harmening said there's been a shift from a decade ago. 'Consumer perception has changed over that time as well as consumer interest in transparency and wanting to know what's in their food,' he said. 'The landscape now for consumers is different now than it was then and pretty significantly.' The next batch of naturally colored cereals will also benefit from a decade of innovation, he said. 'We don't stand still either,' Harmening said. 'For the last decade, we've been working on how we formulate products and our capabilities, and we are confident that we can come up with a much better product.' Developing alternatives is a costly endeavor; about 15% of General Mills products contain 'certified' colors, as they are also known. And without a true national standard that ensures all food companies remove artificial dyes, competitors could steal away consumers still looking for their brightly colored comforts. That's a tricky proposition for General Mills, which is already looking to trim costs as shoppers spend less on brand-name foods. Harmening said the cost of reformulating hundreds of products is 'not nothing,' but he expects the transition will actually spur growth. 'When you give consumers what they're looking for, your chances of winning go way up,' he said. 'And I'm confident, as we announce this, that's exactly what we're doing.' Many food companies, including General Mills, have at least already started making contingencies around food dyes. California became the first state to ban Red 3 and other additives in 2023, and that elimination of artificial dyes in food sold in schools also goes into effect in 2027. Having a national standard, or at least a national strategy, is preferable to navigating a patchwork of state regulations, Harmening said. Federal food safety regulators have long recognized artificial food colorings as safe, but critics have attacked that view as unnecessary at best and harmful at worst. One study from the state of California found artificial dyes can cause 'adverse neurobehavioral outcomes in some children.' In January, former President Joe Biden's outgoing administration revoked authorization for Red 3 after researchers found it caused cancer in rats. Harmening said his conversation with Secretary Kennedy earlier this year and the initiative to remove synthetic colors builds on more than a century of General Mills partnering with the government. 'We've worked with federal administrations to help advance whatever is needed at that time,' he said. 'We've been around about 160 years, and we're a $20 billion company because we've changed, not because we refuse to.' ___ © 2025 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
General Mills to Remove Artificial Dyes, Star Tribune Reports
General Mills Inc., the maker of Lucky Charms and Trix cereals, will remove synthetic dyes from its products by the end of 2027, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. The announcement comes hours after Kraft Heinz Co. said it will remove all synthetic food dyes from all of its US products over the same period.
Chicago Tribune
04-06-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
In the land of cereal, Minnesota's breakfast upstarts offer substitute for Lucky Charms, Froot Loops
Hannah Barnstable remembers browsing through the cereal aisle at her local grocery store as a child, feasting her eyes upon colorful boxes of breakfast staples like Cocoa Puffs, Trix and Cap'n Crunch. Decades later, when she was readying to open her own cereal company, she had a moment of déjà vu. 'When we got started, I had this epiphany: How could the cereal aisle look exactly the same as it did when I was a kid?' said the founder and CEO of Seven Sundays. Cereal brands like hers would end up irrevocably altering the industry, which has seen sugary standards fade while expensive-but-healthy options have surged. One local breakfast industry player calls it a 'renaissance.' Parker Brook, the founder of Edina, Minnesota-based Lovebird Foods, left General Mills after the birth of his daughter to make organic cereal without grains or refined sugars. Never mind inflation, shoppers are shelling out up to $10 for a box that lists all the ingredients right on the front. Since 2019, Lovebird sales have doubled every year. 'People are willing to pay more for quality,' Brook said. 'Especially in a category like cereal that historically has been dominated by the few.' The four largest players in cereal — General Mills, Kellogg, Post Consumer Brands and Quaker Oats — still control 80% of the $11 billion retail cereal market. But they all continued to sell less cereal over the past year, according to retail sales data from Circana. The fastest-growing brands are often the most expensive, meanwhile, and tend toward 'clean labels' with lower sugar, higher protein and no additives. 'You're paying more for ingredients,' Brook said. 'So I think it's less sticker shock for people. It's more like, 'Hey, I know what I'm getting. I'm getting what I pay for,' vs. paying for some advertising budget for Nickelodeon or for these other cereal companies.' Cereal has long been slipping as younger generations turn on the century-old breakfast staple. After a brief resurgence during pandemic lockdowns, the industry's big players are back to managed decline. Then comes the health-and-wellness trend reshaping food and beverages, which has folks opening their wallets for less-processed options. Brook said the cereal aisle is one of the last parts of the grocery store to really feel that shift. 'It's a massive category,' he said, 'and I think it's due for some new entrants.' Seven Sundays started selling muesli at farmers markets more than a decade ago. Now the Minneapolis-based company is in 7,000 stores around the country. Recently hitting shelves at Target and Costco, the brand has found quick growth alongside other increasingly mainstream natural cereal brands like Magic Spoon, Catalina Crunch and Three Wishes. 'We've heard from people, 'Thank you, I haven't had cereal in a year,'' Barnstable said. 'There was a lack of incremental ideas that are truly going to bring new sales down that aisle.' Like Lovebird, Seven Sundays has seen sales more than double year over year since the pandemic. 'This is why we quit our jobs to start Seven Sundays,' Barnstable said about the accelerating trend toward 'better-for-you' options. 'Real food actually tastes better.' The overall decline of cereal is not about price increases in recent years, she contends. 'It doesn't matter what the price of Cheerios is anymore; it's just not something some consumers are as willing to purchase because of all the stuff we all know about heavily processed, genetically modified ingredients, artificial dyes and sugar,' she said. On average, leading cereal brands are leaning into taste rather than health. A study of cereal trends published in JAMA Open Network Wednesday showed 'concerning nutritional shifts: notable increases in fat, sodium and sugar alongside decreases in protein and fiber' since 2010. That prevailing trend in mainstream cereal is running counter to political pressure from the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, which is casting ultra-processed foods in a negative light. The federal MAHA Commission recently issued a scathing report blaming the nation's food supply, and other issues, for chronic disease. With that kind of messaging targeting foods like cereal, 'no lower price is going to drive somebody to go back,' Barnstable said. 'It has to be something completely new.' Food industry veteran John Haugen sees several factors altering the landscape: the changing food preferences of millennials and Gen Z, advancements in food science and the national conversation around ultra-processed foods. 'Regardless of what the policy changes are that actually happen,' he said, 'it's creating discussion and visibility where consumers are taking a minute to say, 'Hey, what is in my food?'' Haugen is the managing partner of SEMCAP Food + Nutrition, a growth-stage private equity firm, as well as the founder and former longtime leader of 301 Inc. at General Mills. He led investment into granola brand Purely Elizabeth at SEMCAP and while at 301 Inc. Among ready-to-eat cereal brands Circana tracks, which includes granola, Purely Elizabeth had the biggest growth through the past year: a 65% jump in sales. The 16-year-old Colorado company now leads the granola category. 'Consumers are connecting with the authenticity of these small brands,' Haugen said. 'Legacy food brands in general were built before the digital age, versus the up-and-coming food brands of today built with a more direct relationship with the consumer.' That's not to say the big players are missing out entirely: Cascadian Farm is a recognizable organic brand with the heft of a multinational corporation behind it. The General Mills-owned organic label saw retail cereal sales jump 13% in the past year, while Big G cereals including Cheerios and Trix fell 4%. 'Cascadian Farm has seen strong growth across both granola and non-granola cereal varieties,' the company said. 'General Mills is also seeing brands that deliver protein perform well, including our recently launched Cheerios Protein and Ghost Protein Cereal varieties.' Even with the overall decline, sugary cereals aren't going away; they're still very profitable, just a little less so each year. And Post Consumer Brands is the leading producer of private-label (store-brand) cereals, which saw a 2% rise in the past year and have nearly doubled market share in the past five years. Post Holdings Chief Operating Officer Jeff Zadoks recently told analysts the company expects to keep making money as the category slowly shrinks. 'The objective is to do our best to manage our cost to maintain the profitability,' he said. 'So if we can get the category to more of that historic decline, we think that those actions would enable us to maintain our margins.' Yet while many analysts opine on operational efficiencies and promotional investments needed to keep the category afloat, Barnstable sees a fundamental shift in cereal and in food in general. 'Consumers are reading ingredients. They're learning from social media, for better or worse, some of the issues going on in food,' she said. 'But you always have to lead with taste. You can't just go correct a problem and not focus on taste.'
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Texas AG investigating General Mills over ‘healthy' cereal claims
(NewsNation) — Some of America's most popular cereals are under investigation. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has claimed General Mills' cereals marketed for children are not as healthy as advertised — something that's been on the radar of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for a while. Paxton accused General Mills of illegally misrepresenting some of its most popular cereals, such as Trix and Lucky Charms, as 'healthy.' He said he wants the company to sell its products without synthetic dyes and additives, which it does in other countries. Which foods contain dyes RFK Jr. wants eliminated in the US? 'I'm proud to stand with the Trump administration and Secretary Kennedy in taking on petroleum-based synthetic dyes … to ensure that food products are not illegally and deceptively marketed by corporations,' Paxton said in a statement. Under Kennedy's leadership, HHS and the Food and Drug Administration have announced steps to ban certain synthetic dyes and food additives from the nation's food supply by the end of 2026. NewsNation reached out to General Mills for comment but did not hear back before publication. Paxton also announced an investigation into popular cereal giant Kellogg earlier this month. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
