At a time when Americans are facing the highest food spending in three decades, Kellogg’s CEO Gary Pilnick‘s suggestion to eat cereal for dinner has sparked a firestorm of criticism.
During an interview with CNBC, Pilnick proposed turning to cereal as an affordable meal option, citing that “the price of a bowl of cereal with milk and with fruit is less than a dollar.”
Pilnick’s remarks come at a time when US consumers are spending over 11 per cent of their disposable income on food, a significant increase fueled by escalating grocery prices.
He claimed that the consumption of cereal is increasing for meals other than breakfast, with 25 percent now being eaten outside the typical morning timeframe.
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“Cereal for dinner is something that is probably more on trend now, and we would expect to continue as that consumer is under pressure,” he said.
Critics on social media platforms have drawn parallels between Pilnick’s remarks and the infamous “let them eat cake” phrase, mistakenly attributed to Queen Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution.
The suggestion that economically strained families resort to cereal for dinner has been met with skepticism and outrage, with many pointing out the irony of such advice coming from a CEO whose annual compensation exceeds $1 million, not including bonuses.
The backlash has been amplified by worries about the nutritional content of cereal, which often contains high levels of sugar, and by the observation that cereal prices have surged markedly in recent years.
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As per data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, although the cost of cereals experienced a slight decrease of 0.3 percent in 2023, it had previously spiked by 6 percent in 2021 and 13 percent in 2022.
Social media users have also criticised Pilnick’s pitch as out of touch. Comments on platforms like X reflected a growing frustration with corporate profits amidst rising living costs, with one critic denouncing the suggestion as “exploiting the hungry for financial gain.”
Recent data from the FDA reveals that US consumers are allocating a larger portion of their budget to food purchases than they have in the past three decades. By the close of 2023, the expense of groceries had surged by nearly 20 percent compared to 2021.