How Cereal Prices Have Changed in 2024

New Data Shows What Americans Will Pay for the Most Popular Cereals

With National Cereal Day on the horizon e-commerce accelerator Pattern wanted to take a deep dive into which cereals U.S. shoppers like best and how much they can expect to pay for them.  ‍

Why it matters: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation for food products specifically is up 2.6%, with cereals and bakery products up 1.5% year over year. However, according to our findings, several of the most popular cereals have experienced an inflation reversal, giving Americans a welcome respite from rising grocery prices.  

‍Which cereal is No. 1? To better understand how much Americans will pay for their favorite cereals, we first needed to identify which cereals were most popular. We analyzed demand data on Amazon during every day of 2023 and 2024 so far to understand which cereals are most searched for by consumers. Here’s what the top 10 cereals were for American shoppers in 2023:

1. Cheerios
2. Cream of Wheat
3. Honey Bunches of Oats
4. Lucky Charms
5. Frosted Flakes
6. Cinnamon Toast Crunch
7. Corn Flakes
8. Raisin Bran
9. Rice Krispies
10. Life Cereal

Good news, bad news: While half of Americans’ favorite cereals have experienced inflation reversal year over year, the other half have seen a significant increase in price more than the national average inflation. Here’s how top cereals have fared in price year over year:

• Rice Krispies decreased in price by 6% from January 2023 – February 2024
• Cheerios -4%
• Cinnamon Toast Crunch -4%
• Honey Bunches of Oats -4%
• Life Cereal -2%
• Cream of Wheat +4%
• Raisin Bran +5%
• Frosted Flakes +7%
• Lucky Charms +8%
• Corn Flakes +16%

Scooping up savings: While pricing for the most popular cereals has seen an even split in terms of inflation, when looking at the cereal landscape holistically, more cereals have experienced inflation reversal than those that have not. Here are the cereals outside of the top ten favorites that have seen the sharpest reduction in price year over year:

• Fruity Pebbles decreased in price by -12% from January 2023 – February 2024
• Pops -12%
• Quaker Oats -12%
• Cap’n Crunch -8%
• Grape Nuts -6%
• Trix -6%
• Chex -4%
• Frosted Mini-Wheats -3%
• Malt O Meal -3%

The takeaway: Depending on what their favorite cereal brand is, some Americans may be paying more while others will enjoy some welcome savings at the breakfast table. By deviating from the fan favorites and exploring other options, Americans may find even greater savings with many cereals outside of the top ten experiencing inflation reversal.

• Pattern’s data science team analyzed demand and pricing data on Amazon during every day of 2023 and 2024 so far to understand what consumers can expect in the breakfast aisle ahead of National Cereal Day. If you’d like to use insights like these to inform your e-commerce strategy, contact Pattern to learn more today.