Dive Brief:
- Post Holdings is bringing its Pebbles cereal into the frozen aisle for the first time with waffles. The offering is available in its signature flavors: Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles. The item is made with fluffy buttermilk batter and loaded with chocolatey flavor or bursts of fruity color.
- Joe Christenson, senior brand manager of Pebbles, said in an email the company was inspired to create Pebbles Waffles after noticing consumers adding the cereal into waffles and other breakfast recipes.
- The move by Post to bring the cereal into the frozen section is the latest product launch by a CPG food company that taps into the brand equity of an offering popular with consumers.
Dive Insight:
While Post has a strong presence in cereal, one of its most popular and successful brands is Pebbles. Launched in 1971 after the company secured licensing rights, Post said it was the first brand ever created around a TV show character. While the broader cereal category has struggled recently, Pebbles has been a standout, recording its ninth year of continuous growth in 2023, according to data provided by Post.
Pebbles, of course, is closely associated with $400 billion global breakfast category. And the decision to launch frozen waffles keeps the Post brand in a meal segment where it has excelled.
Still, entering the frozen breakfast section expands usage occasions for the Pebbles brand — a consumer may want a waffle instead of a cereal, for example, while increasing the points in a store when a shopper might encounter Pebbles. It’s not uncommon for a consumer to purchase an extension of a well-known item, and then in the same trip, toss the original into their shopping cart.
Post has been aggressively expanding the Pebbles brand beyond just cereal, predominately through licensing deals. In the last few years, the company has expanded the brand into ice cream, International Delight creamers, protein powder, a candy bar and even makeup.
“As our fans are always looking to experience the brand in new ways, we’re always ideating around potential new and unexpected ways to bring the Pebbles into other categories,” Christenson said.
Pebbles Waffles also expands Post’s retail presence in items that need to be kept cold, currently led by its Bob Evans refrigerated dinner sides business that includes mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese.
Post will have immediate capital to tap with the Pebbles brand name as it enters waffles. In addition, the fact that consumers already were incorporating the cereal into their breakfast recipes could show there is a broader need that will attract the interest of other shoppers interested in doing the same with a premade item.
But that move by no means guarantees success. Kellogg is by far the dominant player in frozen waffles, generating nearly $800 million in sales in 2022 with Eggo, according to Statista data. Private label came in a distant second with $140 million in sales, while Kodiak was the next branded offering at $91 million, the figures showed.
Christenson said his offering’s fruity flavor and the cereal’s nostalgic ties to parents who are now feeding it to their own children “make Pebbles Waffles an item that we feel confident parents and kids will enjoy together, helping it to stand out in the freezer aisle.”
