Why General Mills and Ghost teamed up on high-protein cereal

General Mills is taking what it hopes will be a foundational step into the high-protein cereal market via a new partnership with Ghost, a supplement and energy drink company. The packaged foods giant is predicting that the protein cereal category has a lot of room for growth, according to Doug Martin, chief brand officer at General Mills. “I am convinced this is a big business and the important thing there is that this is a distinct problem to solve at breakfast—what can I have that has protein, not a lot of sugar, and tastes good?” Martin said. “I want this to be a big business three to five years from now.” Ghost cereal will have two flavors to start—peanut butter (think Reese’s Puffs but with just peanut butter) and marshmallow (a high-protein version of Lucky Charms). A serving of Ghost cereal has around 18 grams of protein. (Reese’s Puffs has 2 grams of protein per serving, while Lucky Charms has 3 grams.) Ghost teased the launch late last week on social media, and the campaign will be spearheaded by Ghost through paid and owned social media. View this post on Instagram A post shared by GHOST® | BE SEEN (@ghostlifestyle) This is Ghost’s first food product. It already has a joint venture with Anheuser-Busch InBev for an energy drink. ‘Resonance and authenticity’ General Mills makes a protein variation of Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch protein bars, and recently released a high-protein version of Yoplait. Rival Kellogg’s has sold Special K Protein for several years. General Mills-owned Nature Valley, as well as Mars-owned Kind, both have protein versions of their granolas. But the Ghost partnership speaks to a very specific audience—a younger, male fitness consumer. According to Dan Lourenco, Ghost’s co-founder and CEO, 80% of the brand’s consumers are 18 to 46 years old, 55% male and 45% female. “That is not the same as most of our brand consumers,” Martin said. “Ghost is a brand that really connects with this consumer. They already have a resonance and authenticity.” Ghost was founded in 2016 by Lourenco and Ryan Hughes, a former professional bodybuilder. They wanted to target more casual supplement consumers, not necessarily hard-core bodybuilders. To do this, they made protein powders in candy and snack flavors through partnerships with Oreo, Sour Patch Kids, Nutter Butter, Cinnabon and more. Both Hughes and Lourenco are also cereal fans themselves, and drew on the nostalgia for the cereals consumers ate as kids for the brand’s core cereal milk flavors. “Nostalgia is a powerful emotion,” said Lourenco. “If you’re going to consume a sport nutrition product, why not make it enjoyable? If you are trying to build or stick to a routine, that enjoyment makes it more sticky, a better experience.” Also read: Behind the rise of Ghost energy drink While the partnership will help Ghost expand into a new product line and help General Mills reach new customers, Martin said there are other consumers who will be drawn to the cereal for its nutritional value. “There is that core target, but we have a ton of research of concentric rings of consumers around them,” Martin said. “There are health goals that are consistent across groups, like having a high protein, low sugar breakfast.” The cereal will be available online starting today through Ghost’s website, and will roll out to grocery stores later this month. Both brands did not rule out working together on future flavors or other kinds of products. “I would love to be talking a year from now about what’s next,” Martin said. “Ghost understands this consumer, we understand different eating occasions, so how do we keep putting those two things together?” Brands on the rise A look at up-and-coming brands disrupting their categories Read more here

Why General Mills and Ghost teamed up on high-protein cereal

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