In a case of crying over spilled milk, the head of US food processing giant Kellogg’s is being shredded for suggesting low income families could save money by eating breakfast cereal for dinner.“The cereal category has always been quite affordable, and it tends to be a great destination when consumers are under pressure,” Kellogg’s CEO Gary Pilnick told CNBC during a discussion about rising grocery prices. “If you think about the cost of cereal for a family versus what they might otherwise do, that’s going to be much more affordable.”That in turn sparked outrage from social media users who drew comparisons to Marie Antoinette’s infamous ‘let them eat cake’ comments prior to being escorted to the guillotine during the French Revolution.Or ‘eat the rich’ instead..When asked by CNBC host Carl Quintanilla if the remarks could “land the wrong way” with consumers who have been forced to spend about 26% more on groceries since 2020, Pilnick upped the ante: “In fact, it’s landing really well right now. Cereal for dinner is something that is probably more on trend now, and we would expect (it) to continue as that consumer is under pressure.”Users on TikTok and Twitter (“X”) pointed out that Pilnik earned about USD$5 million in salary and incentives last year, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents. .Another pointed out that cereal isn’t exactly cheap — or healthy given its high sugar content and genetically modified organism designation. A $10 family-size box of cereal along with a $3 carton of milk would cost as much as a frozen entree meant to feed the same amount of people.That’s even though Pilnik suggested “the cereal category is a place that a lot of folks might come to because the price of a bowl of cereal with milk and with fruit is less than a dollar.”In Canada, the Liberal government says it’s still working to “stabilize” food prices through more grocery competition, under threat of higher taxes. According to the latest inflation numbers staples such as meat, cheese and fresh fruit and vegetables remain unaffordable for many..In January, food retailing giant Loblaws was roundly criticized for reducing discounts on its short dated items, despite the fact former CEO Galen Weston Jr. took home CAD$12 million in his final year as head of the company.After a price freeze on No Name items ended in early 2023, the company inadvertently stoked more backlash by responding to critical posts from the company's official Twitter (“X”) account "We may be the face of food inflation but we are not the cause. The staggering increase of costs throughout the food supply chain end up on our shelves, leading to higher food prices," it said.
