Peter Hurd // Guest Writer
Last year General Mills made a pledge that they would remove all artificial colors and flavors from its cereal, however they have had to reconsider their recent change in market strategy due to resistance from its consumers. General Mills recently introduced their all natural version of their Trix cereal which was flavored and colored using fruit Which interviewed individual Trix consumers who said that they prefer the artificial recipe to what one customer called “basically a salad now” and lacks the same look, taste and smell of the classic Trix cereal that so many consumers came to love. This shift in consumer tastes demonstrates a juxtaposition to recent market trends in which consumers demand more and more natural non-processed food.
Many firms like General Mills are trying to take advantage of the recent boom in organic, non-processed food by shifting their market strategy towards making their cereal healthier. However, by doing so they sacrificed some of their most loyal customer base. This move by General Mills is very surprising because they completely changed their product to appeal to a new customer base.
Other similar products and firms trying to shift towards healthier foods like Kraft Heinz have done so not by completely changing their formulas, but by slowly changing their formulas. Kraft Heinz removed its artificial yellow dye from its signature boxed macaroni and cheese with very little initial marketing, and when they realized that consumers had noticed a difference began marketing that “It’s changed. But it hasn’t.” I feel that this strategy seems much more effective in avoiding the alienation of long term consumers.
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