The Post Cereal Collapse

Breakfast for me is a bowl of cereal with milk, a small glass of juice, and a cup of coffee. As breakfast options go, cereal has a lot going for it. Its simplicity and convenience can't be beat for a non-morning person such as myself. It's healthier than bacon and eggs or a doughnut. It's way less expensive than going out.

I genuinely enjoy good cereal even though most cereals on supermarket shelves are not to my tastes (I find them lacking in character, shall we say). Unfortunately, my 'cereal experience' has gone downhill in a major way over the past several years because a number of cereals that I used to buy are no longer available. The Post Foods cereal company is the chief malefactor in this regard; specifically, Post has discontinued the following first-rate cereals:

(1) Maple Pecan Crunch
(2) Vanilla Almond Shredded Wheat
(3) Shredded Wheat with Real Strawberries
(4) Just Bunches! - Caramel
(5) Cinna-Cluster Raisin Bran

A murkier case:
(6) According to its Web site, Post still makes Blueberry Morning. I go to Post's "Where to Buy" page and check Blueberry Morning's availability for my current (Vista) and previous (New Orleans) zip codes: "No stores found within 100 miles". Moreover, some Post cereals can be purchased directly from Post but Blueberry Morning isn't one of them. I run a "Blueberry Morning" Google search: Amazon can get it for you for $5-6 a box.

As intimated above, Post is not the only guilty party here: Post's partners-in-crime include Kellogg's and Sunbelt Bakery, which have shamefully discontinued
(7) Frosted Mini-Wheats: Vanilla Creme and
(8) Berry Basic,
respectively.

The (1)-(8) links lead to corresponding cereal profiles maintained by the Mr. Breakfast Cereal Project. At the bottom of the profile pages are Comments About This Cereal sections in which visitors gush about these cereals, so I know I'm not the only one who liked them. When I am shopping for cereal I look at all the crummy cereals that haven't been discontinued and think, "How can this be? Why is it that good items disappear whereas mediocre items are left behind? Who is responsible for this? Do the honchos at cereal companies actually eat cereal? This isn't a government conspiracy that aims to deaden our senses, is it?" And then I remember the age-old saying:

Never ascribe to malice that which can adequately be explained by incompetence.

Or as commenter Cyclone puts it on the Mr. Breakfast Blueberry Morning page, The executives at Post are out of touch with consumers.

Anyway, of the cereals that are still available, here are some of my favorites:

• Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats Blueberry
With the Vanilla Creme variant gone, this is the next best thing.

• Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats Little Bites Chocolate
The "wheats" part of this cereal gives it enough heft to be satisfying, its sweetness notwithstanding.

• Kellogg's Müeslix
This cereal is pretty grainy but that's what I like about it.

• Quaker Life - Maple & Brown Sugar
Much better than the Original and Cinnamon versions.

• Quaker Oatmeal Squares - Brown Sugar or Golden Maple
Forget Cap'n Crunch and Quisp - this is Quaker's flagship cereal.

• Quaker Granola - Oats, Honey, Raisins, and Almonds
I'm a big fan of mixing cereals, and this cereal makes a great base on which to layer a second, less dense cereal.