Breakfast cereal in some markets, and steady and continued growth throughout its history. The number of different types of breakfast cereals in the U.S. has grown from 160 (1970) to 340 (1998) to 4,945 (2012). In this highly competitive market, breakfast cereal companies have developed cereals in an ever-increasing number of flavors. Although many plain wheat and oat based cereals exist, other flavors are sweet. Some of the most popular brands include freeze-dried fruit and others are flavored like dessert or candy. Cereal, oatmeal and porridge quickly became an important breakfast component in North America. Barley was a common grain used, though
Breakfast cereal to General Foods. In 1985, Philip Morris Tobacco Company bought General Foods for $5.6 billion and merged it with its Kraft division. Because of Kellogg and Post, the city of Battle Creek, Michigan is nicknamed the "Cereal Capital of the World". In 1902 Force wheat flakes became the first ready-to-eat breakfast cereal introduced into the United Kingdom. The cereal, and the Sunny Jim character, achieved wide success in Britain, at its peak in 1930 selling 12.5 million packages in one year. In the 1930s, the first puffed cereal, Kix, went on the market. At the 1904 World Fair, the Quaker