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
Hidden Treasures (cereal) Hidden Treasures (cereal) Hidden Treasures was a short-lived breakfast cereal by General Mills. Introduced in 1993, alongside Sprinkle Spangles, the cereal consisted of sweetened corn squares that all looked the same, but were meant to be filled with a fruity filling. The icing filling flavors were cherry, orange and grape. To emphasize the treasure hunt dynamic, some pieces had no icing filling and were hollow. Pieces with a seam very close to the edge had a grape filling, off-center seams had orange, and directly center seams had cherry. Hidden Treasures was discontinued by 1995. Since Hidden Treasures was so short-lived,