Kitschy new breakfast concept becomes a Cereality

Nation's Restaurant News, May 17, 2004 by Paul King

BOULDER, COLO. -- Would Americans go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs and other popular cereals if they were offered in a freestanding restaurant that catered only to cereal lovers?

David Roth and Rick Bacher are betting that people would, so much so that they've designed a concept called Cereality Cereal Bar and Cafe and opened a test unit in the Memorial Union Building at Arizona State University in Tempe.

"Ninety-five percent of the public eats cereal and are extremely habitual and ritualistic about the cereal they eat," said Roth, who serves as Cereality's chief executive. "What I wanted to do was tap into the idiosyncrasies people have about cereal and really celebrate those idiosyncrasies."

Cereality, as born at Arizona State, is a 200-square-foot counter space that, Roth explained, was designed with Jerry Seinfeld's kitchen in the sitcom "Seinfeld" as a template. Cereals are displayed in glass-fronted cabinets on the back wall, and "cereologists" in pajamas dispense cereals according to customers' orders.

A total of 33 name-brand cold cereals are available, along with a variety of hot cereals. In addition, 34 toppings are offered, ranging from fruits, nuts and grated coconut to malted milk balls and milk flavor crystals. Whole, 2 percent, skim and soy milks make up the liquid toppings.

Cereality also makes its own cereal bars, granola and cereal-based snacks to be sold by the bag or box. The ASU unit is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday and from 7 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

Roth noted that the concept, whose name he and Bacher already have applied to patent, is all about celebrating individuality.

"Everybody has his own ideas about what a good cereal is," he explained. "It's an intensely personal experience, and we wanted to tap into that. For example, some people like to mix cereals. We thought we could play off that and make this a unique experience for each customer."

The basic option at Cereality is the bowl of cereal, which here means a cardboard bowl with a fold-down lid for portability. For $2.50 customers receive two cups of cereal, one topping and their choice of milk.

There are two versions, Roth said: "Your Cereal. Our Way" and "Your Cereal. Your Way." The former is a choice of Cereality mixes, such as Devil Made Me Do It and Banana Brown Betty. Named for the Arizona State mascot, the Sun Devil, Devil Made Me Do It is Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms cereals with malted milk balls and chocolate milk flavor crystals. Banana Brown Betty is oatmeal made with banana syrup and molasses sugar, topped with streusel and bananas.

"Your Cereal. Your Way" encourages students to mix their own favorites and includes an option called Invent-A-Blend, which is a self-serve kiosk in which students create their own boxes of cereal from choices on the touch screen. Even the boxes, which hold 10 cups of cereal and sell for $4.50 at ASU, are designed to be personalized by the customer.

A third menu option at Cereality is "Your Cereal. A Whole New Way." It includes the granolas and cereal bars, parfaits made with granolas and vanilla yogurt, and Slurrealities, which is the company's version of a smoothie.

Roth, a sociologist by study--he holds a master's degree in Human Development from Harvard University--said the idea came out of his own observations of people in New York City, among other places.

"We would be in some corporate office, and we might notice an executive sneaking cereal at his desk," Roth recalled. "Now, that man would not go out in the middle of the day and buy a box of cereal, but he might take a break at an outlet where everyone else was enjoying the same thing."

Adding that to the numbers of mothers he would see at airports, handing bags of cereal to young children, he and Bacher began to think that a restaurant designed around cereal might have some legs.

Others have agreed. Among the investors in the concept are one of the founders of Pier 1 Imports and the former executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Although Roth would not share any sales figures, he explained that students have responded well to the idea, as have university administrators.

"We've been very pleased," said Sally Ramage, associate vice president for student affairs at ASU. "Their menu, hours of operation and packaging accommodate the hectic schedules and nontraditional meal times of students, faculty and staff. And people are intrigued by the idea when they walk by Cereality."

Ben Hartley, general manager for Sodexho at ASU, which manages most foodservice on the campus, agreed that the idea has potential.

"It's very young looking. It has good color and energy, and the menu is very trendy and appeals to students," Hartley said. "It gets a pretty strong draw in the midafternoon."

Roth noted that even employees enjoy Cereality; since it opened last August not one employee has quit, he said.

Industry analysts undoubtedly will be watching to see whether Cereality has staying power.

"The key for them would be to make their locations very simple to run, more like a retail environment than a foodservice environment, with the cost of the site kept to a minimum," Mark Godward, president of Miami's Strategic Restaurant Engineering, told the Boulder Daily Camera.