3 ms·

Semi-related: Even though it's been 123 years since Cornflakes were patented, generic breakfast cereal just isn't the same. Some of them are downright revolting

Semi-related: Even though it's been 123 years since Cornflakes were patented, generic breakfast cereal just isn't the same. Some of them are downright revolting (e.g. mini-wheat knockoffs) even though they're made in the USA. Many don't even use the same ingredients. I guess their target market is people who don't care about quality? At all?

callmeal 7y ago
>I guess their target market is people who don't care about quality? At all? No, their target market is people who have no other choice. This is what regulatory capture gets you.
UnFleshedOne 7y ago
I thought "generic breakfast cereal" is "quick oats"?
r00fus 7y ago
There is no such thing as "generic" cereal because it has no guaranteed stock ingredients. You have a white-label producer, and many store-brands that simply slap a label on that white-label product. Obviously if the goal is to sell a product that's cheaper than the name-brand (Kellog's in this case), it's clear that's a race-to-the-bottom in terms of quality
jdietrich 7y ago
Processed foods are far more complex and involve far more technology than you might imagine. The production process used by the original manufacturer is effectively a black box, so cloning a breakfast cereal involves a major reverse-engineering effort. The thoroughness of that effort is bounded by the need to undercut the original manufacturer on price, which may also affect the quality of ingredients.
- derefr 7y ago
  > The production process used by the original manufacturer is effectively a black box Don't they patent that, too? Isn't that what the parent commentor is referring to when saying "it's been 123 years since Cornflakes were patented"—that the original manufacturer's exact factory design should be in the public domain by now?
  - Paperweight 7y ago
    Every reply misunderstood at least one of my points? Like there are even videos on YouTube that document every step of the Cornflakes production process... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmMNtV8jBqw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmMNtV8jBqw The generics must cut corners (not grinding as fine? not baking as long?) that surely reduce costs by only a few pennies per box, but at the cost of greatly reduced sales overall. Maybe it has something to do with everyone knowing that the generics are bad as a class, so there's no point in any particular white-label manufacturer achieving any quality better than the bare minimum? Maybe there's a little-known breakfast cereal commodity market?
stickfigure 7y ago
Corn flakes were invented by a religious zealot who believed that bland food would prevent his sanitarium patients from masturbating or having sex. I'm not quite sure what quality you are looking for, but I'm pretty sure that corn flakes have been garbage from the beginning.

callmeal 7y ago

>I guess their target market is people who don't care about quality? At all? No, their target market is people who have no other choice. This is what regulatory capture gets you.

UnFleshedOne 7y ago

I thought "generic breakfast cereal" is "quick oats"?

r00fus 7y ago

There is no such thing as "generic" cereal because it has no guaranteed stock ingredients. You have a white-label producer, and many store-brands that simply slap a label on that white-label product. Obviously if the goal is to sell a product that's cheaper than the name-brand (Kellog's in this case), it's clear that's a race-to-the-bottom in terms of quality

jdietrich 7y ago

Processed foods are far more complex and involve far more technology than you might imagine. The production process used by the original manufacturer is effectively a black box, so cloning a breakfast cereal involves a major reverse-engineering effort. The thoroughness of that effort is bounded by the need to undercut the original manufacturer on price, which may also affect the quality of ingredients.

derefr 7y ago
> The production process used by the original manufacturer is effectively a black box Don't they patent that, too? Isn't that what the parent commentor is referring to when saying "it's been 123 years since Cornflakes were patented"—that the original manufacturer's exact factory design should be in the public domain by now?
- Paperweight 7y ago
  Every reply misunderstood at least one of my points? Like there are even videos on YouTube that document every step of the Cornflakes production process... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmMNtV8jBqw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmMNtV8jBqw The generics must cut corners (not grinding as fine? not baking as long?) that surely reduce costs by only a few pennies per box, but at the cost of greatly reduced sales overall. Maybe it has something to do with everyone knowing that the generics are bad as a class, so there's no point in any particular white-label manufacturer achieving any quality better than the bare minimum? Maybe there's a little-known breakfast cereal commodity market?

stickfigure 7y ago

Corn flakes were invented by a religious zealot who believed that bland food would prevent his sanitarium patients from masturbating or having sex. I'm not quite sure what quality you are looking for, but I'm pretty sure that corn flakes have been garbage from the beginning.