Why Your Breakfast Food Might Cost More in 2022

Several breakfast food items will cost more in 2022 as General Mills is planning to raise prices as much as 20 percent on hundreds of products by mid-January, according to company letters obtained by CNN.

Popular cereals like Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, Wheaties, Reese’s Puffs, and Trix are included in the increase. Spanning dozens of brands, the change will also impact items from well-known brands like Annie’s, Progresso, Yoplait, Fruit Roll-Ups, Betty Crocker, and Pillsbury.

“A leader at the company said it plans to push along all of the increases to its grocery and convenience store customers,” CNN reports. “He expects they will then pass them down to shoppers.”

General Mills is just the latest company to increase prices, following recent changes from Tyson, Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, Procter & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, and others.

According to Statista, General Mills accounted for nearly 30 percent of the market share of cereal companies in 2017. 

CNN notes inflation is driving the recent price hike in the food industry, with prices climbing 5.4 percent higher than the same time last year. IRI, a market research firm projects that inflation on food, beverages and other household basics will climb to 8 percent during the first half of 2022.

“The current operating environment is as dynamic as we’ve experienced in at least a decade, resulting in significant input cost inflation, labor shortages, and challenges servicing the business,” General Mills said in a company letter.