Whole grains—the basis for granola, muesli and other healthful cereals—have emerged as agriculture’s superheroes for their valuable nutritional benefits.
That formerly down-market granola, commonly purchased in bulk in health food stores, would emerge as an upscale specialty food once seemed unlikely. Yet, within the past decade, consumer awareness of the nutritive value of foods perceived to be fresh, natural and minimally processed has increased dramatically.
Whole grains supply a nutty flavor and a satisfying texture to cereal, while also being an important source of soluble fiber and complex carbohydrates—qualities that are important to consumers concerned about heart health and cholesterol levels. Ironically, the now-aging Baby Boomers who drove granola’s popularity in the 1960s are a leading consumer group for making healthful cereals trendy again.
The New Granolas
Granola, as it was conceived in the 1960s, is made from toasted whole-grain rolled oats to which various other ingredients and sweeteners are added. Then as now, the basic recipe calls for oats, oil, nuts, seeds, raisins and other dried fruits, sweetened with honey or maple syrup. The result makes a delicious, healthful convenience food that can be eaten on its own as a snack food, sprinkled on yogurt or oatmeal or consumed as a breakfast cereal.
But today’s granola has moved beyond the decades-old version. With flavors that range from cappuccino to pumpkin, taste has become as important a determinant as nutrition.
According to Simon Cutts, cereal category manager for Wild Oats, which carries 35 to 40 varieties of bulk cereals, including dozens of granolas, customers who buy the store’s private-label granolas are looking for whole-grain/high-fiber cereals, but they want good taste just as much. Best-sellers include flavors like French Vanilla Almond, Pumpkin Flax, and Strawberry VanillaHemp. (Nutritionally, the oil of hemp seed is valued as a flavor enhancer that supplies measurable levels of Omega-6 fatty acids.)
“The new-wave granola market took off in the latter half of 2003 and is part of the mainstreaming of the old granola crowd,” notes Roger McElroy, grocery buyer for Straub’s in St. Louis, a four-store specialty grocer that carries upwards of eight specialty brands of healthful cereals.
Donna Menard, who together with her husband Lynn launched Galaxy Granola in San Rafael, Calif., describes the trend as “retro, but with a twist—a 1960s nostalgia linked to new health consciousness.”
The Menards debuted their line six years ago, in response to test marketing that said consumers are looking for more healthful food choices. Now available nationwide in Whole Foods Markets, Galaxy Granola is a no-oil-added, small-batch product.
Small-batch production and all-natural ingredients often remain traditional hallmarks of granola even as distribution goes larger scale. “Volume is not a priority,” notes Michaelene Hern, one of the pioneers of the “new” granola who launched her Michaelene’s Gourmet line nearly 20 years ago, as consumers started to become aware of low-fat, high-fiber diets. Hern deliberately keeps output of the 22 varieties of her Specialty Fruit and Nut and Dessert granolas limited, noting that large production that necessitates warehousing can result in loss of flavor.
Bear Naked Granola, which started as a home-kitchen product in 2002, achieved national distribution in more than 10,000 retail stores by 2005, when the brand’s twenty-something entrepreneurs, Brendan Synnott and Kelly Flately, also introduced Bear Naked All Natural Oatmeal, All Natural Low-Sugar Cereal, and 100% Organic Hot Cereal featuring high-quality all-natural ingredients.
Muesli, an Old-World Favorite
If granola is the brash American, muesli is the refined European. It is basically a cereal made from uncooked oats and dried fruits that is eaten with milk or yogurt. Although the ingredients resemble those of granola, the flavor and eating experience is vastly different. Muesli is more of a highly textured porridge that can be eaten hot or cold;it is soft and easily digested, often with no added sugars.
Most of the muesli brands sold in the U.S. are imported. Willi Pfaffenschwarz, president of Seitenbacher, a natural foods company founded in 1980 in Buchen, Germany, says that, although American consumers know more about healthful foods, in particular high fiber, than do Europeans, the American market for muesli is “much more difficult” to penetrate. It took years to bring his brand, which is made from grains grown without pesticides by local German farmers and sweetened with dates or raisins, into specialty stores here.
Brook Farm, a small company in New South Wales, Australia, makes many muesli varieties, including macadamia, that are sold through specialty markets and a few restaurants in the West andwest. Owner Martin Brook notes that all his mueslis are GMO- and sugar-free, sweetened only with a local Australian Bush Honey.
The Functional Path to Wellville
Health-related issues are a primary concern of cereal shoppers. Jill Denton, natural foods buyer at Jungle Jim’s International Market in Fairfield, Ohio, which carries 12 different brands of granola and muesli on the store’s “cereal wall,” says her customers want to know whether cereals are whole grain, low fat or organic, and express concern about added sugars. Denton makes sure that a portion of her granolas are wheat-free for people with gluten intolerance (also known as Celiac disease).
Vitamin-fortified cereals have been around for years. But now, many cereal makers are addressing consumers’ health concerns by following the more complex functional food path, in which foods are fortified with specific curative supplements for a variety of ailments. For instance, BioFamilia, owner of the Familia brand of muesli, has rolled out Fit Crisp, a “functional muesli” with a high fiber content, nine key vitamins and minerals, including folic acid, magnesium, calcium and a small amount of inulin, which aids intestinal health. Other products include Nature’s Path’s Optimum Rebound, with ingredients like bananas, almonds, raisins, flax, soy, matcha green tea and cinnamon designed to help post-exercise muscle recovery and fuel replacement.
Hodgson Mills’s most popular new product is heart-healthy Multi-Grain Hot Cereal with Flaxseed & Soy, notes spokesperson Sara Maudlin. The company’s hot cereals have also been promoted in diabetes literature because whole grains have been shown to equalize blood sugar.
Granola Burgers, Anyone?
Not surprisingly, specialty food retailers growing their healthy cereal sets face stiff competition from large natural food chains such as Whole Foods and supermarkets looking to add healthier cereals to their mix.
Two brands of granola have been historically carried as convenience items at Savenor’s, a 67-year-old market in Boston. But, “with Whole Foods up the street, we are now working to find local products that will have more cachet with customers,” says General Manager Juliana Kolson-Lyman. She notes that there are now so many different types of granola that “we can be much more choosy to fit Savenor’s style and clientele,” which includes mothers who choose the tastiest granolas with chopped fruit and older customers who tend to buy Irish steel-cut oatmeal and muesli.
Merchants can boost usage occasions by positioning granola and muesli as on-the-go, all-day snacks. Packaged, ready-to-eat granolas are among the most versatile of the cereals, as they can be eaten as portable snacks without the added milk or yogurt that muesli requires. However, Bio-Familia recently introduced Pickers, a clumping muesli that can be eaten out of hand, possibly increasing portable meal replacement options.
Granola also has many uses in prepared foods departments, from the traditional such as an ice cream topping or in muffins and cookies, to the uncommon such as in recipes for burgers or stuffing, many of which can be found on suppliers’ websites or packaging. Encouraging shoppers to consider healthful cereals as more than breakfast replacements for doughnuts and Danish, but as lifestyle choices that can be incorporated into the diet in numerous ways, increases health benefits while growing sales potential.
