China Breakfast Cereal Market Overview, 2027

Rice, maize, and wheat are the three major crops, and therefore the production of these three crops accounts for more than 90% of China's total food production. As a result of topographic and climatic features, the area suitable for cultivation is small: only about 10 percent of China’s total land area. The only Western breakfast items that are really making way in China are milk, baked bread, and oatmeal. Oatmeal is taking hold faster because it is consumed hot, with hot water or milk. Traditional Chinese medicine warns that completely cold meals will cause various diseases, which is why the Chinese have such an issue with the Western habit of eating cold breakfasts. In China people are eating bowls of hot congee prepared by street vendors even on hot summer mornings.

According to the research report China Breakfast Cereal Market Overview, 2027 the market is expected to add USD 0.53 Billion by 2027. The breakfast cereal market is basically driven by an increase in demand for ready-to-eat food for breakfast. A wide range of innovative and flavorful options in breakfast cereals are also expected to boost the market, particularly in developing markets. The marketplace is bifurcated into hot cereals and ready-to-eat cereals. Breakfast cereal consumption has been steadily increasing around the world, owing to the growing popularity of ready-to-eat foods enabled by the fast-paced existence of the working populace (lifestyles). With the increase in the variety of human beings suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure, weight problems, and cardiovascular diseases, the demand for healthy and low-calorie breakfast options is growing, which in turn is expected to fuel the breakfast cereal market in the forthcoming years.

The population of China was 1.41 Billion. In 2021, there were around 723 Million male inhabitants and 689 Million female inhabitants living in China. The GDP of China was USD 7.73 Trillion in 2021. Due to consumers' considerable reliance on the aforementioned distribution for food shopping and the growing number of supermarkets throughout the city, the supermarket/hypermarket segment currently maintains a significant stake in the China breakfast Cereal market. The Supermarkets in China industry, including China Resources Enterprise Limited, Wal-Mart China, Sun Art Retail Group Ltd., Yonghui Superstores Co. Ltd. and Carrefour China Inc.

The demand for convenience food is growing at a faster pace due to changes in social and economic patterns, as well as an increase in urbanization, buying power, awareness of healthy foods, changes in meal patterns and existing food habits, and a desire to taste new products. They are becoming extremely popular, especially among working-class people, teenage children, and people living in hostels, bachelors, and so on. Furthermore, recent innovations have led to the use of many traditional technologies like fermentation, extraction, encapsulation, fat replacement, and enzyme technology to produce new healthy breakfast cereal products, reduce or remove undesirable food components, and add specific nutrients.

Breakfast cereal includes a more diverse product range than traditional oats. As a result, it has great potential for innovation, with opportunities in flavor, packaging, and ways to consume it. The buyer's perception of cereal has also moved on. Chinese people are looking beyond corn flakes and cocoa balls, and there's increasing awareness of recently launched products such as granola - an oatmeal that is mixed with dried fruit and honey - or muesli - a combination of oatmeal, corn flakes, nuts, and seeds.

However, this type of convenience is relatively new for adult consumers. China didn't have adult-targeted ready-to-eat cereals when the Japanese company Calbee started to sell Frugra, a fruit-flavoured granola, with sales available on the C2C site Taobao. Initial sales encouraged Calbee, in which PepsiCo owns a minority stake, to sell Japan-made Frugra on its store on Alibaba’s Tmall the subsequent year. The trend was closely followed by multinational peers, including PepsiCo, the Nestlé-General Mills venture Cereal Partners Worldwide, and Kellogg, which all launched imported granola in China. At Jingkelong stores, Nestle has also launched an area craving for protein powders with a Swiss-branded 300-gram box selling at 349 RMB, a premium on similar-sized local offerings by the Hong Fu Loi brand at 208 RMB.

Covid-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has positively impacted the growth of the breakfast cereal market. Because of the pandemic, people have become more concerned about their overall health, both physical and mental. Due to this, people are now starting to have a healthy breakfast. With this trend expected to continue post-pandemic, breakfast cereal manufacturers are introducing private label products that consumers perceive as more convenient to shop for and cook in, with the added safety of pre-packaged constituents. The pandemic has transformed the way consumers plan their meals. New offerings give people the flexibility to shop conveniently and similarly create healthy meals from scratch. In contrast, consumer and brand awareness has grown, with retailers vying to maintain the highest safety standards while also focusing on quality and sustainability. Besides, COVID-19 has generated multiple opportunities for many private players to emerge in the markets to cater to inflated demand.

Considered in this report

• Geography: China
• Historic year: 2016
• Base year: 2021
• Estimated year: 2022
• Forecast year: 2027

Aspects covered in this report

• China Breakfast Cereal market with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By Product

• Hot Cereal
• Ready to eat

By Ingredient Type

• Wheat
• Rice
• Corn
• Oats
• Barley
• Others

By Distribution Channel

• Supermarket & Hypermarket
• Convenience Stores
• E-Commerce/Online
• Others

Intended audience

This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to Breakfast cereal industry, government bodies and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.