Creatine Cereal Might Just Work

breakfast just got bulkier...

The actual wrestler, CerealMan which I vote should become the spokesperson for Man Cereal.

Happy Friday, currently on my second matcha of the day, shoutout Strangelove in Austin for having the most comfortable seats to work from and and most essential natural lighting. Current thoughts and emotions include: being jealous of anyone who cops the Sweetgreen x Morgenstern’s roasted corn ice cream collab and disgust at the thought of brussel sprouts as snacks, listen, we let it roll with kale, but I will not be falling for this particular psyop.

Ferrero bought WK Kellogg’s which is inherently sugar buying sugar, for those who don’t know, Kellogg’s was once a 100 year old cereal behemoth that fractioned into two when snacking became their number source of revenue, hence WK Kellogg which remained the cereal division (William Keith Kellogg founded the company as his brother John Harvey Kellogg tried to stop people from masturbating with plain cereal) and then Kellanova (bought by Mars) the worst branded company in the history of CPG, which focused on its crown jewel snacking billion dollar brands like Pringles and Pop Tarts. As we’ve deep dived before, cereal is a dying industry, which is a funny thing to prephase this issue with, I just have to commend the WK Kellogg’s team for bamboozling Ferrero into buying them for $3B, hats off to you!

Kraft Heinz is splitting up according to WSJ, something the company had alluded to back in May, a necessary restructuring considering their current portfolio includes Jello, Kool-Aid and Oscar Meyer, brands that are under a lot of scrutiny post MAHA. We’re witnessing the demise of legacy brands that have failed to adjust to new consumer habits and needs, see Del Monte’s recent bankruptcy filing, Our generations aren’t sitting down with a glass of orange juice, adding milk to cereal like depicted in advertisements of yore—smoothies, powders, healthier frozen convenient options like Belgian Boys. and protein bars have replaced that, with Gen Alpha crunchy kids indulging in fruits, dairy, eggs and raw milk for a change.

What we discuss in this issue—

• Can creatine go mainstream?

• A converstaion with Man Cereal’s co-founder Emily Kraus

• The snackification of creatine

If Creatine Can Be For The Girlies, Is It For All?

The question on every pseudo wellness Millennial parent’s mind right now is, “is creatine safe for kids?”—I’m not fucking joking, how did we get here? A few months ago we reported on creatine permeating a more mainstream female audience, in what we call the Alani Nu-fication of creatine, wherein we deep dived into the growing roster of brands that are marketing the supplement beyond just your typical biohacking baddies. It comes to no surprise of course that we would see the conversation of creatine supplements move beyond adults and into kids, in the same way there is now prebiotics and even colustrum supplements for kids.

Creatine is of course found in food itself, like meats, dairy, eggs, etc. and to this day, the American Academy of Pediatrics and American College of Sports Medicine do not recommend creatine powder use for anyone under 18 years old, citing that there is not enough studies yet to prove whether or not its beneficial and explore any potential side effects. Creatine side effects is a conversation no one seems to be having out loud but one that I’ve stumbled upon in many Reddit threads, having had a terrifying experince myself (never touching creatine monohydrate again in my life)—some of the most common side effects reported are palpitations, sleep disturbances and gastro intestinal issues. I cannot stress how important it is to consult with your doctor when taking a new supplement, we don’t know how our bodies, that are unique to ourselves, might respond to it, it seems like some boring ass disclaimer, but it’s so real if you’ve ever been on the negative side effect side of one.

As I dug more into how our bodies absorb creatine powders, I came across the studies of how protein and carbs both enhance the absorption of it in our bodies, but somehow the majority of the products out there touting creatine are either gummies or powders, of course because it’s the medium that would be most lucrative to scale online, considering that creatine isn’t as common to find in your local grocer—yet.

Why Creatine Cereal Makes Sense.

Came across Man Cereal, the upcoming creatine cereal brand cofounded by Emily Straus and Dejan Rankovic, both early employees at Dr. Squatch, with the branding being done by the incomparable Dayjob, who has worked with successful cpg brands that have broken into mainstream liked Recess and Fly By Jing. When I first posted about the brand, the reception was a mix between eye rolls and excitement, with comments like “way to alienate have of your customer demographic” “this is stupid as fuck” and “can you eat man cereal if you’re a woman” in between those who expressed excitement around the product. Emily Kraus told me the inspiration behind the name Man Cereal, was that there wasn’t any cereal branding that truly catered to men, a statement that isn’t necessarily true if you think about General Mills, Ghost protein cereal, however, the gendered play has been massively succesful for brands like Alani Nu, who took an overly male category and catered to a broader female audience, and eventually was bought up by Celsius for almost $2B.

Photo via Dejan Rankovic’s Linkedin.

Man Cereal is low carb (keto) they are also using protein which again aids with the absorption of creatine, specially if you eat it in the classic bowl with milk, considering it also has carbs, and when I inquired about dosage, she let me know that a serving’s worth of creatine falls within the standard daily recommended dosage. For those who asked how much of the creatine converts into creatinine (by product of creatine) during the manufacturing process, Emily explained that because they are baking the cereal at a low temperature, it doesn’t affect the creatine, and once they’ve produced a batch, they also test it with a third party to verify that the creatine has remained intact.

The brand is officially launching in the fall, they are going to be debuting with some nostalgic flavors and eventually expanding to some unique ones of their own, Emily was gracious to share a sneak peek of their branding, for my eyes only, and it’s definitely leaning a lot more fun than you would expect from its name. According to Emily, their focus is DTC at the moment, which considering David’s success on TikTok alone, seems like the most promising channel for a product like theirs. They’ve raised a small pre-seed round and investors include RX Bar’s co-founder, Jared Smith. Emily expressed the vision is for Man Cereal to be for everyone, aiding in making creatine products a lot more mainstream and approachable. Though I remain skeptical about cereal considering our evolving breakfast habits, I do believe creatine cereal actually makes sense, if you think that’s the craziest thing I’ve seen containing creatine, you’d be wrong.

Can I Interest You in Creatine Croissants?

Man Cereal may just be the tip of the iceberg, as I’ve come across products like creatine muffins and croissants, as well as creatine protein bars (ok we all saw this coming)—can’t wait for the first brand to make creatine chips a thing, and if you’re working on this, I want to talk to you!