Kellogg's cut down to size by shoppers

KELLOGG'S HAS been forced to back down over a change in its breakfast cereal box sizes after customers protested that new bigger Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes packs would not fit into kitchen cupboards.

The taller boxes, introduced in July, prompted a large number of disgruntled customers to telephone the headquarters of "the world's favourite cereal" to demand a return to the old pack size.

The adverse reaction to the change in box size comes at a bad time for Kellogg's. The company, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, has seen its massive share of the breakfast cereals market decline in recent years.

The trend for people to skip breakfast, and competition from supermarkets' own brands, has prompted some business analysts to warn that Kellogg's dominance of the cereal market could snap, crackle and eventually go pop.

A Kellogg's spokesman said the traditional packs would be available "within about 10 weeks". But he would not say how many complaints the firm had received.

The original boxes were 296mm high - small enough to fit upright into a normal kitchen cupboard.

But Kellogg's then increased the height by 44mm to conform with the size of its boxes in the rest of Europe.