Cheerios are flying off the shelves as budget-conscious shoppers stay home

General Mills CEO said that lower- and middle-income families are ‘continuing to feel significant economic pressure’ and are concentrating a bigger share of their spending on sale items

Cheerios’ cost-effective cheer is sweeping the U.S. as budget-conscious shoppers stay home instead of dining out.

Food manufacturer and cereal giant General Mills beat quarterly sales estimates, according to the company’s second-quarter results posted Wednesday.

During an earnings call Wednesday, the company noted that some consumers are leveraging product promotions, changing how they shop, and eating at home to stretch their dollars.

“In general, we’re seeing...consumer weakness, particularly for those making under $100,000 a year; we continue to see that consumer being stretched,” General Mills Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Finance Jeff Siemon said. “What we see is that consumers, when there’s a discount, we see them buying more because they’re financially strained.”

Siemon also noted that consumers are changing where they shop, and how they shop, to see out more affordable prices.

Amid the facts and figures of the company’s earnings call, it also revealed plans to launch “new offerings” across several brands that sell cereal.

There will be a new line of Cheerios granola that will have “familiar flavors families will love,” the company said. General Mills noted that granola is the fastest-growing cereal segment, and that it’s addressing demand in the area with 10 new granola items.

At-home breakfast cereal options like Cheerios can help consumers cut monthly food costs (Getty Images)

Expect to see new offerings from the company’s protein-cereal collaboration with lifestyle sports nutrition brand Ghost. The collab has produced a protein-packed version of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and General Mills plans to expand the cereal’s availability in the months ahead.

General Mills also plans to launch “new indulgent flavors” in its booming Nature Valley Protein Granola line, which grew nearly 20 percent in the second quarter.

With consumers across the country looking to spend less this holiday season, cereal provides an affordable alternative to getting breakfast from a restaurant or fast-food location.

For example, a family-size box of Cheerios granola cereal may cost around $6 for 13 servings, whereas 13 servings of a McDonald’s Sausage McMuffin at around $3 per sandwich would cost $39.

Consumers can cut down their costs even more by picking up bulk boxes of cereal from wholesale clubs such as Costco, where one two-pack of original Cheerios may cost around $8.50 for 30 servings of cereal. Thirty servings of Sausage McMuffins? Around $90, depending on where you live.