No Cheerios for Europe
After outing myself as a die-hard Cheerios fan who schlepps boxes from the US to Germany (see previous post), I sent a message to General Mills, suggesting Germany as a new market for the product. Unfortunately, the reply was not positive:
Dear Ms. Mercedes,
Thank you for contacting General Mills regarding Cheerios.
Our US colleagues have transferred your request to the German office.
General Mills and Nestle have a global joint-venture on the cereal business Cereal Partners Worldwide CPW. Europe belongs to the region that is managed by Nestle and sold under the Nestle brand. They have decided not to sell Cheerios anymore. The same applies for Greece. In Europe you just get the GM product in special Army shops and in Iceland.
Best regards
Jessica Hillmer
General Mills GmbH
22083 Hamburg/Germany
Im Namen und Auftrag für General Mills International SARL
Looks like I will keep on schlepping…
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19 opinions for No Cheerios for Europe
Waleska Alsieux
May 21, 2008 at 11:26 am
I am amazed they responded and so in-depth! But, where there’s a will, there’s a way… Well, not this time! I love your articles… :)
Bjoggi
May 25, 2008 at 7:13 am
Ísland………Best i Heimi!!
Kexpakki
May 25, 2008 at 7:18 am
umm….you can get it in all shops in Iceland
Anepo
May 25, 2008 at 7:21 am
It’s good to be in iceland ^^
Gunni from Iceland
May 25, 2008 at 7:37 am
Sorry man, but we are the only people who will enjoy “cheerios” in Europe……..
Kalli Iceland
May 25, 2008 at 8:56 am
Too bad, cheerios is awesome. I feel your pain :(
Björn
May 25, 2008 at 10:37 am
well you can actually get Cheerios in the UK but only a sweet version. It sucks not being able to get the original one here.
..Ísland best í heimi!!
Stymmi
May 25, 2008 at 12:01 pm
im eating a bowl of cheerios now ;D
Iceland best in the world.
Óðinn
May 25, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Don’t forget about Cocoa Puffs..
b2
May 25, 2008 at 5:57 pm
and cocoa puffs, its also made by gm
ingi Ingason
May 25, 2008 at 6:43 pm
jessjess….jú ken olsó get ðí öltimit kókó pöffs in æsland.
Mr. Surprised
May 25, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I REALLY would like to know what the arguments are for not selling Cherioos in those countries. Does it give you cancer? Don’t they want to make moeny? WHAT is the reason for not selling that popular product in those contries?
Örn
May 25, 2008 at 7:44 pm
It doesn’t say so in the reply, but the reason that Cheerios has been faded out in Europe is that it was banned by the EU due to a too high concentrate of iron, thus possibly causing iron overload toxicity.
The ironic thing is that most women suffer from a slight iron deficiency, and would do well to eat cheerios to try to get enough iron into their diets.
Siggi
May 25, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Cheerios uses GMO grain which is banned in the EU.
Jean Mercedes
May 26, 2008 at 4:27 am
Thanks to everyone for your input on Cheerios; I am glad I am not alone.
@Bjoggi - I am guessing that “Ísland………Best i Heimi!!” means “Iceland - Best in the World”? Are you referring only to Cheerios or to other quality of life topics or to doing business abroad?
@Bjoern - are those “sweet Cheeerios” in the UK actually branded as Cheerios or something else? They sell a sweet Cheerios-like cereal in Germany also, but under a different brand. Maybe it is Nestle? That would be a reason to keep Cheerios out of the market - keep competition low.
@Odinn, b2 and Ingi - you really prefer Coco Puffs over Cheerios? Then add it to our poll on “Ex-Pat Faves” and vote for it!
@Ingi - is this the correct translation of your comment: “Yes, yes, you can also get the ultimate Coco Puffs in Iceland”
@Mr. Surprised - I tend to believe that most business decisions are logical. In this case, General Mills/Nestle must think that the European market for Cheerios is not large enough to warrant the expense of producing and marketing it. Perhaps European pallets are different, or perhaps Oern is right…
@Oern - do you have a reference on your iron concentration theorey? I am looking at a Cheerios box right now, and the Percent Daily Value of Iron is just 45%…
@Siggi - Interesting point, but cereal does not usually get exported from the US, it gets produced locally, so General Mills/Nestle would use locally sourced ingredients.
Chris
May 26, 2008 at 6:19 am
I was looking for confirmation of Örn’s statement, and I didn’t find anything, although I did find out (1) that the high level of iron was a direct attempt to get Cheerios listed as the cereal of choice for US government food programs aimed at children and (2) they were originally called Cheerioats. I’ve also learned that Iceland is quite enthused about Cheerioats … me, not so much, although my children enjoy them.
svava
May 26, 2008 at 6:33 pm
My sister went to a bloodtest, and they told her she had too little Iron. So she got a pamphlet about Iron and which foods were rich of iron.
Cheerios were at the top, with the most iron. Below was Bllod puddin(I think it’s called) and various other kinds of food.
So yep, I think Cheerios was banned in europe because of too much iron…
Cheerioats
May 27, 2008 at 3:45 pm
You can get a version of “Oat Cheerios” in the UK.
http://www.cerealpartners.co.uk/brands/oat-cheerios.aspx
LuLu
Jun 17, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Unfortunately the “Oat Cheerios” sold in the UK and Ireland are not the same as the original Cheerios in the yellow box from the US. The European version is coated in sugar.
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