Kellogg Drink ’n Crunch

Region

United States

Associated With

Kellogg - product company; Metaphase Design Group - package designer

Defining Feature

Nested cereal and milk cups with a shaped mouthpiece for eating without a bowl or spoon

Status

Unresolved - the date and reason sales ended are not established

Overview

Kellogg Drink ’n Crunch was a US cereal cup that consumers filled with fresh milk before use.

Dry cereal sat in a removable inner cup while milk went into the outer cup. A shaped mouthpiece brought the two together, replacing the bowl and spoon.

Tested in 2004, it received a reported US national rollout in April 2005 and was bought at a 7-Eleven in April 2006. When and why sales ended remain unknown.

Why It Mattered

The experiment used package design to move a familiar breakfast into convenience and foodservice settings without relying on tableware. The design also attracted packaging recognition: CSP Daily News reported that Drink ’n Crunch placed first in a consumer-convenience food-packaging category and second for “WOW factor”.

Testing, Rollout & Last Known Sale

• Kellogg’s 2006 TTAB pleading cites a DRINK ’N CRUNCH trademark application filed on 8 October 2002; that filing date is not a product-launch date.
• Packaging World described package testing in April 2004, while Packaging Digest reported 2004 testing followed by a US national rollout in April 2005.
• A reviewer reported buying Frosted Flakes Drink ’n Crunch at a 7-Eleven for $1.89 on 2 April 2006; this was a single retail instance, not evidence of a national price.
• Sales were documented in April 2006, but no withdrawal date or reason has been established.

Package Design & Use

• Metaphase Design Group designed the package, which used tapered nested cups, a milk fill line and separate cereal and milk paths through the mouthpiece.
• Kellogg’s trade advert instructed buyers to add fresh milk to the outer cup, secure the lid until it clicked and peel the lid before use.
• A 2005 report listed Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Special K Vanilla and Crunchy Blends Low-Fat Granola; earlier test names differed.
• Reviewer Marvo reported that cereal sometimes stuck despite shaking and that the milk ran out first; this was one person’s experience, not a controlled test.

Distribution, Recognition & Trademark Action

• Company statements reproduced by Packaging Digest named cafeterias, restaurants and other foodservice outlets as distribution channels.
• CSP Daily News reported first place in a consumer-convenience food-packaging category and second place for “WOW factor”; these were category placements, not an overall package-of-the-year award.
• On 26 April 2006, Kellogg North America filed a Notice of Opposition against Snack Knack with the USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board; the proceeding’s outcome is not established.

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