A growing number of Millennials are ditching cereal at breakfast because they are too lazy to clean up afterwards, a new report reveals. “Almost 40 percent of the Millennials surveyed by Mintel for its 2015 report said cereal was an inconvenient breakfast choice because they had to clean up after eating it,” wrote the New York Times in a short story about the breakfast favorite published on Monday.
The industry, the piece explained, is struggling — sales have tumbled by almost 30 percent over the past 15 years, and the future remains uncertain.
Cereal isn’t the only food suffering from a national trend toward laziness.
Coffee has suffered a similar fate. Despite talk of a third wave of coffee, which values quality above all else, and basks in artisanal rather than effortless methods of preparation, Americans still covet convenience above all else.
This explains the popularity of coffee pods such as Nespresso, which allow for a quick cup of java with almost no clean up, the Washington Post reports.
“Convenience is the one thing that’s really changing trends these days,” Howard Telford, an industry analyst at market research firm Euromonitor, said last year.
Less than 10 percent of the coffee beans Americans buy are fresh whole beans. And ground coffee isn’t just outpacing whole bean coffee — it’s increasing its lead, each and every year.
The rise of coffee pods, which come pre-ground and produce a cup of brown caffeinated water with the push of a button, is further evidence of the country’s desire for convenience. Sales of coffee pods grew by 138,324 percent between 2004 and 2014, according to data from Euromonitor.
The popularity of delivery, meanwhile, speaks to the same tendency toward convenience. Roughly 15 percent of restaurant meals are delivered today, according to data from Technomic.
But among millennials the percentage is higher: more like 20 percent.
