My latest cereal haul is nowhere near as absurd as January’s stockpile, but it still includes three new takes on a handful of the world’s most iconic sugary cereals: Tropical Trix featuring Disney’s Moana Cereal, Lucky Charms Unicorn Cotton Candy Cereal and Froot Loops Wild-Berry.
This is an interesting mix of new releases, with two of the new cereals coming from General Mills while the other is from Kellogg’s. I’m still on the hunt for Cinnamon Toast Crunch Root Beer Float and Birthday Cake Cheerios, but for now, I guess I’ll have to settle for just these three new flavors.
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What they cost
I paid $5.59 for a 16.1 oz. box of Tropical Trix featuring Disney’s Moana Cereal, $5.59 for an 18.4 oz. box of Lucky Charms Unicorn Cotton Candy Cereal and $3.99 for an 8.6 oz. box of Froot Loops Wild-Berry
ALSO FROM THE OMNICOSM
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If you’re also a Popculturology subscriber, you know that I’m a huge fan of Moana. It’s without a doubt one of the best films produced under the second Disney Renaissance. The characters are fantastic. The songs are classics. I’m baffled that anyone thinks it’s a wise idea to churn out a live-action remake of Moana just a decade after this masterpiece was released.
What were we talking about here? Oh. Cereal.
I did not enjoy Tropical Trix. I find traditional Trix to be overly artificial — yes, I realize that we’re talking about sugary cereals here — and this variation comes across even more ... hollow? There isn’t a definition of what “tropical” means in terms of the flavor of this cereal — General Mills calls it a “refreshing, fruit-forward tropical flavor” — but I get an overpowering and unappetizing mango vibe from Tropical Trix.
I’m sorry, Moana. It’s not your fault. Hopefully you take comfort in the fact that Disney has so little confidence in the live-action Moana remake that it stuck with the animated version for a cereal that hit stores just months before we’re forced to watch the redo of the classic film.
Yes, there should be a variety of Lucky Charms that features cotton candy-flavored cereal. This feels like such a no-brainer evolution of Lucky Charms that I’m shocked we’ve never gotten it before. (In fairness, not every new take on Lucky Charms works. I’d trade Strawberry Lucky Charms for Rainbow Sprinkles Lucky Charms any day.)
Of the three cereals featured in this edition of Snackology, Lucky Charms Unicorn Cotton Candy Cereal was the one I found myself going back to again and again. The cotton candy dusting elevates the standard Lucky Charms cereal bits, and the marshmallows are the exact same marshmallows that fans love so much that General Mills now even sells now sells them in bags of their own.
“Don’t eat all the marshmallows,” our daughter said to me as I stuffed a handful of Lucky Charms Unicorn Cotton Candy Cereal into my mouth right before sitting down to write this review. I assured her that I would not eat all the marshmallows. I’m pretty sure that’s something she’s done to me before, though ...
When Kellogg’s released Cocoa Loops earlier this year, they perfectly nailed what a new flavor of Froot Loops should bring to the table. While I try a lot of new foods for Snackology, many of them don’t get repeatedly purchased. Cocoa Loops were such a hit in our household that I’ve bought them several more times. (Seriously. Our daughter was eating them in the car earlier today.) Froot Loops Wild-Berry won’t be earning that honor.
It’s hard to improve on the classic Froot Loops recipe. They’re brightly colored. They’re sugary. They’re fruity. OK, so maybe you can add marshmallows, but that feels like cheating. I’m pretty sure you could add marshmallows to any cereal, and it would be an improvement. (Note to self: Raisin Bran Crunch with Marshmallows.)
Froot Loops Wild-Berry are, unsurprisingly, berry-forward. Like the colors of the cereal itself, that berry taste is muted. Is the overall drabness of this special-edition flavor due to its containing “no colors or flavors from artificial sources”?
I’d be curious to see how Froot Loops Wild-Berry compares to Wild Berry Froot Loops. The latter hit stores in 2018, with Kellogg’s talking up a “purple star joining a new berry-inspired mix of red, blue and green iconic loops.” Are these supposed to be the same cereal?
The Omnicosm founder. Snackology, Popculturology and The Cold Open writer. A Rochester, N.Y., native now living in the Washington, D.C., area. Won’t pass up a Genny Cream Ale.
For the nation’s semiquincentennial, the company has released a limited-edition blueberry flavor to go with Sparkling Strawberry and Sparkling White Grape.
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