It’s breakfast time! And unfortunately there are no Froot Loops to be found, so we will have to settle for Trader Joe’s Organic Honey Crunch n' Oats Cereal. And settle we will; this is not a good one folks. I haven’t tried any other store brand oat-bunch type cereals, but I am a frequent consumer (or at least I was back in my golden days) of Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds. If you’re interested in learning more about Post branch Honey Bunches of Oats and assorted toppings, they have a website with a rhyming ad campaign.

Honey Bunches of Oats has been on the scene for a smidge over 30 years now, so you’d think Trader Joe’s would put more effort into their offering so they’d have a chance at unseating the incumbent. They have done some iterating on their design. As can be seen on traderjoesreviews.com, the box used to tout the low fat, low sodium and vitamins. This marketing is gone on the box I have, which is only a couple weeks old at the time of writing.

Let’s get into this box and see what it’s all about. Here is the birds eye view.

And the contents.

The cereal looks like a standard flake and oat bunch combo, but the flakes themselves fall flat on both texture and taste. It draws you in with the promise of a crunch (it says as much on the box), but then fails to deliver. If you have to eat this cereal, I’d recommend tossing in some regular old granola to spice it up. For me, this one is a “don’t buy.”