£3.20 for a bowl of cereal - is there anything left out there that hasn't been wankified?

[Neverbuyheliumbalonz]

So the new cereal cafe has opened in East London, with a bowl of cereal going for £3.20. Apparently there are over a hundred types of cereal and 30 different types of milk.

On the opening day the owner got a bit of stick from a channel 4 reporter who questioned whether they should be selling cereal at £3.20 a bowl, considering they were in one of Londons poorest boroughs
www.channel4.com/news/cereal-cafe-opens-in-london-but-can-it-survive

Now I actually thought that that reporter was quite unfair because there are tonnes of places in that area selling overpriced shit that are 'not accessible to the poor' so I don't think these guys are doing anything different to anyone else in that respect. However the owner handled it terribly, especially when he said 'this isnt one of Londons poorest boroughs is it?' and when asked why the cereal was so expensive he said 'its imported from America' as if that justified it? He just epitomised the 'out of touch hipster'.

But AIBU to think that £3.20 for one bowl of cereal is just a hilarious rip off, regardless of whether you can afford it or not? Yes I know, people who go there are total mugs can spend their money how they choose and its 'an experience' or whatever.

But it's.........breakfast cereal

Plus they keep using the word 'source' when talking about the cereals (if we can source it, we will sell it) which automatically puts them into wankdom anyway.

I guess time will tell on this one...

I saw the clip on Facebook a few days ago. The bit where the owner says "stop the interview, I don't like the questions" was hilarious, but I don't see how a business could charge much less for breakfast and make any profit, pay staff etc. A little pot of porridge is something like £4 in Pret, and yes -you could buy a bag of oats for much less but that's here nor there if you're not at home..
Also I think it's quite a good idea, my dc would love to go there if we're visiting that part of London, the variety looks amazing and the fun of it would be worth it for less than a tenner.

A tea-bag costs about 2p, but a cup of tea anywhere like Starbux / Nero / Costa costs a couple of quid in order to cover a slice of rent / staff / insurance etc; economics of a cup of coffee or pint of beer is just the same.

So £3.20 for a bowl of cereal is pretty darn reasonable - if anyone actually believes that a business could function by dividing the cost of a box of Cookie Crisp by 10 and a pint of milk by 3, assuming that the staff will work for free & without NI, holiday pay or pension contributions, & ignoring rent on the shop, business rates, PL insurance etc etc etc, then they must be working for Channel 4!

Oh...

Some of you are right old misery-gutses. It's not that much money to spend on eating out, live a little, try something new. You can make any food yourself cheaper, if that's what you want. Stay home and count your pennies and eat your home made sandwiches/coffee and let those who want to go out and experience stuff, do so.

YABU and spectacularly missing the point Tis all.

I'm wondering how many boxes of cereal I've bought because DS has had it elsewhere only to fins that 'yeuch, tiggets don't like cheerios'.

Some of you are right old misery-gutses. It's not that much money to spend on eating out, live a little, try something new. You can make any food yourself cheaper, if that's what you want. Stay home and count your pennies and eat your home made sandwiches/coffee and let those who want to go out and experience stuff, do so.

Lol! This place will be packed with people who are so busy posting on Twitter about how quirky and crazy they are for going to this place, and posting filtered photos of their 'cereal cocktail' on Instagram, that they won't be experiencing much at all. Then they will realise that it really is just shitty breakfast cereal and never go there again.

I think most of us that think this is bonkers realise that (a) if we don't like it we don't have to go and (b) the owners have to charge more than cost price in order to cover their overheads.
That said, it's still flippin' bonkers and nowhere in my universe is £3.20 'pretty darn reasonable' for a bowl of cereal!

'Who think' not 'that think'!

I'm pretty sure it wasnt that long ago that people thought it was crazy to go out for tea/lunch too. What about paying 5quid for a shot of wheatgrass or something. People spend their money on all sorts of stuff

What about paying 5quid for a shot of wheatgrass or something.

Erm, yeah, that's ridiculous as well!

I have been thinking about this a bit this morning, and I think I am with the poster above (sorry can't remember who), who talked about the impact of poor press on this business before it even has a chance to get people through the door. So what that they are charging £3.50 for cereal? People are not being forced to eat it, it's not the only food available in the supermarket so people have to buy it. It's no different than eating a fry up for £8 or whatever. I personally would not pay it, but that's due to my own taste, that I would prefer to eat something that is cooked for me if I eat out, and I am not really a big cereal fan. However, there are lots of people who would enjoy this type of food so there will be a market.

This guy has set up a business, is trying to earn money, is providing jobs for people, paying business rent and taxes to the local area, he is promoting self development, and why shouldn't he give it a go? He should be encouraged and not slated. Let the product and the experience itself decide if his business will succeed or fall, not pre-planned negative press - that's unfair.

SomethingOnce - don't get me started. I LOVE the fact that the Village Grocer have upped their game since the General Store opened. We all wanted to like the General Store we are middle class wankers, after all... but only a total and utter idiot will pay £8.50 for 9 thimbles of pastry-encrusted mincemeat. (Btw I also love that you knew exactly which shop I was talking about... )

I've just googled Peckham grocery store and it came up with a shop run by Genevieve and Merlin in Bellend(en) Road.
I miss London sometimes

That's the fella atoughyear

There are lots of twatty hipsters in Peckham who are happy to pay those prices, Teapot and Something! The Christmas craft fairs were swarming with them on Saturday.

There was a movie about people doing this in the US (Flakes) so maybe it's popular over there?

Not something I'd be tempted by but there's a shop in our town sells the imported cereal so if I wanted it for dss I'd go there.

I hate the trendoids/hipster types that are all over certain parts of London...

I also hate cereal...I'd rather eat cardboard.

Agreed Tilly - although I've had the owners of General Store moaning to me and friends about how slow business is. I've lived here for 10 years - and was considered part of the 'poncy influx' back then... now it's my turn to point and laugh I think Genevieve and Merlin are learning (slowly, mind you) that to run a successful business you need to treat your customers with respect. Closing for business for weeks on end, being shut every Monday and Tuesday, and sitting in your shop at five minutes to closing with piles of overpriced pastries and bread that's about to go stale, but refusing to discount them from the £6 per loaf of sourdough is not the way to endear yourselves to all but the most hardcore Peckham ponce.

I don't really get the comparison with coffee. My 8 yo can and does pour herself a bowl of cereal and milk whereas she's not quite up to making me a latte yet, so I expect to pay more for someone to do that ( I never go to Starbucks etc although I don't actually mind McDonalds coffee).

The cereal itself sounds vile, I was expecting it to be ultra healthy for that price. Is it all GM free because I was under the impression that a lot of American cereals weren't?

And OP I don't think you ABU about the wankery, it just reinforces the fact that London is on a different planet. Thank god I no longer live near it.

Value isn't just about the cost to provide something, it's about the effort to obtain it.

Regardless of how much it's costing this place to stick some cereal and milk in a bowl, it's no effort to do this for yourself at home. That's why it's not worth £3.20.

Did someone get this idea during a major attack of the munchies by any chance?

I admit I had a bit of a chuckle about this but provided the owners pay their staff and their taxes properly, I don't see the problem. I love coffee and dislike cereal but I'd still rather see them doing well than Starbucks.

They got the idea after suffering from hangovers.

I don't think that the prices are expensive really, they need to pay their overheads and the whole idea is to make a profit.

I don't really care. Nobody needs to go to a cafe like this for imported American Cereal. If people are amused by the concept and want to part with their cash to pay somebody to serve them a bowl of cereal then great. If they pay tax and NI, then it's just a way of redistributing income and giving people jobs.

Loads of people buy stuff that I wouldn't particularly want.

It seems like a lot for what it is, but I bet if you do the sums you have to sell a lot of £3.20 bowls of cereal to cover the ingredients, rent, rates, utilities, taxes, wages etc etc etc before you make a profit.

In our local shopping centre (cheap northern location), there's a little stall that sells pretzels for about £3 each. Takeaway only not a sit down cafe.

Now I think that's a rip off, considering, it's just a small bit of bread covered in sugar and cinnamon. They're very nice, but it's the kind of thing you could get from any supermarket bakery counter for a pound or less.