£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...

You can buy a lot of those imported cereals for £5 in American candy stores. That's a BOX for £1.80 more than they're flogging a bowl. Also a few of those cereals are now pretty readily available in supermarkets- froot loops, lucky charms, golden Graham's always have been.

But if you want to spend £3.20 for a bowl of Frankenstein cereal that's your choice really isn't it. We'll see how long their business lasts, I like their hair.

No squirrels any more, Jamaican- well, they're still there but they're feral Vicky Park has been tarted up to within an inch of its life.

It has gone actually insane round here. I live in a HA flat, otherwise I could never afford to live here.

All the trendiness has crept down Hackney road from Shoreditch and is now surrounding us. I'm trying to look on the bright side- if I ever worry about getting mugged, some bearded twat on rollerblades comes whizzing past and I feel reassured that they are probably more of a target than me. Sort of a post-modern human shield.

I'm all for the cereal cafe, it means there's more room in the greasy spoon and I can have egg and chips

It always costs more to eat out than to eat at home. An eating out establishment has to find electricity, staff costs, building costs (rent?), council tax, water costs, suppliers costs. If they are renting, there might be a maintenance cost (looking after roofs etc).

It looks like a fun place to meet and catch up with friends and is not a non tax=paying Starbucks or a pub .

As everyone has said you are not paying for the cereal - it is the rent/ space. wages and a place to be.

They are setting up a business, employing people, providing a space for people to socialise - surely that is all good.

Well yes imported stuff is more expensive... That's how it works. I'd go if I lived in London. Maybe not often but as a one off.

And FWIW lucky charms is £7/8 pounds a pack now. It's a cafe. Expect a mark up. Do you think costa coffee really costs £3 to make ? No ? Same difference.

Aw that makes me sad, I used to have a photo of my nan where they were sitting on her lap and feeding from her hand

I occasionally look through right move and dream about moving back with my (completely unattainable since I don't even play it) lottery win. If I could find a ha swap I would though, I live in a housing association house too in a vair posh area, but I doubt anyone in their right mind would want to swap to Inverness

The fact that it is a lot compared with the price of a box of cereal is irrelevant as in a cafe you are mostly paying for the rent, staff wages, rates etc. Whether or not I would go there would depend on the cost of coffee and how nice it was.

YABU.

1. Nobody is forcing anybody to go there and people have a thousand other choices of where they buy food and spend their money.
2. It doesn't matter if it is one of the poorest boroughs because of answer one and I am surprised that if Channel 4 feel so strongly about the poor, why they are not asking local landlords to reduce their rent or owners to reduce the prices of the houses they are selling. That is what is causing real poverty, not some niche, quirky cereal coffee shop that is just trying to make a living with a novel idea.
3. It is a private shop and the cereal is marked up so they can make a profit and they will be paying employees wages, rent, business rates, corporation tax etc before profits can be taken.
4. It was an incredibly stupid interview by channel 4 because they can price their cereal at whatever price they like because it is a free market and if people don't choose to go there, then they will have to reduce their prices or close.
5. Why isn't channel 4 asking the question about all the swanky curry houses on Brick Lane that charge so much? It's hardly the only place in the whole of London that is expensive. For example, why are Starbucks coffees so expensive when it is just coffee in a cup (that's beside the point).
6. It is a gimmick and that is why it is expensive. People pay for quirky/unusual things and presumably some people are more than happy to pay for the experience of eating cereal in a cereal themed coffee shop.

/the end.

A lot of Tower Hamlets residents are very wealthy because of Canary Wharf. The riverside apartments on the Isle of Dogs and Wapping seem to be stuffed full of them. Shore ditch is the entertainment district of the bankers and they definitely would spend the money and no £3.20 is not expensive for any sit down snack/ drink in this area.

I think the Bangladeshi residents not using the cereal cafe is a bit of a red herring. I doubt they would use it even if it was cheaper. The community is very suspicious of food outlets which are not owned and run by their other bangladeshis because they don't believe the food would be halal.

All good points were, all good points.

It's all still wankier than wank though isnt it?

YANBU OP

That cereal cafe will be shut in 12 months, mark my words

I used to live in Tower Hamlets and iirc it is the borough with the largest gulf between rich and poor residents. It is skewed because of Canary Wharf. (I used to live in a penthouse apartment in a gated area in Canary Wharf for a chort while but work doing outreach/widening participation to the poorest areas, so i saw both sides, its very bizarre)

Out of interest how much do you think a cafe should charge for cereal? Does anyone know how much Wetherspoons charges for porridge?

Good luck to them for having a go at a business.

good luck to them. no different from charging 2 quid off a cup of coffee

Sorry tether your bearded twat on rollerblades has just made me howl.

Do some of their staff reflect the diverse, local culture? I can imagine the answer....

I don't really fancy it myself but I'm not big on cereal. It doesn't look any more inflated than other things (already mentioned here).

I don't see what the location of the place has to do with it, people travel from anywhere for things in London. Best coffee place etc, if you're good you'll get the traffic to your door.

Agreed. tethers' 'post-modern human shield' was the funniest thing I've read all week.

The bearded twat on rollerblades was hilarious!
So it's the city folk who inhabit Canary Wharf who eat cereal for £3.20 a pop then? No wonder our economy's fucked.

To save our economy we need foreign tourists to discover this and splurge their cash before Paris.

Yabu, you can barely get chain store coffee in London for that amount. why are there no press interviews about Starbucks charging over 2 pounds for a bottle of water? so no shops should open if poor people can't afford to shop there? I guess we'd better ring all the stores in London then and ask them to shut down. It's incredibly difficult to stand out in the food and service industry in London and they have succeeded - it's a novel idea and good luck to them.

Has anyone alerted Russel Brand about this?

He should know as he's local to the area

If people will pau for it, why not? I wouldn't but then my dcs arent big cereal fans.