New York Replaces Kellogg School Breakfasts With Organic Startup Brand

The ongoing trend toward healthy and organic food over processed food from the national brands gained further momentum this week after New York City public schools made a big change.

According to The New York Times, the New York City public school system quietly replaced Kellogg Company K's breakfast items with breakfast cereals from Back to the Roots, a small upstart food company.

Last year, Kellogg's discontinued several breakfast cereals, including Kashi cereals, Berry Blossoms and Honey Sunshine — all of which were offered to students in the school district. Instead of opting for other Kellogg products, the school officials decided to go with the Californian upstart company.

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The New York Times report noted that the new option gives students a healthier alternative that is lower in sugar and sodium, higher in whole grains and contains just four ingredients in total with no preservatives and no added vitamins, a key differentiation from Kellogg's products that has up to eight added vitamins.

The more than 250,000 students can choose from two Back to the Roots cereals in addition to three more choices from Kellogg, General Mills, Inc. GIS and Post Holdings Inc POST.

"Breakfast is really important to us, and we're trying to get our menu to where we want it to be," Eric Goldstein, the chief executive of the Office of School Support Services, was quoted by New York Times as saying. "In the world we live in, though, there are so many constraints, so being able to offer Back to the Roots cereals for us is like a breath of fresh air."