I would like to comment regarding your mention of Cereality having no recipees. They have created custom blends like "Life Experience" and "The devil made me do it" among many others that are hugely popular. Life cereal is so popular because it is featured in this proprietary blend. Another recipee that keeps Cereality's customers coming back is the Cereality Brand Experience. Keeping that consitent "Always Saturday Morning tm" feeling the same in all stores is a true accomplishment.

As I am sure you are aware, or can become so with very little research, "merely" repackaging already existing products in a clever new way is often the basis for some of the most succesful businesses.

They clobbered an identical cereal bar here in Iowa City before it was open two days. The name was even disturbingly similar ("Cerealogy"? something like that). It then mysteriously morphed into a Jamaican restaurant with the same owners.

A number of years ago, I wrote what I thought was a really clever exam question which involved a board decision to open a chain of cereal bars on college campuses. While there were a number of issues, I wanted the students to reach the issue of whether this would fail the BJR as an egregiously stupid business decision.

Two store-bought cereals does not a recipe make. Not even if you add one of up to seven (7!) milk options. Unfortunately, while I love the idea, they are and should be vulnerable to competition. With respect to the cereal-hawking side of their business (as opposed to the bars or smoothies they now sell) Cereality does nothing a college student who walks into their local supermarket can't do. No unique ingredients, no proprietary preparation techniques--and there's the rub. Anyone can do what they do without specialized knowledge or equipment. The kitschy names they give to different combinations, however, are and should be protectable. Go Lanham Act!

In case anyone was concerned about the patents, the Funk Bros. case says you can't get a patent for putting things next to each other. Funk Bros. involved soil ingredients, but I'd argue that the jump to cereals is pretty easy.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=333&invol=127

My theory is that Cereality is marketed to people who want to eat at restaurants, but are afraid of food outside of the very narrow comfort zone of Lucky Charms/Kraft Dinner genre.

These posts are interesting - I personally like the concept. As a franchisor, I think what people miss is that this is a quick-service franchised concept. Think about how many sandwich chains there are, and while you could argue that Subway's bread is unique, all of their other ingredients (including their mediocre quality meat) can be bought at a supermarket. Think of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream locations - you can buy the ice cream cheaper in any supermarket, but people still go to the location for ice cream. Cold Stone? Same concept - you can buy much better quality ice cream and mush in the name brand candy bars yourself. Think of Foot Locker who sells Nike, Adidas, and all other brand name goods. You're there for the experience, service, and convenience that they provide. Don't think of this as a restaurant that's trying to win awards for its recipes, think of it as a service and experience. And in terms of copying it, of course somebody could open a competing store that sells cereals. Think of how many sandwich concepts there are - Quizno's, Blimpie's, Subway... when it comes down to it it's all about building the brand and differentiating yourself through the entire customer experience.