Chestnut Hill Honey Nut Cereal (Family Dollar)
Conventional wisdom holds that sequels are never quite as good as the original. That’s often true in movies, and it can be true in other places, too. But not always. Sometimes a company developing a product strikes silver on the first try but hits gold later on.
Honey Nut Cheerios are, in my view, an example of a sequel that beats the original. Regular Cheerios aren’t bad, especially if you doctor them up. But the fact that many people feel the need to doctor them up is a telling sign. The proof is in the numbers: Honey Nut Cheerios is the best-selling cereal in the United States.
There are good generic equivalents for many cereals out there, but for some reason Cheerios are one of the harder ones to duplicate. This is true especially of regular Cheerios, and it’s true to a lesser extent of Honey Nut Cheerios. Still, many stores try to jump on that best-selling Honey Nut bandwagon, including many grocers and even dollar stores. Dollar General, for example, has its own Honey Nut Cheerios imitation, and so does Family Dollar.
Chestnut Hill Honey Nut Cereal is a Family Dollar exclusive, and it can be found on its shelves throughout the year. We paid $1.95 for 12.25 ounces, which comes out to 15.9 cents an ounce. That’s a little higher than the 14 cents an ounce we paid for Dollar General’s Clover Valley version, but it’s still less than the 20 cents an ounce we would pay for name brand Honey Nut Cheerios at Walmart.
These aren’t bad. I can’t say they’re my favorite version of Honey Nut toasted oats, but I liked them well enough, and I’d eat them regularly if I needed to. The toasted oats are crisp and fresh, and the honey nut coating adds the right amount of sweetness.
The Verdict:
Chestnut Hill Honey Nut Cereal is a serviceable version of Honey Nut Cheerios. Like nearly all generic imitations, it doesn’t quite match the brand name, but it’s a good imitation nevertheless. It’s not the cheapest out there, but it’s still less expensive than the real thing, and it isn’t a bad option if Family Dollar is your closest dollar store.
