We live in a me too society, and cereal packaging is no different.  Unlike certain types of segments of the breakfast food industry such as granola or even oatmeal, cereal packaging tends to be stuck in its ways.  Since the beginning of time, let's say when cave men ate cereal (joking) they had a paper box with an inner liner inside.  For some reason Kelloggs and Post, etc have continued down this road.

The minumum run for a custom printed cereal box with inner liners is in the 100,000 range.  This doesn't include the printing plates required and that corresponding artwork creation expense.  The carton itself offers little or no protection and the inner liner offers minimal protection, as it is usually very thin high density plastic.

A stand up pouch is made from multiple layers of heavy duty barrier film in order to keep the cereal fresher for longer.  The stand bag is made to stand erect on a store shelf along with a zipper and tear notch for easy access to the contents.  The wide face and back of the stand up pouch provides room on the cereal packaging to show the company logo and quite possibly tell the company story.  Cereal packaging using a stand up pouch can be made using clear film in order to have a window to see the contents, or can be completely opaque to protect from sunlight or any other negative element.  Most importantly, custom printed stand up pouches for cereal packaging can be made in quantities as few as 5000 pieces...roughly 95% LESS quantity required to print with better quality than the cereal boxes from the big boys.  Cereal boxes are printed Flexographically, which is very "old school" while stand up pouches are Rotogravure printed, the bold, dynamic, photographic quality retailers want and consumers love.  Finally, the printing is trapped between different layers of the barrier film so it cannot be scratched or damaged in any way.

My point is this...at a time when being unique and different is a good thing, why not be different?  Why not be the IKEA of the cereal industry?  With stand up pouches, your cereal packaging can protect and also be one of your main selling features when building your brand.