“Shred the Rest of Your Grocery Budget”: Cape Town Gent Stunned by Imported Cereal Prices

• A Cape Town man walked through a supermarket aisle and filmed the prices of imported cereals
• He pointed out that South Africa used to have its own versions of popular cereals, but now, shoppers are stuck paying imported prices
• South Africans flooded the comments with shock and humour, with many saying the cereals can stay right on the shelf

Cape Town content creator @aidan.bonser was left stunned after visiting a local store that proved how breakfast just got expensive. He shared footage of various cereals and prices on 13 February 2026. The imported cereal prices had him questioning everything.

He showed a 350g box of Oreo cereal priced at R259. His wife pointed out in the background that the Curiously Cinnamon cereal had a UK price tag of £3.25, which works out to roughly R75 (according to wise currency conveter). The in-store price told a very different story.

Frosties came in at R250. Shreddies were sitting at R194. He joked that anyone buying Shreddies would need to shred the rest of their grocery budget along with it.

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The gap between what these cereals cost overseas and what they're priced at in South Africa is quite large. Import duties, shipping costs, and retail markups all add up, but South Africans in the comments felt the jump was extreme. A £3.69 box of cereal works out to around R90, yet the shelf price was sitting well above R200.

Part of the frustration comes from the fact that South Africa used to produce its own versions of popular cereals locally. Without those local alternatives widely available, shoppers who want these brands have no choice but to pay imported prices.

Watch the TikTok clip below:

Mzansi unimpressed with imported cereal prices

South Africans had plenty to say about the prices TikToker @aidan.bonser showed:

@user160859606982 questioned:

"$3.50 should be below R75. Howcome it's R259? Which chain is that? Just stay away from their shops for a month."

@Robert Watkins declared:

"It's totally madness. I will rather grow my own food in my garden."

@lilly asked:

"I might be living under a rock. Since when is there strawberry Weet-bix?"

@user12344566999995 pointed out:

"But £3.69 equates to about R90 give or take, including import taxes, etc., it still does not come to R230."

@Kerri 4 Truth commented:

"Very expensive poison."

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@DonTheReader 🇿🇦 laughed:

"Ya neh, they can stay right there on the shelf 🥰"

@Ginga Ninja corrected:

"We do have frosties 🤣🤣🤣 It's R60 at checkers."

@Trevor suggested:

"But support local, bro. There's Froozles & Morning Mill, they manufacture great cereals as well."

More stories on rising SA prices

• Briefly News recently reported on a man who shared a restaurant receipt from 1997 showing a full date night meal that cost less than what a single box of imported cereal costs today.
• A content creator broke down what a R2,000 monthly salary in 1995 could actually cover.
• A woman spotted a chocolate muffin on a delivery app with a price tag that stopped South Africans dead in their tracks.

Source: Briefly News