Eat Your Wheaties Vitamins?

MINNEAPOLIS--A joint venture between General Mills and Carson, Calif.-based Leiner Health Products has produced multivitamin supplement products featuring the names of two top adult cereal brands, Wheaties and Total. The products, expected to hit stores nationwide this week, will feature multivitamin bottles as well as packets of vitamins plus herbal and other supplements. In signing Leiner to manufacture and distribute the products, General Mills has expanded the earning capacity of two top cereal brands that have experienced recent reductions in their respective market shares.

The move reflects a growing trend in vitamin products that positions popular adult health brands to capture a chunk of the multi-billion dollar dietary supplement market. As one of this trends first, Olay brand vitamins made by Pharmavite have sold around $35 million worth, progress health publisher Rodale hopes to achieve with the upcoming vitamin line based on its Prevention health magazine.

In the tradition of the Breakfast of Champions marketing, General Mills has enlisted the star power of former Major League star Ozzie Smith, U.S. Womens Soccer star Brandi Chastain and race car legend Richard Petty as spokespeople for the Wheaties and Total vitamin lines. General Mills and Leiner have launched Vitaminreminders.com, an interactive Web site that will provide daily video reminders from the superstars. However, the company reported there are no current plans to place champion athletes faces on bottles of Wheaties vitamins.