Ready Brek

How ethical is Ready Brek?

Ready Brek is a breakfast cereals brand which has a below-benchmark score on The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Breakfast Cereals Ratings Table. Although Ready Brek has not yet met our ethical benchmark, we hope to see the brand make progress in the future.

We would have extra confidence in Ready Brek if it applied for Ethical Accreditation, whereby The Good Shopping Guide would make further detailed assessment and recommendations for ethical improvement. Find out more about the ethical issues facing the Breakfast Cereals sector.

What does Ready Brek do?

Ready Brek was originally produced by J. Lyons and Co., created from experimentation by Walter Pitts, the Greenford factory manager from the Tea Division of Lyons.It was launched in 1957 as an instant porridge, then in 1969 as an instant hot cereal. Ready Brek has been owned by Weetabix since 1990.

In which areas does Ready Brek perform poorly?

Ready Brek was marked down under our criteria for GM as the parent company of Weetabix, Post Holdings Inc, confirms that its brands do use GMOs. It also gets a bottom rating for Palm Oil as it uses RSPO palm oil in some products, and Organic due to no certification.

Post Holdings Inc. donated over our threshold in recent election cycles, so Ready Brek is also given a bottom score for Political Donations. Find out more about how we rate by exploring our ethical criteria.

Past Criticisms of Ready Brek’s record

Recently, a US federal judge ruled that Post Holdings Inc. must face class claims alleging it made false and misleading statements that several of its breakfast cereals are ‘healthy’ despite their high sugar content.The lawsuit alleges that Post’s cereals were cloaked in an aura of ‘deceptive health and wellness’ by over-emphasising the wholegrain and vitamin content, whilst under-emphasising the amount of sugar.

In which areas does Ready Brek score well for its ethics?

Ready Brek’s parent company, Weetabix, has a Sustainability Report 2023 containing evidence of progress and targets so Ready Brek gets a top score for its Environment Report.

We found no public record criticisms of Ready Brek relating to Nuclear, Fossil Fuels, Animal Welfare, or Armaments, so the brand scores well across these criteria.

How can Ready Brek improve its ethical rating?

The below-benchmark score that Ready Brek is awarded with on The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Breakfast Cereals Ratings Table is the result of an evaluation of multiple ethical criteria.

To reach our minimum ethical benchmark and qualify for Ethical Accreditation, Ready Brek has some issues to resolve, including its use of GMOs. If it applies for Ethical Accreditation, The Good Shopping Guide will be able to give Ready Brek some guidance to improve on these areas.

Were you aware that your brand could benefit from Ethical Accreditation? Brands accredited by The Good Shopping Guide can display our Ethical Mark, showcasing to consumers that it is an ethical and sustainable brand. If you’re interested in learning more, please contact us or complete a Free Initial Assessment form.