Avoiding the crunch

The days of smooth sailing for Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam and Snap, Crackle, Pop may be coming to an end. For the first time, cereal giant Kellogg’s is facing local competition. boxes of Poppin’s. the first Lebanese brand of breakfast cereal, appeared on supermarket shelves this past June in six different flavors. The new cereal is the latest creation of Delta Trading, better known for being the manufacturer of Master Chips. In just two months, sales of Poppin’s have reached $500,000 and already Delta is exporting its cereal to Syria, Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf. The firm expects revenues from Poppin’s to reach $2 million by the end of the year. Delta’s venture into the cereal business is part of a strategy of diversification. Revenues from potato chips have recently tapered off. Sales of Master Chips jumped from $3.6 million in 1995 to $ 13.5 million in 1999, with