A few reasons come to mind.
Tradition: it’s the way it’s always been done. It’s what everyone else does. Why rock the boat?
Risk/Cost: Any change would be a risk. Would the money saved in packaging be offset by losses from people not liking change? How much would it cost to retool their factories to print on the plastic bags? Do they need to be different plastic bags or can we use the same ones? Can we pack the same amount on a truck?
Stigma: Currently the cheaper cereals come in bags. Puffed rice, puffed millet. Store brand stuff. We don’t want our brand associated with that stuff.
Aesthetic: We can print nice big, flat, advertising on the box. It’s easy to read and stands out on a shelf. Bags are just piled up in a bin. So the other guy’s cereal is being displayed prominently while mine is stacked up on its side.
Boxes stack better and shelve better. Cereal weighs a lot more than potato chips. Think how hard it is to shelve potato chips? Now imagine the chips in each bag were heavy enough to crush/pop other bags when handled carelessly. Also, branding on a box works better for cereal, because you want certain things on the front and back and certain things on the sides and top. Printing all that stuff on a bag is less ideal.
Edit: Bag, not back.
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