There’s less love these days for Tony the Tiger, Cap’n Crunch and Lucky the Leprechaun.

U.S. sales of breakfast cereals have turned as flat as soggy corn flakes amid heightened concerns among consumers about cereal’s nutrition and lack of convenience.

Sales of cold and hot cereals combined are expected to total $10.6 billion this year, down 17 percent from $12.7 billion in 2009, the research firm IbisWorld estimates. The firm also foresees sales hardly budging for the next few years and totaling $10.4 billion in 2020.

“The cereal category has undoubtedly had a challenging few years,” said Craig Bahner, president of U.S. morning foods at Kellogg Co.

That’s forced Kellogg and the industry’s other big players, including General Mills Inc. and Post Holdings Inc., to roll out new products and bolster their marketing while paring their operating costs in order to increase sales and profits.

“Today’s consumer is changing quickly, so we’re putting all our effort towards understanding and responding to these changes,” General Mills Chairman Kendall Powell said at an investor conference in July.