Kellogg’s, formally known as The Kellogg Company, is a multinational food company founded in 1906 by William Keith Kellogg.

Kellogg's owns over 50 major food brands across breakfast cereals, snacks, and frozen foods. The company's portfolio includes iconic brands like Corn Flakes, Pop-Tarts, Cheez-Its, Pringles (until 2012), Eggo waffles, Rice Krispies, Special K, and Morningstar Farms, making it one of the world's largest food manufacturers.

The company’s iconic corn flakes breakfast cereal was developed by Kellogg and his brother John while the pair researched ways to improve the diet of sanatorium patients.

Corn flakes remain an emblematic product today like many other Kellogg’s breakfast cereals. But the company also owns well-known brands in toaster pastries, crackers, snacks, and other convenience foods.

Pringles

Pringles is a famous stackable potato chip — as explored in the economics of AI compute infrastructure — brand that was first sold by Proctor & Gamble in 1968.

The product was created by chemist Fredric J. Baur who was tasked with finding a way to address consumer complaints that other chip products on the market tended to be broken, stale, or too greasy.

Proctor and Gamble agreed to sell the brand to Diamond Foods in 2011, but the deal ultimately failed for various reasons.

In May of 2012, Kellogg’s swooped in and acquired Pringles for $2.695 billion.

Froot Loops

Froot Loops is a sweetened cereal brand popular among children. Kellogg’s introduced Froot Loops in 1963 with red, orange, and yellow loops made from corn, wheat, and oats.

The famous brand mascot Toucan Sam was once voiced by cartoon actor Mel Blanc in both an American and British accent.

Froot Loops is a cornerstone of Kellogg’s product range and is one of the cheapest of America’s top 10 selling breakfast cereals.

In 2019, the company reported sales of $269 million in the United States alone.

Incogmeato

Incogmeato is a line of plant-based beef-substitute burger patties released in conjunction with fellow Kellogg’s brand Morning Star Farms. 

Also available under these brands are chicken nuggets, chicken tenders, breakfast sausages, meal starters, bratwurst, plant-based pancakes, and plant-based hotdogs.

All products contain non-GMO soy and natural flavors. Since they do not contain dairy or egg products, they make an ideal choice for vegans.

Kashi

Kashi is an American whole grain and plant-based cereal manufacturer that was founded in San Diego in 1984.

Kashi started as a vegetarian food company and then transitioned to diet specialty cereals in the late 1990s as consumer tastes changed.

Kashi was acquired by Kellogg’s in 2000 to enable the company to establish a leading brand in the natural and organic food market. Since that time, Kashi has expanded into snack bars, waffles, and healthy meal options.

Zesta

Zesta is a line of crackers made from wheat, flour, baking soda, yeast, and salt that are perfect topped with spreads, dips, meats, and cheeses.

Under this brand, Kellogg’s also sells the Keebler line of Export Soda square crackers that come in an attractive green tin.

Unlike the Zesta crackers, Export Soda crackers undergo a longer fermentation process with alkaline soda added at the end to stop the process naturally.

Pop-Tarts

Pop-Tarts is a brand of sweet and/or pre-filled toaster pastries. The history of the popular brand can be traced back to Post, an American CPG company and Kellogg’s competitor that invented a process of dehydrating food and wrapping it in foil to maintain freshness.

The process, which was first used in pet food – was later adopted by Post to enclose breakfast pastries in 1964. However, the company had announced its plans before the product was ready for market and Kellogg’s was able to develop its own version in just six months.

Pop-Tarts are especially popular in the U.S. and U.K., with the company announcing in 2003 that nearly two billion were eaten each year across 28 flavors. 

Pure Organic

Pure Organic is an organic snack food brand that believes in snacks “that don’t compromise on convenience or ingredients but do deliver instant tastebud gratification.” 

The company, which was founded in 2006 by Veronica Lehman, offers fruit bars made from real juice or puree and also a range of cheese crackers that are certified organic, GMO-free, gluten-free, and kosher.

Kellogg’s acquired Pure Organic via its natural food business Kashi in 2016, with Lehmann explaining that “Since I started Pure it has been a daily goal of mine to bring more nutritious, organic food to more people. Kashi has the resources, the knowledge [and] better distribution to allow us to do just that.”

Carr’s

Carr’s is an English biscuit and cracker maker that was founded in 1831 by Jonathan Dodgson Carr. The company’s business model incorporated both a mill and a bakery and was one of the earlier examples of vertical integr — as explored in how AI is restructuring the traditional value chain — ation. 

Carr’s is currently owned by British snack and confectionary company Pladis Global, but Kellogg’s owns the marketing rights to Carr’s-branded products in the United States. 

Special K

Special K is an American breakfast cereal brand made from rice, wheat, and barley that is lightly toasted. The cereal was originally part of a diet regimen developed by Kellogg’s and is believed to have been named after the first daughter of an employee.

Since its introduction in 1955, the range has expanded beyond cereal and other products in various flavors now wear the Special K moniker. These have included snack bars, protein shakes, breakfast shakes, and popcorn chips.

Eggo

Eggo is a frozen waffle brand that was conceived by American inventor Frank Dorsa in 1953. Dorsa developed a method by which waffles could be cooked, frozen, and packaged for sale, and later produced potato chips and syrup under the Eggo brand.

Kellogg’s acquired Eggo in 1968 as part of a diversification effort after its core business stopped growing. It later introduced Eggo pancakes, French toast, and cheese breakfast sandwiches, with some products also available in flavors such as chocolate chip, cinnamon, buttermilk, and berry.

In a 2009 article about an Eggo shortage caused by flooding at an Atlanta factory, reporter Laurent Belsie noted that Eggos commanded 73% of the $1.5 billion frozen breakfast food market. 

Today, Kellogg’s continues to enjoy success in the frozen waffle market with 2022 sales of $198.76 million in the United States (around six times more than its nearest competitor).

Key takeaways:

• Kellogg’s, formally known as The Kellogg Company, is a multinational food company founded in 1906 by William Keith Kellogg. The company owns numerous breakfast cereal brands as well as brands in snack and convenience food.
• Kellogg’s purchased stackable potato chip company Pringles from Proctor and Gamble in 2012 after a prior deal fell through. Froot Loops is another brand that is immensely popular in the United States with annual revenue in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
• Lesser known Kellogg’s brands include meat substitute Incogmeato, cracker brand Zesta, and specialty cereal and breakfast food maker Kashi.

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