Kellogg's facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Kellogg Company

Headquarters (Battle Creek, Michigan)
Trade name	Kellogg's
Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: K S&P 500 component
Industry	Food processing
Successor	Kellanova WK Kellogg Co.
Founded	February 19, 1906; 119 years ago (1906-02-19) (as Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company) in Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S.
Founder	Will Keith Kellogg
Headquarters	Battle Creek, Michigan , U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Steven Cahillane (Chairman & CEO)
Products	Cereals Crackers Toaster pastries Cereal bars Fruit-flavored snacks Frozen waffles Vegetarian foods
Brands	Eggo Gardenburger Pringles Sunshine Biscuits
Revenue	US$13.547 billion (2018)
Operating income	US$1.706 billion (2018)
Net income	US$1.344 billion (2018)
Total assets	US$17.780 billion (2018)
Total equity	US$3.159 billion (2018)
Owner	W. K. Kellogg Foundation (18.3%) Gordon Gund (6.4%)
Number of employees	34,000 (2018)
Subsidiaries	Kashi Rxbar

Former Kellogg's Café in Union Square (Manhattan)

The Kellogg Company, also known as Kellogg's, was a famous American company that made food. It was located in Battle Creek, Michigan. Kellogg's was best known for making breakfast cereal and other foods like crackers and toaster pastries.

Some of its most popular brands include Corn Flakes, Frosted Flakes, Pringles, Eggo, and Cheez-It. The company's goal was "Nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive."

Kellogg's products were sold in over 180 countries. Its largest factory is in Trafford Park, England. In October 2023, the Kellogg Company split into two new companies. The snack food part of the business became Kellanova, while the cereal part became WK Kellogg Co.

History

The first box of corn flakes from 1906.

The Invention of Corn Flakes

The story of Kellogg's starts in 1876 with two brothers, John Harvey Kellogg and W. K. Kellogg. John was a doctor at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, a type of hospital, and his brother Will worked as the bookkeeper. They were trying to create a healthy, wheat-based food for the patients.

One night in 1894, they accidentally left some cooked wheat dough out. Instead of throwing it away, they decided to press it through rollers. To their surprise, it created thin, delicate flakes. They baked the flakes and served them to the patients, who loved them. This was how flaked cereal was invented.

Starting the Company

Will Kellogg wanted to sell the new flaked cereal to everyone, not just the patients at the Sanitarium. His brother John disagreed. This argument led to the brothers going their separate ways.

On February 19, 1906, Will started his own company called the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. He began selling Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes, which became a huge success. In 1922, the company was renamed the Kellogg Company.

Growing the Business

During the Great Depression in the 1930s, many people were out of work. W.K. Kellogg decided to shorten the work week at his factories from 40 hours to 30 hours. This allowed the company to hire more workers and help more families.

Over the years, Kellogg's bought other food companies and created new products.

• In 2001, it bought the Keebler Company, famous for its cookies and crackers.
• In 2012, it bought the potato chip brand Pringles for $2.7 billion. This made Kellogg's the second-largest snack food company in the world.

The 2021 Strike

In October 2021, about 1,400 workers at Kellogg's cereal plants in the U.S. went on strike. A strike is when workers stop working to protest for better pay or working conditions. The workers and the company could not agree on a new contract. After 77 days, the workers and the company reached an agreement, and the strike ended.

Splitting the Company

On June 21, 2022, Kellogg's announced a big change. The company decided to split into three separate businesses: one for snacks, one for cereal, and one for plant-based foods. Later, they decided to keep the plant-based foods with the snack company.

In March 2023, the new names were announced. The snack company was named Kellanova, and the North American cereal company was named WK Kellogg Co, after the founder. The split was completed in October 2023.

Famous Brands

Kellogg's made many well-known food brands. Here are some of them:

Marketing and Advertising

The special font used for the Kellogg's logo.

Kellogg's has used many creative ways to advertise its products.

Prizes in the Box

W.K. Kellogg was the first person to put prizes inside cereal boxes to encourage people to buy them. The first prize, offered in 1909, was a book called The Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Book. Customers could get the book by mail for a dime.

In the 1940s, Kellogg's put pin-back buttons inside boxes of Pep cereal. These pins featured U.S. Army squadrons and popular comic strip characters. This idea was so popular that other cereal companies started doing it too.

Famous Mascots

Many Kellogg's cereals have famous cartoon mascots that kids and adults recognize.

Product Recalls

Sometimes, a company has to do a "recall," which means asking customers to return a product because something is wrong with it.

2010 Cereal Recall

In June 2010, Kellogg's recalled about 28 million boxes of cereals like Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, and Froot Loops. People complained that the cereal had a strange smell and taste, like wax or soap, which came from the box liner. A few people reported feeling sick after eating it. Kellogg's offered refunds to customers who bought the recalled boxes.

2012 Cereal Recall

In 2012, Kellogg's recalled some of its Frosted and Unfrosted Mini-Wheats. There was a chance that small pieces of a metal mesh from the factory had gotten into the food. The company announced which boxes were affected so people could return them.

Images for kids

• 

  An old advertisement for Kellogg's Corn Flakes from the 1910s.

• 

  An advertisement for Krumbles cereal from 1917.

• 

  The Kellogg's factory in England is the company's base in Europe.

See also

In Spanish: Kellogg's para niños