Kellogg Company

▪ American company

      leading American producer of ready-to-eat cereals and other food products. Kellogg's Corn Flakes was one of the earliest and remains one of the most popular breakfast cereals in the United States. Headquarters are in Battle Creek, Mich.

      The company was founded as the Sanitas Food Company in 1900 by the brothers W.K. Kellogg (Kellogg, W K) and Dr. John H. Kellogg (Kellogg, John Harvey), who together had developed a method of producing crunchy, flavourful flakes of processed grain that proved a popular breakfast food among the patients at Dr. Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanitarium. W.K. Kellogg eventually bought out his brother and in 1906 established the Kellogg Toasted Corn Flakes Company. Through innovative advertising techniques and improvements in the quality of the cereals, the company prospered. The present name was adopted in 1922 after the company began making cereals other than cornflakes.

      In 1969 the company began to diversify. The acquisition of Salada Foods that year introduced tea and desserts to its product line. It purchased Fearn International, makers of soups, sauces, and other foods, in 1970; Mrs. Smith's Pie Company in 1976; and Pure Packed Foods, makers of nondairy frozen foods, in 1977. By the beginning of the 21st century Kellogg had refocused its product lines into categories that included ready-to-eat cereals; convenience and snack foods such as granola bars; cookies and cracker products, many of which Kellogg acquired through its purchase of Keebler Foods in 2001; and frozen breakfast foods. Kellogg's sales regions cover North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia.

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