Category Captain: Breakfast Foods—Ready-to-eat Cereal: The Kellogg Co.

Kellogg has continued to maintain share leadership in this $6.4 billion category by leveraging insights-driven proprietary tools, data, research and innovation. While the overall category was down more than a percent for a recent 52-week period, Kellogg reported a 1.4 percent increase in dollar sales for the same period.

In the past four years, Kellogg brands have been six of the top 10 innovation launches, led by the franchises of Frosted Mini-Wheats and Special K, along with new brands like Crunchy Nut, which garnered 6.3 percent household penetration in its first six months. Further new product innovations included Frosted Mini-Wheats Touch of Fruit in the Middle, with a mixed berry filling, and Rice Krispies Gluten Free.

Kellogg has invested heavily in enhancing its products’ nutritional profile. Currently, 80 percent of Kellogg’s portfolio boasts being an excellent source of fiber, while select brands have also removed high-fructose corn syrup. The focus on nutrition extends to Kellogg’s new website, loveyourcereal.com, which educates consumers on nutrition issues such as fiber, whole grains and energy.

This year, Kellogg began a syndicated data partnership with Nielsen, which has helped the manufacturer better show retailers how to optimize their cereal aisles. The new Nielsen-based tools allow Kellogg to work directly with the retailer to make decisions that grow the category. Further, Kellogg’s exclusive partnership with Fifth Dimension enables the manufacturer to test and implement consumer-based shelf-merchandising strategies, pricing optimization, shelf-ready packaging and the impact of aisle fixtures in the virtual world.

Meanwhile, Kellogg implemented the “Shopper’s Edge” tool through a partnership with a top research firm to leverage its shopper behavior expertise to build a proprietary solution to uncover the path to purchase across all retailers.