Category Captain: Wholesome Portable Breakfast and Snacks: The Kellogg Co.

Kellogg is fueling growth in this nearly $3 billion category with legacy brands, differentiated offerings, innovations and enhanced nutritional credentials. The company is beating overall category growth in nearly every subsegment.

Kellogg had two key launches for the category in 2011. Keebler Granola Bars -- a combination of rolled oats and rice, blended with honey and bottom-dipped in fudge -- are already the 11th- and 12th-ranked SKUs in the granola segment of wholesome snacks. Pop Tarts Mini Crisps, in snack-size pouches, are also seeing strong success.

Among its research, Kellogg commissioned a study on how consumers might create their “ideal center store,” providing guidance on key wholesome portable breakfast and snack adjacencies and total aisle solutions. The company’s direct sales force conducted a mapping project of 16,000 stores to identify retailers that could benefit from spacing adjustments. Further, Kellogg uses a category audit and sales rate analysis to recommend optimal placement, flow and adjacencies, and is forging new relationships with other data partners to assist in the development of multiple categories.