Kellogg centers on organic ingredients with multiple product launches

After intensive R&D, Kellogg Company is launching more than 50 new products across its cereal, snacks and frozen food lines.

The latest offerings range from breakfast items like Special K Nourish granola and Pop-Tarts coffee-inspired toaster pastries, to snacks like Cheez-it Duoz Bacon & Cheddar crackers and Pringles LOUD veggie and grain crisps.

Health at heart

Health is definitely high on the agenda for the manufacturing giant.

Aligned with its effort to remove artificial colors and flavors across its branded cereals and snack bars, as well as the Eggo frozen food range, by the end of 2018, many of the new products are reported to contain only organic flavors and colors, and no preservatives.

The company is also touting its new Kellogg's Raisin Bran Crunch Apple Strawberry cereal as “a heart-healthy bran”.

Character building

Kellogg’s Disney Princess cereal, Special K Nourish Bites, Nutri-Grain Bakery Delight crumb cakes and the entire lineup of Eggo frozen breakfast products are made with flavors and colors from natural sources.

According to Paul Norman, president of Kellogg North America, consumers are looking for food that is nutritious, but also exciting.

"We know that people are looking for a variety of things when they choose food. They want food that is fun, wholesome and nutritious, convenient and, of course, delicious," he said.

The new products will be widely available nationwide this month.

Breakfast cereal battlefield

With 2015 sales of $13.5bn and more than 1,600 products in it’s stable, Kellogg is the world's leading cereal company; second largest producer of cookies, crackers and savory snacks; and a leading North American frozen foods company.

However, financial experts have noted that the company has been struggling to boost sales over the past two years, mainly because of the weakening demand for breakfast cereals due to competitive pressure from alternatives like yogurt, eggs, bread and peanut butter.

The US snacks business has also been struggling to fight weak volumes since 2013, reported Zacks Investments Research.

Business predicted to bloom

But, business could be looking up for Kellogg with this massive launch, it claimed.

While Kellogg stock has seen only a 0.3% growth over the past year (compared with the 8.1% by the broader food market), American multinational investment banking and financial services corporation Citi has placed the giant on its top picks list this week.

Zacks also reported the company’s four-year restructuring program, Project K, will boost growth through the elimination of excess capacity and improved productivity.

According to the investment research company, Project K generated savings of around $180m in 2015 and is likely to rake in approximately $100m of incremental savings in the to-be-reported 2016 results.

Annual cost savings from Project K are forecast to be approximately $425-$475m by 2018, it said.