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Kellogg's UK History Timeline

Kellogg's UK History Timeline

1894 An interrupted experiment carried out by our company’s founder, William Keith Kellogg, and his brother, Dr John Harvey Kellogg, leaves wheat exposed to the air overnight. It is then flattened by a roller, resulting in the first flaked cereal.
1898 After several more experiments, the Corn Flake is born.
1906 W. K. Kellogg opened the “Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company” in Battle Creek, Michigan, in the United States of America and hired his first 44 employees. Together they created the initial batch of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and brought life to W.K’s vision for great-tasting, better for you breakfast foods.
1916 Kellogg’s launches its second cereal – All-Bran.
1922 Kellogg’s arrived in the UK in 1922. Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and All Bran were the first introduced to the British Public, imported originally from the USA and later from Canada.
1923 In 1923 Kellogg’s hired the industry’s first dietitian to provide consumers with information about nutrition.
1924 An office for the Kellogg Company of Great Britain opened in Holborn, London in 1924.
1925

From 1925, a decade of hard work by a sales force of 15 men covering the whole of the United Kingdom, helped convert the British, who were then suspicious of dietary innovation, to the ‘ready-to-eat’ cereal breakfast.

Millions of sample packets of cereal were distributed door to door.
1928 Kellogg’s introduces Rice Krispies to Britain.
1934 Harry McEvoy is appointed as Managing Director of Kellogg’s in the UK. Harry continued to lead Kellogg’s in Britain for more than 30 years and is credited with helping to establish Kellogg’s as a household name.
1938

Strong sales meant the time was right to open a factory in Britain to supply the UK and Continental Markets.

Kellogg’s opened its first British factory in Trafford Park, Manchester, on 24th May 1938. The Head office also moved from London to Manchester. The factory cost $2 million to build and covered 130,000 square feet. The factory was situated within a 75 mile radius of the highest population density in the country (great for customer base and workforce). It also had great road and rail links and Manchester ship canal for transportation.

Kellogg’s ran a competition to find Britain’s typical housewife – won by Florence Millward – to officially open the factory.
1943 During World War Two Kellogg’s had its own unit of the home guard and workers from the plant would do their duty as part of the Air Raid Precaution and Area Ambulance Unit after their shifts. Rationing meant that Kellogg’s food could only be sold in the UK Midlands, North of England and Scotland. Corn Flakes were temporarily replaced by wheat flakes made of British grown crops due to food import restrictions.
1950 In the early 50’s Kellogg’s ran its first press ad directly targeting the people of Manchester.
1951 William Keith Kellogg died at the age of 91 in Battle Creek, Michigan, on 6th October. He entailed the bulk of his fortune to the WK Kellogg Foundation, which he had helped to establish two decades earlier, to improve the lives of children across the world. Today, the WK Kellogg Foundation remains the largest single shareholder in the Kellogg Company.
1954

Kellogg’s Sugar Frosted Flakes (Frosties) were introduced to Britain in 1954. These were the first cereal of the sugar coated type to reach the market.

It achieved instant success, attaining a level of £1 million sales in its first year. Frosties’ Tony the Tiger has been voted as one of the top 10 brand icons of all time.
1959 Kellogg’s launches Special K into the UK. It was originally designed as a high-protein breakfast cereal aimed at men.
1960 Coco Krispies (Coco Pops) were introduced to Britain in 1960 and were supported by a substantial T.V. advertising campaign.
1963 Prince Phillip visited the Trafford Park factory in 1963. He was met by Florence Millward who was invited back 25 years after she opened the factory.
1969 The Kellogg Company was honoured to provide breakfast for the legendary Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins during their ground breaking Apollo 11 trip to the moon.
1970 In 1970 Jonathan Ross starred in a Rice Krispies ad.
1974 Prince Charles visited the Trafford Park factory in 1973.
1978 Kellogg’s opened its second UK factory – in Wrexham in North Wales. The site was officially opened by HRH Princess Alexandra on 28th April 1978.
1980 Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes were launched in the UK in 1980.
1982 Prime minister Margaret Thatcher visited the Kellogg’s Manchester factory in 1982 and received a toy Tony the Tiger from Kellogg’s UK Chairman, Ross Buckland. Some workers downed their tools and walked out in protest.
1984 Fruit and Fibre was launched in the UK in 1984.
1984 British Olympic Athlete Steve Cram visited the factory to launch Start in 1984.
1998 Kellogg’s started to support school breakfast clubs across in Britain. Since 1998, Kellogg’s has provided 70 million breakfasts, trained 1,600 schools, and provided £4 million of investment so schools can provide the best start to the day for thousands of children.
2010

To help people reduce the amount of salt in their diet, Kellogg’s took 30% of salt out of family favourite cereals like Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies.

In 2010 Kellogg’s cereals had 50% less salt than they did a decade ago.
2011 Kellogg’s announces it will add vitamin D to all of its kid’s cereals to help combat the rise of rickets in 2011.
2012 In 2012 Kellogg’s acquired Pringles – becoming the second biggest savoury snacks company in the UK and the world.
2013 Kellogg’s launched its Breakfasts for Better Days initiative in 2013 and pledged to donate 15 million breakfasts and snacks to people in need by the end of 2016.
2016 Kellogg’s filmed an episode of Inside the Factory for the BBC with Greg Wallace and Cherry Healey which was broadcasted in 2016.
2017

In 2017 Kellogg’s announced a significant overhaul of its cereals to help the people of Britain make healthier choices in the morning.

This included reducing sugar in Coco Pops by 40%, dropping sugar in Rice Krispies by 20% and by 30% in Rice Krispies Multigrain. Kellogg’s also removed high-sugar Ricicles from sale.
2018

Kellogg’s enter the organic and vegan foods market with the launch of a new W.K. Kellogg plant-based cereals in 2018. The cereal – named about our company’s founder – committed to donating a portion of cash generated by sales to good causes.

Kellogg’s adopts colour-coded traffic light front of pack labelling on its cereals sold in Britain.
2019 Kellogg’s announced the largest ever redesign of its iconic cereal packs. Kellogg’s is also recognised as the most trusted food and drink company in the UK (Source: Reputation Institute).