For WK Kellogg Co, it’s all about cereal. Executives focused their Consumer Analyst Group of New York presentation less on results and financials and more on the opportunities the company has, and how it plans to deliver on those chances, now that it sits nearly five months downstream from the split of the former Kellogg Co.
The company did report $2.7 billion in adjusted net sales in 2023 and touted its No. 2 position in the U.S. RTE cereal market and top billing in that category in Canada and the Caribbean. WK Kellogg believes it can capitalize on cereal’s popularity in the U.S., as it is the third-largest center-store category, and 18% of all at-home breakfast occasions include RTE cereal.
WK Kellogg believes three strategies will help it capitalize on opportunity: an integrated commercial plan to win in cereal; a modernized supply chain; and the creation of a winning culture. All three feature differentiated tactics to drive growth. The company expects to build on its core cereal brand success and extend those strategies to the rest of the portfolio. An integrated approach with a cereal-dedicated sales team using new marketing and innovation concepts are expected to drive the company toward those goals.
Investment in technology and automation will help the supply chain drive operational efficiencies and move from maintaining facilities and equipment to modernizing them. This approach has already shown positive results, as WK Kellogg discussed the successes of one of its plants in the fourth quarter. The initiatives completed at that plant produced a 10-point increase in processing OEE, a 30% reduction in packaging changeover time, an increase of more than 10% in throughput (pounds per day) and 50-plus days of incremental capacity.
