Swapping snacks isn't just for school lunchrooms. It's also happening on a very large scale in corporate boardrooms with ownership changes for some of the biggest snack makers in the U.S.
Battle Creek, Mich.-based Kellogg Co. announced Oct. 3 it had split itself into two companies: W.K. Kellogg Co., which covers its traditional cereal business, and Kellanova, the maker of Pop-Tarts, Rice Krispies Treats, Pringles chips and other snack items.
The company had first announced plans to divide itself in 2022, although at that point it was looking at three companies.
The cereal business is smaller, with about $2.4 billion in annual sales vs. the $12.6 billion within Kellanova.
That split comes just weeks after jam maker J.M. Smucker announced it would buy Hostess Inc., the company bringing us Twinkies, HoHos and DingDongs.
The $5.6 billion acquisition by Orrville, Ohio-based Smucker adds "iconic snacks and innovation in the sweet baked goods category to the company's current offering of … coffee, peanut butter, frozen handheld, fruit spreads, dog snack and cat food categories," the company said in a news release.
While none of the companies involved in the deals are big plastics processors, they are, obviously, a big user of them.