100 Years of Kellogg’s®

Chatting with the Hope 103.2 team this week, I discovered that sure enough, Kellogg’s® cereals have been a fun part of our mornings since we were kids!

Whether it’s the ‘snap, crackle and pop’ of Rice Bubbles®, or the jingle “Just like a chocolate milkshake, only crunchy,” for Coco Pops®, Kellogg’s® cereals have made their way onto the breakfast tables of millions of Australians, since its inception in 1894. And this year, Kellogg’s® is celebrating 100 years of manufacturing in Australia.

We celebrated by reminiscing about our favourite Kellogg’s® memories.

Crunchy Nut® is a firm favourite for the Hope 103.2 team!

The votes are in, and it seems that Crunchy Nut® is a firm favourite in the Hope 103.2 office, with 30% of us claiming it as our all-time favourite. Nutri-Grain® came in at a cool second with 20% of the vote.

“Corn Flakes® with warm milk and way too much sugar reminds me of my neighbours when I was growing up,” says Claire from the Sponsorship team.

“We used to have sleepovers and eat Corn Flakes® as a late-night treat after dinner.”

For Brittany in Community Relations, Frosties® “with extra sugar (because why not!)” are her top pick.

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“My favourite memory is having the mini boxes on our annual family holiday as a kid!”

“Tiny cereal packs on holidays!” Georgia from Drive says when asked what her favourite might be.

“I was the weird kid that actually loved Sustain®, so I always got my favourite, as that was the last one left!”

“The tiny holiday boxes were always a fave, it was the only time we ever got Coco Pops,” says Jay in Tech.

“I was the weird kid that actually loved Sustain®, so I always got my favourite, as that was the last one left!” – Georgia, Hope 103.2 Drive

Pat from the Sponsorship team loves “Special K® with cold milk, no sugar.” But her highlight as a kid were the animal figurines shaped like a key, which were included in the cereal boxes.

“We would put a string through the hole and wear it to school and tried to open doors and cupboards with it.”

Others prefer a well-perfected mix of Kellogg’s® cereals. Graham from Community Relations says he enjoys “a mix of Sustain® and Just Right® – they’re not bad separately, but very good together,” while Derrick from Media is partial to Special K® mixed with Crunchy Nut Clusters®.

Other than keeping generations well fed and well entertained on family holidays, Kellogg’s® has made important contributions to Australian industries and particularly farmers.

“It’s really important for us to work with Aussie farmers,” says Kellogg’s® ANZ Marketing Director Leanne Bell.

“In fact, the grains we use in Kellogg’s® much-loved cereals have been sourced from generations of Aussie farming families, and today, over 87% of the ingredients used to make our cereal in our Botany factory are sourced locally.

“That includes our corn, wheat, rice, oats, sugar and salt. We’ve also increased our support since 2020 to help farmers. We partner together with them to reduce farm greenhouse gas emissions and also future proof crops against climate change.”

“It’s really important for us to work with Aussie farmers.” – Kellogg’s® ANZ Marketing Director Leanne Bell.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane and remember the fun times, as well as the impact of the hugely successful brand who has retained manufacturing processes in Australia.

It all started in 1894, when brothers W.K. Kellogg and Dr. John Harvey Kellogg created Corn Flakes®.

By the early 1920s, Aussie families were eating Corn Flakes for breakfast, and the first Kellogg’s® factory was set up in Chippendale, Sydney.

The Chippendale factory was struggling to keep up with growing demand, so in 1928, Kellogg’s® moved to its current location in Botany.

“Back in 1924, a gentleman by the name of Morris Raymer who was actually a machinery specialist, he was sent out here to Australia to set up our first ever cornflakes machine,” Leanne says. “That was set up in a rented building in the Sydney suburb of Chippendale.

“What we found was Aussies couldn’t get enough of our tasty cereal, so just four years later we set up our factory in Botany. Fast forward to today, we’re actually producing over 42 million kilograms of cereal every year.”

1960 was when we first met Cornelius, the well-known rooster, still proudly donning Corn Flakes® boxes today.

Kellogg’s® produces over 42 million kilograms of cereal every year.

Kellogg’s® became the biggest maize buyer in Australia in 1961 and today, Kellogg’s® continues to buy almost 7000 tonnes of Aussie corn, every year.

It was in 1962 that everyone’s favourite cereal jingle, “Just like a chocolate milkshake, only crunchy!” first aired on national TV.

1973 saw Nutri-Grain® hit the stores, joining hands with Ironman (and more recently, Ironwoman) in 1980.

“Not too Heavy, Not too Light” became a catch phrase in 1982 when Just Right® hit the shelves, followed by Sustain® in 1985.

And in 2008, “Tall Jan is Malicious”, the iconic All-Bran® ad hit our screens.

In 2023, Kellogg’s® celebrated producing around 4 billion kg of cereal, roughly 100 billion bowls.

“That’s a lot of breakfasts enjoyed!”

Feature image: Photo by Millie Mae on Unsplash

Cereal images: Photos by Sten Ritterfeld (left) and Tijana Drndarski (right) on Unsplash