Cereal Wars: Post and Kellogg

Cereal Wars: Post and Kellogg 

You have to love looking down the rabbit hole which is Wikipedia. You get caught on one thing and start clicking on other things.

I was doing some digging around YouTube for some Grape Nuts ads. And, a Google search led me to the Wikipedia to John Harvey Kellogg's page. JHK was an interesting man. He was a doctor that ran a sanitarium based on things health hipsters would love today. He also tied his use of religion into his methods of healing.

But, the name should be familiar to you. Kellogg is a name that is connected to breakfast in almost every country (180 to be precise). JHK and his brother(Will Keith Kellogg) worked on perfecting the method of corn flakes. JHK wanted to keep it within the sanitarium, but WKK saw the bigger picture and wanted to take their formula and branch out.

Here's the kicker, a guy name CW Post witnessed their corn flakes making process while being treated for nervous breakdown at JHK's place. He was like, “Hmm, this sounds like a good idea.” So, he started the Post Cereals Company based on the corn flakes method he learned from there. And, he started the brand Grape Nuts (thus, bringing it back to my search).

This pissed off WKK and he started his own cereal company named Kellogg Company in which it became the competitor of Post. Even today they are competitors. WKK and his brother had a major falling out and never made up.