'Woke Capitalism' Takes a Bite out of Kellogg's: Company Breaks Apart After Years of Lousy Performance

Paul Sakuma

Kellogg’s, the iconic cereal company of the Baby Boomer generation, is no longer Grrreat! In fact, the home of Tony the Tiger is now downright Terrrible!  A champion of “woke capitalism,” the Kellogg Corporation has announced it is breaking into three separate companies after years of disappointing sales performance.

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As reported by Reuters, the snack and cereal giant announced on Tuesday it would split into three independent, publicly-traded companies, the names of which be determined later, Kellogg said spun the ever-loving hell out of. The break-up has been approved by its board of directors.

“Kellogg has been on a successful journey of transformation to enhance performance and increase long-term shareholder value,” said Steve Cahillane, the company’s chief executive and board chairman.

“Value”? Really? Check out this report from Breitbart in 2017:

Every time an American family picks up a box of Kellogg’s cereal at the grocery store, it is contributing to the wealthy radical leftwing foundation that agitates for open borders, supports George Soros’s Open Society Insitute, and pushes a host of leftwing causes.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is the largest shareholder of the Kellogg Company. According to its 2016 tax filing, the Kellogg Foundation’s trust owns approximately $5.2 billion of stock in the company, about 20 percent of the company’s equity.

The other large holders are mostly passive investors such as mutual funds and their ownership is a fraction of [that of] the foundation. That means that the foundation effectively controls the famous cereal company.

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The bottom line, here:

Kellogg Company is the foundation’s largest holding. The foundation and its trust have a total of $9.1 billion of assets. All of its other diversified stock investments total just $3.3 million.

As a result, the foundation itself is heavily dependent on the profits of Kellogg for income. When Kellogg makes money, the foundation has more to spend on left-wing causes.

And when a super-woke company founders and its profits decline? Less money for radical left-wing causes. So what’s the maker of Froot Loops, Pringles, Cheez-It, and Pop-Tarts to do? Call it quits and in effect start anew. The three companies — again, to be named, later — will be, per Kellogg:

“Global Snacking Co.”, with about $11.4 billion in net sales, will be a leading company in global snacking, international cereal and noodles, and North America frozen breakfasts.

“North America Cereal Co.”, with about $2.4 billion in net sales, will be a leading cereal company in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. 

“Plant Co.”, with about $340 million in net sales, will be a “pure-play plant-based foods company,” anchored by the MorningStar Farms brand.

While Kellogg’s overall performance has been somewhat erratic over the years, the company’s gross profits have declined in four of the last five years, as reported by Macrotrends:

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Kellogg annual/quarterly gross profit history and growth rate from 2018 to 2022. Gross profit can be defined as the profit a company makes after deducting the variable costs directly associated with making and selling its products or providing its services.

Kellogg gross profit for the quarter ending March 31, 2022 was $1.159B, a 0.6% decline year-over-year.

Kellogg gross profit for the twelve months ending March 31, 2022 was $4.553B, a 4.13% decline year-over-year.

Kellogg annual gross profit for 2021 was $4.56B, a 3.53% decline from 2020.

Kellogg annual gross profit for 2020 was $4.727B, a 7.9% increase from 2019.

Kellogg annual gross profit for 2019 was $4.381B, a 7.3% decline from 2018.

Coincidence? I doubt it.

As the Capital Research Center think tank noted in a September 2017 article titled The W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Radical Leftward Drift, “Have some liberal politics with your cereal!” (Emphasis, mine)

If you apply the old Woodward and Bernstein adage “follow the money,” to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, then there are few philanthropies whose unstated politics are more easily understood.

[…]

Since its founding, the Kellogg philanthropy has given hundreds of millions of dollars to hospitals, schools, and youth centers, especially in rural and underprivileged areas. But it has strayed from the goals of its conservative founder, thus betraying what is called “donor intent,” an important concept in the philanthropic community.

In the last few years, the Kellogg Foundation has sent billions of dollars to left-wing causes like open-borders groups, liberal think tanks, and projects supported by billionaire leftist George Soros.

[…]

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established to improve the lives of children, but like so many well-endowed philanthropies over time it betrayed the beliefs of its founder as it drifted steadily leftward.

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Was that last line a microcosmic reality on the state of today’s Democrat Party, or what?

The bottom line:

“Classic liberalism” as we knew it has given way to radical leftism. Biological males kick the hell out of biological females in women’s sports. Men who refuse to declare whether or not they’re pregnant are denied the opportunity to give blood.

Our young children are preyed upon by drag strippers and encouraged to accept their own gender “fluidity” and “self-determination,” with many schools fighting against sharing those conversations with parents.

Forty-nine out of 50 Senate Democrats vote in support of on-demand abortion until birth. On and on it goes, as the “Party of Tolerance” — “inclusion,” as it were — seeks to censor all morality and pushback from decent conservatives across America.

Meanwhile, let’s hope (and pray, if you will) that more and more “We’re mad as hell, we’re not going to take it, anymore!” Americans continue to wake up and say enough is enough.

Even to super-woke cereal companies.

Related on RedState:

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Elon Musk Drags Corporate Wokeism, Causes Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth

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