Kellanova's Pop-Tarts sales remain robust after 60 years.

In 2022, three billion Pop-Tarts were bought by consumers, sixty years after their creation.

Bill Post, who helped develop Pop-Tarts in the early 1960s, said, "We didn't realize that this thing would go as well as it did. It exceeded all our expectations."

Keebler collaborated with Kellogg's to create a breakfast snack for the cereal giant, with Keebler serving as the manufacturer and Kellogg's as the marketer.

"We cooperated famously, as Post remarked," said Post.

Pop-Tarts were initially released in Cleveland, a test market, in 1963.

The production was not enough. They ran out.

Pop-Tarts, a Kellogg's snacking brand, is on the verge of becoming the next billion-dollar product for the company. In 2022, the toaster pastry generated $978 million in U.S. sales, according to Circana, a Chicago-based research firm. By October 2023, U.S. sales for the year had already reached $985 million.

"We're excited about how we can continue to be relevant and close the next opportunity down," said Oli Morton, the general manager of the portable wholesome snacks division at Kellanova.

The brand is hosting its first annual Pop-Tarts Bowl on December 28 in Orlando, Florida, as a way to stay relevant.

In October, the Kellogg Company was split into two publicly traded companies: Kellanova, which retained the "K" ticker symbol and focuses on snacks, and W.K. Kellogg Co., which trades under the symbol "KLG" and manages Kellogg's cereal brands.

In 2022, snacking accounted for $7.5 billion, or 60%, of Kellogg's total sales. The company's top five snack brands in terms of profitability are Pringles, Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, Eggo, and Rice Krispies Treats.

According to Robert Moskow, a food and agribusiness analyst for TD Cowen, Pop-Tarts' main competitors are authentic pastries rather than comparable products.

No other copycat toaster pastry has been successful, he stated.

He remarked that the product's consistent branding is a testament to its quality.

Watch this video to learn more.