Kellanova's Protein Revolution: How Cheez-Its & Eggo Are Adapting to GLP-1 Era

Welcome back, everyone.

We are coming to you live from the Food Solutions Expo by Spartan Nash.

This is Omnitok Retail.

I'm Anne Mazinga.

And I'm Chris Walton.

And joining us today we have Amy Davis, the VP of Industry Relations at Kellanova.

Amy, thank you so much for joining us today.

My pleasure, my pleasure.

Well, tell us a little bit.

Let's start by telling us a little bit about you and your role at Kellanova.

So at Kellanova, my job is to represent Kellanova out in the industry.

And that could be anywhere from industry events such as, say, FMI nga.

So I know you had Laura Stranger from NGA this week.

So I'll be out at industry events, meeting with customers and meeting with some of the service providers in the industry just to make sure that, number one, our strategies are known amongst our customer base as well as, you know, understanding what.

What's important to our customers.

What's important, you know, what trends are in the industry.

So we can bring that information back internally.

Right.

If we need to make adjustments to strategies, make investments around those areas, it allows us to have a voice externally and then bring that external voice in.

And most importantly, we're standing here in the Simbi Spartan national booth here, right across from Kellanova, and I've been looking at you sample Cheez Its all the last couple of days.

So.

So that's also something that I will be stopping over and checking out immediately after this interview.

But very important, I imagine, as people are starting to experience new flavors and products.

I mean, Cheez its known loved brand.

But if you haven't tried the Smoked Gouda, try that one.

That's probably my new favorite product that we make.

Oh, really?

Might pair it with a nice glass of wine.

Not gonna lie.

I saw them over there, and I was wondering the same thing.

Like, I'm gonna upgrade my Cheez Its and glass of box of Cheez Its and glass of wine to the smoked cheese.

I mean, it's a meal, right?

It's a meal Gouda.

Yeah.

For those listening at home, not watching, she's got a big T shirt with Cheez it written on the front of it.

So it's great.

All right, so, Amy, let's ask you this.

I'm curious, what trends are you seeing from consumers right now, and how are those trends impacting your innovation strategies at Kellanova?

Okay.

I'd say there's a couple areas that we're really focused on from an innovation standpoint.

One is you've seen a lot of generational changes, a lot of demographic changes here in the US So as you know, the Gen Z consumer is coming up and they're starting to spend either their parents money or their own money.

What we're finding is they really like spicy flavors.

So you're going to see more spicy.

I haven't heard that yet.

Flavor profiles.

So one of the things we're featuring here today is our hot ones, Pringles.

So they have that bite and it delivers on the flavor and the spice that younger consumer's looking for.

So a lot of innovation there.

I'd say also with that younger consumer, they like the portability.

So think gamers, right?

They're looking for quick, easy snacks to get to.

And you know, it was a huge trend during COVID Everybody's grabbing the quick snack out of the pantry or the little grab and go bags.

But that young consumer, like, that's how they eat.

Wow.

I'd say that takes me to another trend.

We're really watching and innovating around.

And that's the GLP1 consumer.

I'm sure you guys are hearing a lot.

Yes, we have heard that today.

So as I've walked the floor, protein is everywhere.

Everywhere.

And so it's no different for us.

Like, we want to meet the needs of the consumer.

So whether that's adding protein or increasing protein levels in our foods, or adding fiber or calling out, a lot of these are benefits that were already in some of our foods, and we just need to tell the consumer a little more.

So those are two areas that I see a lot of companies innovating.

But what makes, I think, how we're innovating differently at Kellanova is the consumers are looking to us for flavor and for taste, right?

So take an Eggo.

Like Eggos are something kids ate as people eat as children.

A lot of times they become teenagers.

They're like, I need more protein.

I need different nutritional benefits from my foods.

We're now adding protein to an Eggo.

So it's that nostalgic flavor that they're looking for.

And it really does deliver on flavor without some of the chalkiness that you get from protein.

So I'd say protein calling out our nutritional benefits, such as fiber, and then those flavor profiles and mashups are really important for us too.

Spice.

Yes, spice.

Well, I'm curious.

There's a lot of independent grocers here, a lot of whom have said similar things about trends they're noticing with their consumers.

How do you really feel that Kellanova works best with those independent grocers?

You know what I think it starts with, and Amy said this on stage yesterday, is listening.

So, I mean, I don't want to pretend that every retailer acts like the next.

So I've done a lot of, a lot of listening this week and understanding, like, what are they seeing from their consumers, making sure that we recognize that and, and that we're thinking about it when we're, you know, innovating and developing products.

So I think that that's the number one thing is listening to them, but then also just bringing data so that they are ready when those consumers walk through their door.

Like, what do they need to have highlighted at the front of the store?

So that answered your question.

Got it.

It does.

It absolutely does.

So to that point, to what you brought up before, the whole trend of protein and GLP1 particularly, we've heard that from a lot of the people we've talked to, particularly the independent grocers.

Like, we've actually been surprised to hear how much that's impacted them and how much they're having to think about that from their merchandise in their merchandising strategy.

So how do you guys get behind that from a storytelling perspective?

What do you do that you find is successful to help get the story out about what Kellanova is doing in that arena?

So I think one way that we're trying to tell the protein story, number one, we're telling it to the retailer.

But when it comes to telling the consumer, package callouts are huge.

So it's.

I mean, if it's not called out on the package, it might get missed.

We've done some renaming of product too.

So to help that that retailer, we can't count on them all for, like, shelf signage.

It'd be one giant shelf run of signs.

Right, right.

So making sure that our products are calling it out as well as renaming.

So Eggo, for example, launched as stuffed.

It was stuffed with protein, but it wasn't telling the story very well.

So now we've renamed it as protein pancakes, protein waffles.

I mean, duh.

But.

But something as simple as that, helping the retailer tell the story.

Got it.

When we meet at some of the industry events, we also talk to them about how are they telling the protein story or the GLP1 story?

Is it the pharmacy?

Like, are we working with pharmacists to educate the pharmacists so that they can then educate the consumer?

Some retailers have dietitians that they lean on.

Websites are huge.

Like, is that a radio dial or radio button when someone's shopping online, tying the data Together protein items.

Right.

So education and partnering with our retail partners and then just making sure that we're in front of the consumer with the protein callouts, fiber callouts.

It's interesting, though, that you've had to rename and rebrand products to capture this trend.

That shows you how powerful this trend.

Is, and that goes back to listening.

So that nugget actually came from one of our retail partners of, like, you missed it on the name.

So we actually took that back and listened and made those changes.

Sure enough, that made all the difference.

I wasn't aware of that.

Well, Amy, what else are you passionate about?

Having spent a good amount of time in the food industry and now in.

Your role at Kalanova, I think I'm most excited about the fun that our brands bring, coming up with occasions that give the consumer a way to think about our food differently.

So it's beyond a box of Cheez Its or sitting on the plate next to your sandwich.

How can we be a part of a breakfast charcuterie board with Pop Tarts and Eggos?

How can we have some fun with the food?

If you go over to the booth today, we're romancing the food and playing with it a little bit.

But beyond a charcuterie board, how do you think about us at Halloween?

Do you do something different with our brand?

Sure.

We try to help the retailers come up with ways to excite their consumers there, too, with digital assets they can use online.

Right.

And just storytelling and having fun with the food more than anything.

Yeah.

Having fun with it.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

So, Amy, let's get you out of here on this.

So, you know, I imagine in your role, as you've described it, you have to work with a lot of people.

Like, there's a lot of partners you have to take.

How do you keep the.

How do you keep the foot to the gas pedal on innovation when it comes to working with those partners in new ways?

I think, of course, we have our own objectives.

Right.

So we've got our research and development teams that have seen, like, what are the trends?

What do we need to be out there talking about?

So I leverage a lot of our industry events just to make sure that there's an awareness around why behind our innovation.

I mean, every company here is innovating in some way, shape or form, but we try to do it very intentionally, with purpose.

So listening, bringing facts and data, and then sharing that with the retailers so that we give them a reason.

So, number one, want to make the product available.

Number two, to talk about the product and merchandise it and advertise it in their stores.

So and then delivering on a great product so that you get repeat yes trial, they tell two friends and they tell two friends and so on and so on.

So that keeps the, I think the foot on the gas too.

Just delivering a great product.

Nice, nice, nice.

Well, thank you for joining us today.

It's kind of a spur of the moment serendipitous interview.

We got to capture you.

Thanks for making it painless.

Yeah, a good 10:12 minutes and your maiden voyage is a podcast.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Got a few of those today.

Thank you.

Thanks again.

Amy Davis of Kellanova, thanks for sitting down with us and yeah, it was fantastic getting a chance to interview you.

And thanks to Simbi and Spartan Ash for supporting all of our coverage here from the expo.

And until next time, Anne, be careful out there.