Why Everyone’s Obsessed With Meat Sticks and Cottage Cheese
Major food companies went all-in on junk food—but missed the new snacking trend right in front of them.
Photo illustration: Rui Pu for Bloomberg Businessweek; photos: Getty Images
Not too long ago, it looked like we were in the middle of a great American food revolution. No, I’m not talking about Make America Healthy Again. I’m talking about snacks. Ever since the pandemic, when stuck-at-home Americans found themselves noshing all day on comfort foods, snacking has looked like the future of the American diet.
It was that opportunity for even more snacking growth that led Kellogg, in 2023, to spin off its dragging North American cereal business. That allowed it to focus on its high-growth snack portfolio, including brands like Pringles, Cheez-It and Rice Krispies Treats, under the new name Kellanova. The strategy worked: In August, candy conglomerate Mars Inc. said it would buy the standalone snack company in a $36 billion deal. This same bet on snacking also pushed peanut butter and jelly maker JM Smucker Co. to scoop up Hostess in 2023 for $5.6 billion. And last month, Bloomberg News reported that Oreo maker Mondelez International Inc. was trying to buy out Hershey Co. to create a global snacking powerhouse. (The preliminary offer was turned down.) Not long after the Wall Street Journal reported on the junk-food-fueled “snack-ification” of US diets, PepsiCo Inc. told us that, yes, Doritos can be part of your dinner.