MOM Brands Company (formerly Malt-O-Meal Company and Campbell Cereal Company) was an American producer of

breakfast cereal Breakfast cereal is a category of food, including food products, made from food processing, processed cereal, cereal grains, that are eaten as part of breakfast or as a snack food, primarily in Western societies. Although warm, cooked cereals li ...

s, headquartered in

Northfield, Minnesota Northfield is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota and Rice County, Minnesota, Rice counties in the U.S. state, state of Minnesota. It is mostly in Rice County, with a small portion in Dakota County. The population was 20,790 at the 2020 U ...

. It markets its products in at least 70% of the country's grocery stores, with estimated sales in 2012 of US$750 million. It operates four manufacturing plants, in

; Tremonton, Utah;

Asheboro, North Carolina Asheboro is a city in and the county seat of Randolph County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 27,156 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Greensboro- High Point Metropolitan Area of the Piedmont Triad and is home of the st ...

; and St. Ansgar, Iowa. The company has distribution centers in

Grove City, Ohio Grove City is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1852, it is a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 41,252 at the 2020 census. History Until the mid-19th century, the area that is now Grove City was a wil ...

;

Coppell, Texas Coppell ( ) is a city in the northwest corner of Dallas County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is a suburb of Dallas and a bedroom community in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 42,983 at the 2020 census. A small area in th ...

; and

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

. MOM Brands produces both hot and cold cereals, including ''Malt-O-Meal'', a combination of farina wheat and malted barley. As of 2012, cold cereals manufactured by MOM Brands accounts for over 75% of its total sales. Most of its cold cereals are similar to cereal brands produced by its competitors,

Kellogg's Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets con ...

, Quaker Oats Company, and

General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...

. Even so, between 2001 and 2012, Malt-O-Meal more than tripled its market share during a very challenging time for the breakfast cereal category. It was the fastest growing cereal company in America. MOM Brands was bought by

Post Holdings Post Holdings, Inc. is an American Fast-moving consumer goods, consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri with businesses operating in the center-of-the-store, refrigerated, foodservice, and food ingredient categ ...

in 2015. After the acquisition was finalized, Post Holdings moved its cereal headquarters office from New Jersey to the MOM Brands offices in Lakeville, Minnesota. The business was renamed Post Consumer Brands, and the MOM Brands CEO, Chris Neugent, and his senior leadership team were put in charge of the new combined enterprise.

History

The company was founded in 1919 as the Campbell Cereal Company by John Campbell, a miller in

Owatonna, Minnesota Owatonna ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,420 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Owatonna is home to the Steele County Fairgrounds, which hosts the Steele County F ...

. He invented a combination of farina wheat and malted barley hot breakfast cereal he called Malt-O-Meal. Campbell intended to compete with

Cream of Wheat Cream of Wheat is an American brand of farina (food), farina, a type of breakfast porridge mix made from wheat middlings. It looks similar to grits, but is smoother in texture since it is made with ground wheat berry, wheat kernels instead of gr ...

. In 1927, the company moved production of its cereal to the Ames Mill in

. Nine years later, corporate headquarters were moved to

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, and in 1953, it was renamed the Malt-O-Meal Company. Attempts in the 1940s to market Campbell's Corn Flakes, and in the 1960s to sell State Fair brand Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice, were abandoned in the face of competition. In 1998 Malt-O-Meal began construction of a $100,000,000 cereal production facility in Tremonton, Utah. In early 2001, construction was stopped and the plant was mothballed because the company had a significant decline in sales and profits. At that time, the company also had to implement layoffs to reduce costs. Later in 2001, the building and site were put up for sale for $10 million. in 2002, Malt-O-Meal began a dramatic turnaround in sales and profits. Because of the much improved results, the site was taken off the market, construction was resumed, and the Malt-Meal Tremonton plant began production in 2004. In 2002, Malt-O-Meal acquired the bagged cereal business from the Quaker Oats Company. In 2007, Malt-O-Meal took part in the "reverse product placement" marketing campaign for '' The Simpsons Movie'' and packaged one of their cereals, Tootie Frooties, as " Krusty-O's". The cereal was sold in

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

stores across America along with other ''The Simpsons Movie'' related products. In 2007, Malt-O-Meal began construction on their new manufacturing facility in

. The building, formerly occupied by Unilever Best Foods, became the fourth manufacturing facility for Malt-O-Meal. Operations at the plant began in late 2008. In December 2009, Malt-O-Meal acquired the Farina brand of hot cereal from U.S. Mills. Farina was started by Pillsbury in 1898. On February 21, 2012, the Malt-O-Meal Company re-branded as MOM Brandsthe new name is intended to reflect the company's wider product range, while still acknowledging its flagship product through the use of its abbreviation. At the same time, it also announced that it had surpassed Post to become the third largest producer of cereals in the United States. MOM Brands purchased the CoCo Wheats brand from Denny and Kim Fuller on June 30, 2012, while the rest of the company assets except the factory building were sold to Gilster-Mary Lee, a major competitor. The Fullers had become the fourth generation to own and operate Little Crow in 1983. In 2013 MOM Brands introduced Mom's Best Naturals cereal and gained significant shelf space in retailers. This was a part of its success which helped it surpass Post cereal in total market share of cereal sales. After Post bought MOM brands it kept the MOM's best brand and it is still a part of its portfolio. On January 27, 2015,

announced that it was purchasing MOM Brands for $1.15 billion ($1.05 billion cash and 2.5 million shares of Post Holdings stock). The sale was completed on May 4, 2015. Production of cold cereal continued in the Northfield plant. As of January 2024, Post is continuing the Malt-O-Meal brand.

Hot cereals

*Malt-O-Meal *Chocolate Malt-O-Meal *Oat Fit *Coco Wheats *Maple & Brown Sugar Malt-O-Meal *Creamy Hot Wheat Malt-O-Meal

Cold cereals

* Apple Zings * Berry Colossal Crunch * Blueberry Muffin Tops * Cinnamon Toasters * Chocolate Marshmallow Mateys * Chocolatey Chip Cookie Bites * Cocoa Dyno-Bites * Coco Roos * Colossal Crunch * Cookies and Cream * Corn Bursts * Corn Flakes * Crispy Rice * Frosted Mini-Spooners * Frosted Flakes * Fruity Dyno-Bites * Fruity Stars * Golden Puffs * Cinnamon Golden Puffs * Honey and Oat Blenders * Honey Buzzers * Honey Graham Squares * Honey Nut Scooters * Marshmallow Mateys * Peanut Butter Cups * Peanut Butter Colossal Crunch * Puffed Rice * Puffed Wheat * Raisin Bran * Scooters * S'Mores Cereal * Tootie Fruities

Other brands

As listed on Malt-O-Meal's site. Most are available regionally or through specific chains. All listed mention their use of natural ingredients, reduced packaging, and/or renewable energy *Sally's Cereals (hot and cold varieties sold in Canada Safeway, Wal-mart and Superstores stores) *Three Sisters cereal (hot and cold varieties, sold only at Whole Foods stores) *Mom's Best Naturals (hot and cold varieties) *Bear River Valley (cold varieties only) *I Love Oats (hot varieties only) * Better Oats (hot varieties only) (most sub-brands available in multiple flavors) ** Oat Revolution ** Oat Revolution Thick & Hearty ** Abundance ** Good 'N Hearty ** Lavish ** mmm... Muffins ** Oat Fit ** Oat Heads ** Raw Pure & Simple ** Mom's Best Naturals *Hearty Traditions (hot varieties only)

References

External links