History
In the early 1960s, Kellogg's biggest competitor, Post, invented a process for dehydrating food and enclosing it in foil to keep it fresh. Originally used for dog food, they were looking to expand their breakfast market and adapted the process to a new toaster-prepared breakfast pastry. Post announced its new product to the press in 1964 several months before they went to market, calling them "Country Squares".[5]
Because Post had revealed Country Squares before they were ready for the marketplace, Kellogg's rushed to develop their own version. They hired Bill Post,[6] a former Keebler employee, for the task and created their own breakfast pastry in just four months.[7][8] Initially called Fruit Scones, the name was soon changed to Pop-Tarts as a pun on the then popular Pop Art movement.[9] The product became so popular that Kellogg could not keep up with demand.[10] The first shipment of Pop-Tarts to stores sold out in two weeks, and Kellogg's ran advertisements apologizing for the empty shelves. This only increased demand.[11]
The first Pop-Tarts came in four flavors: strawberry, blueberry, brown sugar cinnamon, and apple currant, which was soon renamed apple-berry.[10][12] Originally unfrosted when first introduced in 1964,[13] Kellogg's soon developed a frosting that could withstand the toaster, and the first frosted Pop-Tarts were released in 1967. Sprinkles were added to several flavors in 1968.[14]
As of 2024, there are over 24 standard Pop-Tart flavors, including hot fudge sundae, s'mores, raspberry, and grape.[15]
Pop-Tarts were introduced with fairly substantial marketing to the United Kingdom in the early 1990s. Chocotastic and Strawberry Sensation are available in most major UK supermarkets.[16]
The United States military airdropped 2.4 million Pop-Tarts in Afghanistan during the initial attack in 2001.[17]
A temporary store called Pop-Tarts World opened in Times Square on August 10, 2010 which included Pop-Tarts memorabilia, T-shirt making, a Pop-Tarts World Cafe featuring a sushi bar, and a vending machine called the Varietizer.[18][19] The store closed on December 31, 2010.[20]
As of 2014, sales of Pop-Tarts had increased for 32 straight years.[21]
In 2023, Pop-Tarts became a product of Kellanova following the spinoff of Kellogg's breakfast cereal operations into WK Kellogg Co. Sales continued to increase year after year, topping $985 million in 2023.[22]
