BATTLE CREEK, MICH. — WK Kellogg Co is making health and wellness a linchpin of efforts to rekindle sales of ready-to-eat cereal, based on its fledgling SPOONS platform.

Battle Creek-based WK Kellogg unveiled SPOONS in February at the 2025 Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) Conference. The company said the acronym encapsulates the health “credentials” of its cereal: “more Simple than you think,” “as much Protein as an egg in a bowl with milk,” “number One source of fiber for kids,” “brings Other foods along” (such as milk and fruit), “more key Nutrients than those that don’t eat cereal” and “no more added Sugar than those that don’t eat cereal.”

“We view the increased focus on health as a great thing for the category and WK Kellogg,” Gary Pilnick, chairman and chief executive officer, said in reporting first-quarter results. “We introduced the SPOONS framework at CAGNY, which expresses key health credentials for cereal, such as simplicity, protein and fiber. As we noted, SPOONS certainly applies to our health and wellness brands but equally applies across our entire portfolio. In the back half of the year, we’re bringing SPOONS to life through new media campaigns on our mainstream brands and relaunching Kashi.

“We have the focus and agility to elevate our business, including meeting evolving consumer needs and putting the commercial support behind it.”

In the first quarter, WK Kellogg’s organic net sales were down 5.6% on an 8.6% decrease in volume, while its in-market US dollar sales fell 4.5%, pulling down share by 100 basis points. That came amid a 0.8% dip in dollar sales and a low single-digit volume decline for the overall US ready-to-eat cereal category. However, Pilnick noted, granola, natural and organic cereal, and health-forward cereal brands tallied double-digit sales growth in the period.

“During the quarter, we observed consumers placing even greater emphasis on health, which fueled growth in health-forward segments of the category, an acceleration of a key trend we highlighted at CAGNY,” he said. “This is a trend we have already begun planning to activate against.”

The mission for WK Kellogg is to elevate its cereal portfolio with health-focused consumers, using SPOONS as a foundation for its messaging, Pilnick said.

“We are reallocating some of our media spend to reinforce key health credentials across our portfolio, and we recently activated a refreshed commercial plan for Kashi, which has just started to hit the market,” he said. “Our SPOONS framework brings to life what we know to be true for cereal, much of which is often misunderstood or otherwise goes unrecognized. It is the collective impact of these messages that we believe can influence perspectives and drive behaviors. The good news for us is that consumers are already heading in this direction, prioritizing quality ingredients and functional health without compromising taste.”

First up in the SPOONS game plan will be efforts to amplify simplicity, protein and fiber in the marketplace.

“Many of our cereals start with just four simple ingredients before adding vitamins and minerals,” Pilnick said. “We are launching a new media campaign and updating front-of-pack claims to share this message, featuring key brands such as Frosted Flakes, Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies.”

Kashi will be an anchor in WK Kellogg’s push to spotlight the protein content in its cereals. The brand is part of the company’s Natural & Organic (N&O) portfolio, which also includes Bear Naked.

“Kashi is one of the pioneer N&O brands, which offers great-tasting food, high-quality ingredients and inherent health benefits — exactly where you want to be within this current consumer landscape,” Pilnick said. “Prior to the spin (Kellogg spin-off), it was managed separately within the broader Kellogg Co. and often deprioritized. Now, as part of WK, we have simplified recipes, improved supply, and profitability of the brand portfolio has improved. We are now shifting our focus to demand-generating activities and increasing commercial support to levels that the brand has not had in years.”

Accounting for about half of the Kashi franchise is Kashi Go, which Pilnick said WK Kellogg is now relaunching “with new food, an improved packaging design and a larger pack-size offering. Kashi Go now delivers consumers the unique benefit of 10 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber, with single-digit sugar (content). This is the type of food that should resonate well with our health-focused consumers.”

WK Kellogg also will highlight how cereal provides a solution for consumers — especially children — lacking sufficient fiber in their diets.

“Cereal is the No. 1 source of fiber for kids, and we know many people don’t get enough of this essential nutrient,” Pilnick said. “Many of our cereals provide an excellent source of fiber, and we are bringing that message to life through a new multi-brand campaign launching later in Q2.”

He added, “You can see how these consumer trends and our activities behind them would serve as a tailwind for our top-line performance going forward.”

WK Kellogg also hopes to direct that tailwind behind its struggling Special K brand, for which the company began boosting marketing support last year. Historically a brand with a fan base led by dieters, Special K has continued to lose market share — including a 40-basis-point decrease in the first quarter — despite “significant health credentials,” Pilnick noted in a May 6 conference call with analysts.

“We are optimistic about this brand,” he said. “I go back to what’s happening with the consumer. This brand is at the intersection of taste and health and likely hasn’t been as hard-hitting on health as it should have been. Now, this trend is here and what we’re starting to do is have a stronger focus on the food and a stronger focus on nutrient density. But also the upcoming coms (communications) that you’re going to see are more food-focused, with stronger claims on-pack.”

Special K, too, will be part of the upcoming multi-brand campaign promoting fiber.

“We’re also launching a Special K protein granola,” Pilnick said. “We have in the marketplace right now Special K Zero. Now that food is getting restaged, relaunched. It has zero added sugar and 18 grams of protein. This should be a tailwind for us and for the brand. We need to now start shifting this more into the health orientation of what the brand stands for.”

In response to an analyst question, Pilnick said WK Kellogg doesn’t plan to focus on potential acquisitions of smaller cereal brands with strong health positioning.

“We like the portfolio that we have; we do believe the entire cereal category should be perceived better from a health perspective,” he said, adding, “We believe we have the arsenal here. We need to go and focus more on that.”

WK Kellogg’s health-focused strategy won’t be a slam dunk, said Robert Moskow, an analyst with TD Cowen. He cited the uneven success of similar brand initiatives in the past and the make America healthy again (MAHA) movement, which has intensified public scrutiny of food ingredients. In April, for example, the Food and Drug Administration launched measures to eliminate all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from the US food supply and steer food companies to natural alternatives.

“Management described growth in health-forward segments of the cereal category as accelerating since February and recognizes that they need to participate more fully,” Moskow said in a May 7 research note. “They plan to put more marketing support behind the relaunch of their Kashi brand and use advertising to emphasize the ingredient simplicity of several brands, including Frosted Flakes and Rice Krispies. We note, however, that attempts to highlight the health attributes of brands like these have fallen short in the past.