USA | For 50 years, the MorningStar Farms brand has made plant-based and vegetarian eating delicious and approachable for everyone.
Kellanova honoured its legacy by looking back on its storied history.
In the late 1800s, efforts began in the United States to produce the first early versions of plant-based meat alternatives. Protose was the first to offer a peanut and grain protein meat alternative.
Fast-forward to 1974, and Miles Laboratories, a subsidiary of Worthington Foods, the first company to offer frozen meat alternatives, created the MorningStar Farms brand. From day one, the focus was on delivering great-tasting products, including Breakfast Strips, Links and Patties, Grillers, Scramblers, and much more.
Innovation with an ambition to diversify the brand’s portfolio followed for the next two decades. MorningStar Farms expanded into chicken alternatives with Chik’n Patties and Nuggets. It also launched new product flavours, such as a Spicy Black Bean Burger, which is still available today.
By 1997, MorningStar Farms had over half the market share of the meat alternative category and was sold in more than 96 percent of the country’s supermarkets.
The Kellogg Company—now Kellanova—acquired Worthington Foods in 1999, and since then, it has continued to grow MorningStar Farms’ foods to help fuel people’s entire days.
Today, MorningStar Farms products are available in over 20,000 grocery stores. The brand offers dozens of foods for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in various flavours and formats, from Buffalo Chik’n Patties to Bacon Strips to Korean BBQ Riblets.
Thanks to Kellanova's Away From Home business, the brand is also available on hundreds of menus across restaurants, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities.
While many brands have entered the plant-based and vegetarian foods space, the MorningStar brand has continued to evolve through innovation focused on great taste and unique consumer experiences.
Earlier this year, it relaunched Riblets, the category’s number one innovation item, and debuted a new “It's Good on the Farms” creative campaign to drive top-of-mind consumer awareness.
“MorningStar Farms’ 50th anniversary is a celebration of the remarkable innovation that has defined the brand since the beginning and its longstanding commitment to supporting
