Post heritage dates back more than 100 years. Through product innovations, new cereal flavours, smart business decisions and a commitment to nutrition, Post history has never strayed from founder C.W. Post’s vision. Read through the timeline below to learn more about the milestones in Post history.
1892 Setting the foundation for 100 years of cereal history to come, lawyer and inventor Henry Drushel Perky and his business partner William Henry Ford invent a machine that shreds whole wheat, creating Shredded Wheat cereal.
1895 Post heritage officially begins when C.W. Post makes his first batch of Postum, a cereal beverage, in a barn in Battle Creek, Michigan. This enters him into the brand new retail cereal industry, and gives Post an important seat at the breakfast table for the next century and beyond.
1897 C.W. Post introduces Grape-Nuts cereal, one of the first ready-to-eat cold cereals. It is believed to be named after the “grape sugar,” now more commonly known as glucose, that formed during the baking process, and for its nutty flavour.
1904 Following Grape-Nuts’ success, Post launches a corn flakes product called Elijah’s Manna, renamed Post Toasties in 1908.
1912 C.W. Post relaunches his original product, Instant Postum cereal beverage, using marketing techniques that are now considered industry standard, but were innovative for their time. These included extensive advertising, coupons, free samples, product demonstrations, plant tours and recipe booklets.
1914 After C.W. Post’s death, the Postum Cereal Company continues to follow his formula for success: selling high-quality, nutritious cereal products that appeals to all kinds of households.
1925 to 1929 Postum acquires more than a dozen companies and expands its product line to more than 60 products. The name of the parent corporation is changed to General Foods Corporation. Many more nutritious and delicious Post cereals are introduced under this name, including:
- 1932 Grape-Nuts Flakes
- 1942 Post Raisin Bran
- 1949 Golden Crisp
- 1958 Alpha-Bits
- 1961 Spoon Size Shredded Wheat
- 1965 Honeycomb
- 1970 Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles
- 1982 Fruit & Fibre
- 1990 Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted and Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds
- 1992 Marshmallow Alpha-Bits; Crunchy Pecan; and Great Grains Raisins, Dates, Pecans.
- 1994 Great Grains Banana Nut Crunch
- 1995 Post Selects Blueberry Morning
- 1996 Waffle Crisp and Post Lightly Frosted Shredded Wheat
- 1997 Cranberry Almond Crunch and Honey Nut Shredded Wheat Spoon Size
1997 To mark its 100th year of making great cereals for families everywhere, Post Cereals launches a 100-day food drive and summer-long hunger awareness program.
1998 Post’s “Drive Out Hunger” program donates enough cereal to feed more than one million people. Post also partners with local grocers to secure a financial donation for every box of Post cereal sold.
2002 - 2011 Post’s cereal product line further expands with new original brands as well as new flavours of existing brands whose popularity continues to grow:
- 2002 Honey Bunches of Oats Strawberry
- 2003 Post Selects Maple Pecan Crunch
- 2004 Honey Bunches of Oats with Real Peaches
- 2005 Trail Mix Crunch
- 2006 Honey Bunches of Oats with Cinnamon Clusters
- 2007 Honey Bunches of Oats with Vanilla Clusters
- 2008 Honey Bunches of Oats Chocolate and Honey Bunches of Oats Just Bunches! Honey Roasted
- 2009 Honey Bunches of Oats Pecan Bunches
- 2010 Honey Bunches of Oats Just Bunches! Cinnamon
- 2011 Marshmallow Pebbles and Honey Bunches of Oats Raisin Medley
2012 Post Foods becomes an independent, publicly traded company and launches exciting new flavours and brands such as:
- Good Morenings
- Honey Bunches of Oats Fruit Blends: Peach-Raspberry
- Honey Bunches of Oats Fruit Blends: Banana-Blueberry
2013 Post Foods continues its forward momentum with the launch of two new flavours of Honey Bunches of Oats and the introduction of Great Grains Protein Blends.
- Honey Bunches of Oats Greek Honey Crunch
- Honey Bunches of Oats Greek Mixed Berry
- Sesame Street Cereal: Strawberry
- Great Grains Protein Blends: Honey, Oats & Seeds
- Great Grains Protein Blends: Cinnamon Hazelnut
And beyond Each day, Post will continue to work towards our tradition of bringing innovative and delicious products to America’s breakfast tables.