Kellogg Australia
OVERALL |
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Owned |
USA |
Rating |
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Food manufacturer
Kellogg Australia bought Specialty Cereals in Sept 2008.
Company Ownership
Kellogg Australia Pty Ltd | AUS | website | ||||
Kellogg Company ![]() owns 100% of Kellogg Australia Pty Ltd |
USA | website | ||||
Breakfast cereal makers USA's #1 breakfast cereal maker. In 2012, Kellogg's became the world's second-largest snack food company after buying Pringles from Procter & Gamble for US$2.7bn. Plans to spin off its North American cereal operations, and rename itself Kellanova by the end of 2023. | ||||||
W.K. Kellogg Foundation ![]() owns 30% of Kellogg Company |
USA | website | ||||
Philanthropic foundation Founded in 1930 by cereal industry pioneer (and Seventh Day Adventist) Will Keith Kellogg, the foundation provides more than $200 million in grants each year to programs focused on youth and education, health, food systems and rural development, and philanthropy and volunteerism. |
Company Assessment
PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
Kellogg Australia Pty Ltd | ||||
This company received the highest packaging performance level of 5 (Beyond Best Practice) in its 2022 APCO Annual Report. Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) is a not-for-profit organisation leading the development of a circular economy for packaging in Australia. Each year, APCO Members are required to submit an APCO Annual Report and Action Plan, which includes an overall performance level from 1 (Getting Started) to 5 (Beyond Best Practice).
Source: APCO (2022) |
Kellogg's has won the Parents' Voice Shame Award for Smoke and Mirrors in 2019, 2017 and every year from 2007 to 2011 for the use of misleading claims on children's foods that make an unhealthy product appear healthier than it is. Kellogg's also won the Parents’ Voice Shame Award for Pester Power in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2019 for its food marketing campaigns that encourage children to nag for unhealthy foods. The Parents' Voice (previously Parents Jury) is a children's health advocacy group.
Source: Parent's Jury (2019) |
Greenpeace's Reenergise campaign ranks Australia's biggest electricity using companies on their commitments and actions regarding renewable energy use. This company has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) to buy power from a wind or solar project; but they have not committed to powering their operations by 100% renewable electricity by 2030; and they have not invested in on-site solar.
Source: Greenpeace (2021)
Named and shamed in the 2016 CHOICE Shonky Awards for reducing the size and packaging of its Pringles chips, while increasing the saturated fat content nearly 60%. CHOICE did the math and the new packs give you 9.3% less value for money.
Source: Choice (2016)
This company has been criticised for offensive advertising. Between 2013 and 2017 the Advertising Standards Bureau upheld complaints about five ads by this company on the grounds that they breached advertising codes. The ads were subsequently discontinued or modified.
Source: Advertising Standards Bureau (2017)
Named and shamed in the 2018 CHOICE Shonky Awards for its breakfast-to-go product, Nutri-Grain To Go Banana & Honey Smash and its high sugar content. Choice points out that while lots of snacks and sweets are high in sugar, most of them don't masquerade as 'ironman food'.
Source: Choice (2018)
Some, but not necessarily all, of this company's cereal products are palm oil free. For more details, follow the link to see Borneo Orangutan Survival Australia's list of products which manufacturers have told them are palm oil free or contain segregated certified sustainable palm oil.
Source: BOS Australia (2020)
This company is a signatory to the Responsible Children's Marketing Initiative (RCMI), which is managed by the Australian Food & Grocery Council and covers products found in retail outlets. Companies that have signed up to the initiative commit to: only advertising healthier choices to children and encouraging a healthy lifestyle through good diet and physical activity; not paying for or seeking product placement television programs, editorial content or interactive games aimed at children, unless the product is a healthier choice; not advertising and marketing to children in Australian schools unless they are asked to by those schools.
Source: AANA (2023)
This company is listed by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) as a Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation holder. The citation is designed to encourage, recognise and promote active commitment to achieving gender equality in Australian workplaces.
Source: WGEA (2022)
This company is listed on the RSPCA Australia website as 'cage-free and proud', signifying a commitment to source 100% cage-free eggs by 2025. Essentially cage-free means barn laid, which is better than cage eggs, but still much worse than free-range or organic eggs when it comes to animal welfare.
Source: RSPCA Australia (2020) |
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Kellogg Company | ||||
In 2022, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) asked companies to provide data about their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change risk. Responding companies are scored across four key areas: disclosure; awareness; management; and leadership. This company received a CDP Climate Change Score of A-.
Source: CDP (2022)
The 2021 Food and Agriculture Benchmark assessed 350 keystone companies across the entirety of the food system, from farm to fork. It covers three dimensions where transformation is needed: nutrition, environment and social inclusion. This company ranked #11/350, with a total score of 50.1/100.
Source: World Benchmarking Alliance (2021)
The WWF Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard 2021 assesses 227 companies on the actions companies have taken to ensure their own palm oil supply chain is sustainable and free of deforestation, natural ecosystem conversion, and human rights abuse. This company is rated 'well on the path' with a score of 17.54 out of a possible total of 24.
Source: WWF Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard (2021)
In 2022, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) asked companies to provide data about their efforts towards removing commodity-driven deforestation and forest degradation from its direct operations and supply chains. Responding companies are scored across four key areas: disclosure; awareness; management; and leadership. This company received a CDP Forests Score of B-.
Source: CDP (2022)
The Global Access to Nutrition Index assesses how the world's 25 largest global food and beverage manufacturers contribute to addressing malnutrition in all its forms: overweight and obesity, undernutrition, and micronutrient deficiency. All have been assessed on their commitments, practices, and disclosure with regards to governance and management; the production and distribution of healthy, affordable, accessible products; and how they influence consumer choices and behavior. Of the 25 companies ranked, this company came 8th.
Source: Access to Nutrition Foundation (2021)
This company is listed as having best practice on a report card on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in corporate America.
Source: Human Rights Campaign (2021)
In 2020/21 KnowTheChain benchmarked over 180 large global companies in the ICT, Food & Beverage, and Apparel & Footwear sectors on their efforts to address forced labour and human trafficking in their supply chains. This company received a score of 54/100.
Source: KnowTheChain (2021)
The 2022 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark assessed 127 companies in the food and agriculture, ICT and automotive manufacturing sectors on their human rights performance. This company received a score of 33.6%. The overall average score was a disappointing 17.3% and the highest score was 50.3%.
Source: World Benchmarking Alliance (2022)
In 2022, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) asked companies to provide data about their efforts to manage and govern freshwater resources. Responding companies are scored on six key metrics: transparency; governance & strategy; measuring & monitoring; risk assessment; targets & goals; and value chain engagement. This company received a CDP Water Security Score of B.
Source: CDP (2022)
This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 63/100 in the Food Products category of the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices (last updated 23 Sep 2022). The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.
Source: S&P Global (2022) |
This company sources palm oil from at least 20 of the 25 dirty palm oil producers identified in the 2018 Greenpeace report "The Final Countdown". In addition to deforestation, the 25 individual cases in the report include evidence of exploitation and social conflicts, illegal deforestation, development without permits, plantation development in areas zoned for protection and forest fires linked to land clearance.
Source: Greenpeace (2018)
Be Slavery Free's 2023 Chocolate Scorecard rates all the major chocolate companies on their labour and environmental policies and practices. Companies were asked questions in six areas: traceability and transparency; living income; child labor; deforestation and climate; agroforestry; and agrichemical management. This company received a red rating: "Needs to catch up with the industry".
Source: Be Slavery Free (2023)
In December 2021 Kellogg announced it is permanently replacing 1,400 workers who have been on strike since 5 October, a decision that comes as the majority of its cereal plant workforce rejected a deal that would have provided 3% raises. This followed months of bitter disagreement between the company and the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) International Union. Workers seek significant raises, saying they work 80-hour weeks. They are also protesting planned job cuts and offshoring, and a proposed two-tier system that gives newer workers at the plants less pay and fewer benefits.
Source: The Guardian (2021)
In 2018 volunteers collected and catalogued more than 187,000 pieces of trash from beach cleanups around the world to find out which corporations are contributing the most to the global plastic pollution problem. While not in the top 10, this company ranked as one of the world's worst plastic polluters.
Source: #breakfreefromplastic (2018)
In 2019 Rainforest Action Network (RAN) conducted a series of undercover investigations which showed that several major snack food producers, including this company, have been found purchasing palm oil from mills that have continued to source palm oil resulting from the illegal clearing of lowland rainforests within the nationally protected Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve in Indonesia. These mills are located immediately next to areas of illegal encroachment into the Leuser Ecosystem and lack the necessary procedures to trace the location where the palm oil they sell is grown, a key requirement for complying with the No Deforestation, No Peatlands, No Exploitation (NDPE) policy this company has publicly committed to.
Source: RAN (2019)
Forest 500 identifies the 350 companies and 150 financial institutions with the greatest exposure to tropical deforestation risk, and annually assesses them on the strength and implementation of their deforestation and human rights commitments. This company received a score of 35%.
Source: Forest 500 (2022)
A 2022 BBC News, Mongabay and the Gecko Project released a joint investigation that looked into a scheme that was intended to help lift millions of Indonesians out of poverty and cut them in on the spoils of the global palm oil boom, but has instead been plagued by allegations of exploitation and illegality. They identified 13 companies, including this one, that have sourced palm oil from producers alleged to have withheld plasma (a portion of large-scale plantations to be shared with local communities), or the profits from plasma, from Indonesian communities over the past eight years. The losses suffered across Indonesia by communities owed plasma could stretch into the hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Protests by local tribes over plasma are violently suppressed by Indonesian authorities.
Source: Mongabay (2022)
In 2021 this company agreed to pay US$13 million to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged Kellogg violated certain laws by labeling three of its cereals with certain nutritious statements even though plaintiffs alleged the products contained excessive amounts of sugar.
Source: Top Class Actions (2019)
In 2019 this company agreed to pay US$20 million to settle a class action lawsuit that claimed that they falsely advertised their sugar-filled cereals as healthy.
Source: Top Class Actions (2019)
While Mexico has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, certain micronutrient deficiencies, particularly iron deficiency, continue to be a public health concern. In response the Mexican government passed laws for the mandatory fortification of both wheat and maize the early 2000s. Changing Markets' 2019 report, 'Corn Fakes', exposes Kellogg's for reducing or removing two-thirds of essential micronutrients from their most popular breakfast cereal brands in Mexico since 2013. The report estimates that Kellogg's saves US$85 million over five years by removing key micronutrients, whilst the minimum cumulative social cost to Mexico for the removal of just three key nutrients - iron, calcium and folic acid - will be US$250 million over five years. This means for every dollar that Kellogg's saves by de-fortifying cereals it destroys at least three dollars in value to Mexican society.
Source: Changing Markets (2019)
Over the last 60 years farming has become dependent on the intensive use of chemicals. As You Sow's 2021 report, Pesticides in the Pantry, examines the growing risks posed by the use of synthetic pesticides in agricultural supply chains to food manufacturers, and scores companies on their efforts to reduce pesticide use in their supply chains. Scores ranged from 16 to 0, with an average score of 7.5. This company received a score of 10/27.
Source: As You Sow (2021) |
A 2016 report by Amnesty International found a range of labour rights abuses on the palm oil plantations operated by Wilmar's subsidiaries and suppliers in Indonesia. These abuses include worst forms of child labour, forced labour, discrimination against women workers, people being paid below the minimum wage, and workers suffering injuries from toxic chemicals. The report confirms that Kellogg's has a joint venture with, and sources palm oil from Wilmar. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
Source: Amnesty Intl (2016)
Named in Consumers International's International Bad Product Awards 2007. Key to Kellogg's success has been the use of some of the most persistent and persuasive marketing methods to children. Many of these products are breakfast cereals high in fat, sugar and/or salt. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
Source: Consumers International (2007)
Named in Consumers International's International Bad Product Awards 2008. Lego and Kellogg's came up with the idea of tapping into kids' love of Lego by releasing edible candy bricks made to look just like the real thing. It would seem they didn't realise that toddlers may mistake real Lego for their 'Fun Snacks'. It was discontinued soon afterwards (2008).
Source: Consumers International (2008)
In 2013 Kellogg agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over the marketing claims it made for Frosted Mini-Wheats. The company was sued for saying that the cereal improved children's attentiveness, memory and other cognitive functions.
Source: news article (2013)
GMO Inside Campaign has called for a boycott of Kellogg's products for Kellogg's pro Genetically Engineered stance. Kellogg was a key player in the introduction of GMO Sugar in the USA in 2008.
Source: GMO Inside Coalition (2013)
Testing commissioned by As You Sow found potentially harmful nanoparticles in Pop-Tarts. Nanomaterials have undergone little or no safety testing. Research shows that these tiny particles are so small that they can easily penetrate cell walls and slip into organs, including the brain, with infants and children particularly susceptible.
Source: As You Sow (2013)
This company received a score of 47.9/100 in the Newsweek Green Ranking 2017, which ranks the world's largest publicly traded companies on eight indicators covering energy, greenhouse gases, water, waste, fines and penalties, linking executive pay to sustainability targets, board-level committee oversight of environmental issues and third-party audits. Ranking methodology by Corporate Knights and HIP Investor.
Source: Newsweek (2017)
This company has products rated RED in the Centre for Food Safety's True Food Shopper's Guide (USA). Products on the RED list contain ingredients that come from the most common GE crops (corn, soy, canola, cotton). Companies with products on this list have confirmed that their products may have or are likely to be made with GE ingredients, or have not denied using GE foods when given the opportunity to do so.
Source: Center for Food Safety USA (2018)
In 2019 the median pay for a worker at this company was US$38,895. The CEO was paid 249 times this amount. Exorbitant CEO pay is a major contributor to rising inequality. CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are increasing productivity or possess specific, high-demand skills. The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less (or taxed more). In contrast, the CEO-to-typical-worker compensation ratio was 20-to-1 in 1965 and 58-to-1 in 1989.
Source: AFL-CIO (2020)
As listed on the We Mean Business website, this company has committed to the following climate action initiatives: adopt a science-based emissions reduction target; responsible corporate engagement in climate policy; commit to 100% renewable power.
Source: We Mean Business (2021)
This company is a member of the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex), a not-for-profit, membership organisation that leads work with buyers and suppliers to deliver improvements in responsible and ethical business practices in global supply chains. Tens of thousands of companies use Sedex to manage their performance around labour rights, health & safety, the environment and business ethics.
Source: Sedex (2018)
This company is a member of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, the main food industry initiative supporting the development of sustainable agriculture worldwide. Created by Nestle, Unilever and Danone in 2002, the SAI Platform is a non-profit organization to facilitate sharing, at precompetitive level, of knowledge and initiatives to support the development and implementation of sustainable agriculture practices involving the different stakeholders of the food chain.
Source: SAI Platform (2019)
This company has been issuing Corporate Responsibility Reports since 2008. Click link below to view report, or to see Kellogg's other corporate responsibility claims.
Source: company website (2020)
This company is a signatory to the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, whose goal is to eliminate plastic pollution at its source.
Source: New Plastics Economy (2022)
This company is a member of How2Recycle. The How2Recycle Label is a voluntary, standardized labeling system that clearly communicates recycling instructions to the public. It involves a coalition of forward thinking brands who want their packaging to be recycled and are empowering consumers through smart packaging labels. Companies must be a member of the program to use the How2Recycle Label.
Source: How2Recycle (2023)
In May 2014 Oxfam singled out Kellogg and General Mills as two of the worst food companies on climate and called on them to lead the sector towards more responsible policies and practices. In August 2014, following public pressure, Oxfam welcomed Kellogg's climate action commitment to take industry-leading steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions in its agricultural supply chains in line with climate science.
Source: Oxfam (2014)
As You Sow's 2021 Corporate Plastic Pollution Scorecard ranks companies on plastic packaging pollution. The study measures the progress of 50 large companies in the beverage, quick-service restaurant, consumer packaged goods, and retail sectors on six core pillars where swift action is needed to reduce plastic pollution: 1) Packaging Design, 2) Reusable Packaging, 3) Recycled Content, 4) Public Data Transparency, 5) Support for Recycling, and 6) Producer Responsibility. This company received a grade of C
Source: As You Sow (2021)
California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
Source: company website (2015)
OpenSecrets.org tracks the influence of money on U.S. politics, and how that money affects policy and citizens' lives. Follow link to see this company's record of political donations, lobbying, outside spending and more.
Source: Open Secrets (2020)
JUST Capital polls Americans every year to identify the issues that matter most in defining just business behaviour. For their 2023 rankings JUST Capital asked a representative sample of 3,002 Americans to compare 20 different business Issues on a head-to-head basis, producing a reliable hierarchy of Issues ranked in order of priority. Issues are organised under the headings Workers, Customers, Communities, the Environment, or Shareholders & Governance. JUST Capital then define metrics that map to those issues and track and analyse the largest, publicly traded U.S. companies. This analysis powers their rankings, in which this company ranked 389th of 951 companies, and 10th of 31 Food, Beverage & Tobacco companies.
Source: JUST Capital (2023) |
Company Details
Type | Wholly-owned subsidiary |
Revenue | 431 million AUD (2018) |
Employees | 420 (2018) |
Aus Manufacturing | Yes |
Subsidiaries | Specialty Cereals Pty Ltd ![]() Cereal manufacturer Specialty Cereals was bought by Kellogg Australia in Sept 2008. Cerevite was later discontinued. |
Contact Details
Address | 41-51 Wentworth Ave, Pagewood, NSW, 2019, Australia |
Phone | 02 9384 5555 |
Freecall | 1800 000 474 |
Website | www.kellogg.com.au |
Products / Brands
Kellogg Australia
Be Natural Muesli & Oats Be Natural Muesli Bars Be Natural Health Bars Be Natural Cereal Bear Naked Muesli & Oats Bear Naked Muesli Bars Kellogg's Breakfast On the Go Kelloggs Cereal |
Kelloggs Muesli Bars Kelloggs Muesli & Oats LCMs Muesli Bars Nutri-Grain Breakfast On the Go Pringles Chips/Crisps Sunibrite Muesli Bars |
Specialty Cereals
Vogel's Cereal Vogel's Muesli & Oats |