Kellanova is leaning into technology as it aims to optimize its supply chain under a new business strategy. The Cheez-It maker’s chief information officer Leslie Salmon said in a press release the company is focusing on both boosting the company’s internal operations and improving the consumer experience through the use of five tech strategies.
- The company plans to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to forecast demand and control its inventory. It will also use generative AI to craft recommendations for its consumers.
- As e-commerce grows among consumers, Kellanova plans to improve its online platforms for direct-to-consumer sales based on personalized marketing and recommended products based on consumer data.
- The company is improving its “digital supply chain” by creating replicas of its processes in its manufacturing operations, using devices like Smart sensors in order to ensure quality control, according to the press release.
- On the corporate side, the company will use digital tools like Microsoft Copilot for better collaboration between its global workforce.
- Finally, Kellanova intends to enhance its data analytics to better reach its consumers as it expands its portfolio. Salmon pointed to the creation of Pringles Harvest Blends — a better-for-you variety of the chip containing multigrains and sweet potatoes that launched last summer — as an example of how the company can glean desires from its consumers to fuel new product creation.
The new strategies come four months after the company spun off its cereal business into WK Kellogg Co, which is now a separate company. Kellanova, which projects sales between $13.4 and $13.6 billion in 2024, is pinning its growth potential on its biggest snacking brands, particularly Pringles and Cheez-It. The company intends to make the former a $4 billion brand, CEO Steve Cahillane told Wall Street Investors last fall.
The use applications of AI are expanding for food and beverage companies as they look to cut costs amid an uncertain economic environment, from developing new product formulations to boosting their marketing.
