Six years after W.K. Kellogg introduced his Corn Flakes, C.W. Post brought his version of the cereal onto the market. He gave it an unfortunate name, though. Originally called Elijah’s Manna, referring to the edible substance God gave the Israelites in the desert, Post renamed the cereal Post Toasties under pressure from religious groups.
Kellogg’s accused Post of stealing the formula for corn flakes after staying at the sanitarium run by W.K. Kellogg’s brother. Kellogg instituted a copyright violation lawsuit against Post — without success, since the Toasties’ recipe was sufficiently different from Kellogg’s. When Kellogg’s began wrapping its cereal boxes with waxed paper to keep the product fresh, Post copied the idea and improved on it by adding an inner bag.
Post Toasties was a long-time competitor to Kellogg’s but ultimately dropped out of the race, ceasing production in 2016.
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