Britain’s favourite cereal was created here in Manchester

It was created in Manchester over four decades ago – and it now holds the title of Britain’s favourite cereal.

Today, 24th September, Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut is celebrating 40 years since it was first launched back in 1980.

The honey covered cereal was dreamt up more than four decades ago at Kellogg’s Manchester factory – now the biggest cereal factory in Europe.

Today, the factory makes around 20 million kilograms of Crunchy Nut each year, and you’ll find 6,000 flakes in the average box.

Each year, Kellogg’s Manchester factory uses 1.2 billion individual peanuts to make the famous cereal and, since the product was first launch 40 years ago, it’s got through around 70 million kilograms of honey.

In 2002, the cereal went from Crunchy Nut Cornflakes to simply ‘Crunchy Nut’, and today, it’s Kellogg’s biggest brand in the UK.

With more than one in four homes across the country admitting to having at least one box of Crunchy Nut in their cupboards, we buy over 38 million boxes of the cereal every year.

Due to the demand, 17 years ago Kellogg’s expanded its offering to include Crunchy Nut Clusters, and in July this year, the Crunchy Nut family grew again as the brand launched Crunchy Nut Peanut Butter.

Many people see Crunchy Nut in the supermarket or have it on their breakfast table and might not know that it was invented in Manchester and continues to be made there today,” says Dan Fox, who oversees the production of the cereal.

“I’ve been working at Kellogg’s factory overseeing the production of Crunchy Nut for the past 14 years and in every single batch we make, we check the flakes for that trademark golden crunch.

“Our team make almost 600,000 boxes of the cereal every week and we hope we’ll be making even more for years to come.’’

Barbara Evans, Kellogg’s retiree who worked at the factory in 1980, commented: “There was always a bit of a buzz at the factory when we started to make a new cereal, but when we started making Crunchy Nut it was like nothing else.

“Even back then you could tell how popular it was going to be so I’m not at all surprised that it’s still around all these years later celebrating its 40th anniversary.’’