Weekly "Focus" and Pop Tarts

When I was younger, I certainly loved eating Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts. This “innovative” breakfast food and after-school snack was a staple in our home; right out of the box was preferred over the toasted version. And who could eat just one!

 

 

Pop-Tarts were in the news as William Post, considered one of the inventors of Pop-Tarts, died this week at the age of 96. Fun fact – the inspiration for this new food was to come up with a variation of jam on toast. Pop-Tarts are now produced by Kellanova, formerly known as Kellogg’s (not sure I like the new name) and a box of 8 pastries goes for about $3 (on sale at Loblaws). Besides Pop-Tarts, the company is known for other products such as Frosted Flakes and Special K cereals, Nutri-Grain bars, and Rice Krispie Treats. Companies considered as “staples” had stellar stock market returns at the outset of the Pandemic as consumers stocked up but more recently their returns have been mixed.

 

	Total Return in 2024	Dividend Yield
Campbell Soup (CPB)	-3.6%	3.6%
Coca-Cola (KO)	+0.9%	3.3%
Colgate-Palmolive (CL)	+5.9%	2.3%
General Mills (GIS)	-0.7%	3.7%
Kellanova (K)	-0.3%	4.0%
Kraft Heinz (KHC)	-5.4%	4.6%
Mondelez International (MDLZ)	-0.8%	2.4%
PepsiCo (PEP)	-1.7%	3.0%
Proctor & Gamble (PG)	+8.6%	2.4%

Source: FactSet

 

This week’s "Focus" from our economics team is attached.

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Brad

Senior Portfolio Manager and Senior Investment Advisor