United Kingdom: The man behind the iconic toaster pastry Pop-Tarts, William ‘Bill’ Post has died at 96. Pop was a plant manager for the Michigan-based Hekman Biscuit Company, later known as Keebler Company, when Kellogg’s asked the company to create a unique breakfast product.
The creator of Pop-Tarts started his career as a part-time worker washing trucks at Heckman while he was still in high school. After serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II in occupied Japan, Post returned to the company and worked his way up the corporate ladder. When Kellogg’s executives approached Pop, he was working as a personal manager and had experience in all aspects of the business, including sales and production.
According to Kellanova, the executives came up with an idea “like a piece of pie, the shape of a slice of bread, fork marks around the edge, two pieces of dough with some filling in” to put in a toaster. Post brought the idea to life and transformed it into a tangible product. As per Post’s obituary statements, “It is at this juncture that Bill is often credited for having ‘invented’ the Pop Tart.”
However, to be precise, Bill would say that, “I assembled an amazing team that developed Kellogg’s concept of a shelf-stable toaster pastry in a fine product that we could bring to market in the span of just four months.”
The toaster pastry first debuted in 1964 with four original flavours, including strawberry, blueberry, brown sugar cinnamon, and apple-currant. 60 years later, Pop-Tarts remain a customer favourite, with approximately 3 billion sold in 2022.
In 1967, Post began working at Keebler’s in Illinois. He retired as a senior vice president at 56 but remained a consultant for the next 20 years as requested by Kellogg’s.
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