• Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Monday, June 4, 2012 10:45 AM

Minneapolis-based Malt-O-Meal has made big sales gains in a mature market by making knockoffs of brands like Fruit Loops and selling it cheaper: its Tootie Fruities bear a striking resemblance to Froot Loops. Honey Nut Scooters could pass for Honey Nut Cheerios. Malt-O-Meal, recently became MOM Brands, and has benefited by offering a value proposition versus General Mills and Kellogg. "Once people try us, we have a very loyal group of consumers," said Chris Neugent, MOM Brands' chief executive. Between 2001 and 2011, Malt-O-Meal's annual sales climbed from $300 million to about $750 million. In 2009, it opened a cereal factory in North Carolina, a $275 million project. And over the past decade, it has spent $100 million boosting production capacity and efficiency at a big cereal plant in Northfield, Minn.

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