Feb. 14 (UPI) — William “Bill” Post, the retired Keebler Co. executive who is acknowledged as the inventor of the Pop-Tart, has died at 96.
Post was a plant manager for the Hekman Biscuit Co., which later became Keebler, and was approached by breakfast foods leader Kellogg’s about developing an idea for a new breakfast pastry that could be used in the toaster.
He died Feb. 10.
Post, who had worked in all parts of the business by age 21, took the rough idea turned it into a product and had it on shelves in less than six months. Pop-Tarts were an instant hit in 1964 and remain a top-selling breakfast item today.
“To be accurate, however, Bill would say, ‘I assembled an amazing team that developed Kellogg’s concept of a shelf-stable-toaster pastry into a fine product that we could bring to market in the span of just four months,'” Post’s obituary said.
The creation of Pop-Tarts was one of the driving forces that led Kellogg’s to eventually purchase Keebler and make it one of its enduring subsidiaries.
Post washed trucks at Hekman in Michigan out of high school and when he returned from World War II from serving in the Army Air Corp., the forerunner of the Air Force, he started climbing the corporate ladder.
Post would eventually move to Illinois to work in Keebler’s corporate headquarters until he retired as senior vice president at 56. He developed a personal relationship with Kellogg’s executive William LaMothe and went on to serve as a consultant for the cereal leader for 20 years after retirement.
