Morningstar Farms

Morningstar Farms was originally a line of plant-based meat products offered by Worthington Foods, and is now a subsidiary of Kellogg. In 1970, Miles acquired Worthington Foods, and as a result, acquired Morningstar Farms. In 1977, Bayer purchased Miles and gained control over product lines being offered by Morningstar farms. On October 2, 1999, Kellogg purchased Worthington Foods Inc., for $307 million. At the time of purchase, Kellogg claimed that Worthington Foods controlled over 50% of the market for meat alternatives in the United States.

The soy-based meat alternatives offered by Morningstar Farms were some of the first meat alternatives made with soy that were offered nationwide in the United States. Morningstar Farms first product line of soy-based meat alternatives went on sale in stores across the United States in 1975.

Three breakfast soy-based meat alternatives were introduced to stores across the United States a year earlier in 1974, these products were: Breakfast links, Breakfast Patties, and Breakfast Slices. Despite over 10 million Americans buying products in Morningstar Farms breakfast line, the company reported $33 million in pretax losses 18 months after product launch.