👉 Background: Mars is the global snack food company that was started in the US in 1911 and owns various brands including brands like Mars bars, Milky Way, M&M’s, Skittles, Snickers, and Wrigleys.

👉 What happened: Now, Mars is understood to be exploring an acquisition of Kellanova, which used to be called Kelloggs, the company behind Pringles and popular cereal brands like Special K, Coco Pops, Sultana Bran. And if this deal goes through, it would be the biggest deal in the history of both companies.

👉 What else: The news of this potential deal sent Kellanova’s shares up a massive 20%.And this comes at a time when the snack food industry is battling low consumer demand due to the cost-of-living squeeze and also the rise of weight-loss drugs.

What's the key learning?

💡Competitors can be found in the unlikeliest of places.

💡Companies compete against other companies in the same industry for market share like Mars, Kellanova, Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, competing against each other. But with the rise of weight loss drugs like Ozempic, some customers are substituting snack foods for appetite-suppressing weight-loss drugs.

💡In fact, consumers using appetite-suppressing drugs have seen a decrease in grocery spending between 6%-9%, with snacks taking the biggest hit. So with a new unexpected challenger rivalling snack food companies, it’s no wonder they’re finding ways to join forces.