ByGiacomo Tognini
ByGiacomo Tognini,
Forbes Staff.
W
hen Italian candy and food giant Ferrero announced it would acquire WK Kellogg— the cereal maker behind Froot Loops and Corn Flakes—for $3.1 billion on Thursday, it wasn’t just one of the largest deals in the food industry in the past year. It also marked the crowning achievement of Giovanni Ferrero, the billionaire executive chairman and majority owner of his family’s company, who has led a decade-long campaign to evolve his Italian brand well beyond European chocolate treats and turn it into a food powerhouse in the United States.
