#WBD Blog
Aug 15, 2025
Cheez-it launches in the UK
Cheez-It, the iconic American snack brand, made its highly anticipated UK debut in 2024 after years of anticipation. Kellanova brought Cheez-It to UK markets the of its Snap’d range. The UK version was specially reformulated for European tastes, featuring an extra thin, crispy texture and distinct flavours to appeal to European customer taste preferences, while maintaining the brand’s signature appeal of being baked with 100% real cheese and a combination of wheat, corn and potatoes.
The UK launch represented a significant investment and strategic expansion for Kellanova. By September 2024, Cheez-It snacks were available in nearly 7,000 grocery stores in the UK and Ireland launching initially with two flavours: Cheese & Chilli and Double Cheese. The significant launch marketing campaign was designed to introduce British consumers to what the brand calls the “Cheez-Hit” experience.
“When we became Kellanova in October 2023, we said we wanted to become a snacking powerhouse, and bringing our hero US Cheez-It brand to the UK is demonstrative of this ambition,” said Chris Silcock, managing director of Kellanova in United Kingdom and Ireland.
“Great taste is the No. 1 category driver, and we believe by launching a large-scale NPD that delivers on taste, we can provide more choice to shoppers, help increase their repertoire, and drive overall category growth. That’s why we believe Cheez-It offers retailers of all shapes and sizes a compelling, differentiated product that will be backed by a heavyweight marketing plan. While this is a new product and brand here in the UK, the trade this side of the ‘pond’ can have confidence in Cheez-It — after all, it’s a billion-dollar brand in America.”
The UK snack category is hyper-competitive, packed with powerhouse brands and increasingly good quality own label alternatives. There are multiple flavour and format innovations launched every year. You must run to stand still and winning is hard graft.
So, entering it with a new brand and an ambition to become a mainstream player of scale – fast – is a challenging task. The fact that Cheez-It is an American classic is interesting, but not enough on its own to guarantee success. But this is #WhatBrandsDo. Most big brands reach a point where geographic expansion, new markets and new consumers becomes essential to continued growth. We love this because:
- Rather than imagine UK consumers would just swallow the US product and flavours, they undertook serious insight and product testing research to optimise the product for local tastes without changing the brand core.
- They invested like they meant it. For the long, not just the short. Launching brands requires commitment.
- The communications are designed to capture attention in the UK market and establish a memorable brand.
- As the results demonstrate, the route to market plan was big, bold and ambitious. No point in advertising if no-one can find your grab bags.
This is great work from Kellanova.
