Other than waffles, Eggo also produces a selection of pancakes, French toast, and egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, of which varieties include ham or sausage.
By mid-June 2009, Eggo had a 73% share of the frozen waffle market in the United States.[2]
History
Eggo waffles were invented in 1953 by the American inventor Frank Dorsa, who developed a process by which waffles could be cooked, frozen, and packaged for consumers. Along with frozen waffles, the Dorsa brothers also produced Eggo potato chips (and Golden Bear potato chips) and Eggo syrup.
All of the products were produced at a sprawling plant and factory on Eggo Way in San Jose, California, near the intersection of US 101 and East Julian Street. The Dorsas were very involved in local community activities and donated extensively to school and community projects. For Halloween, instead of candy, Tony Dorsa would give out bags of Eggo potato chips to trick-or-treaters.
In 1968, as a means of diversification, the Kellogg Company purchased Eggo.[3] Their advertising slogan—"L'eggo my Eggo"—developed by Leo Burnett in 1972 is well known through their television commercials.[4] Due to similarity between the contraction leggo and the product name LEGO, in the later 2000s Kellogg's collaborated with The Lego Group to produce Eggo waffles shaped like LEGO bricks.[5]
Kellogg's produces an Eggo brand breakfast cereal that was shaped to have the likeness of waffles. Flavors include maple syrup and cinnamon toast. It was originally produced from 2006 to 2012, but after a popular campaign was reintroduced in 2019.
In 2016, the Netflix series Stranger Things featured Eggo waffles as a key story theme bringing the brand to global attention beyond the countries where the brand is sold. In the show, they are the favorite food of the character Eleven.[6] In 2020, Eggo won the Lausanne Index Prize - Best Product of the Year.[7]
^Belsie, Laurent (November 17, 2009). "Eggo waffles facing shortage until mid-2010". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2022. In recent years, Kellogg has expanded its Eggo line, including Lego-shaped Eggos, and seen continued growth in its health-conscious waffle offering, the Nutri-Grain Eggo.
