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Kraft Foods Inc. was a multinational confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It marketed many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earned more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU,
Maxwell House Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the ...
,
Milka Milka is a brand of chocolate confectionery, originally made in Switzerland in 1901 by Suchard. It has then been produced in Lörrach, Germany for the past 100 years. Since 2012 it has been owned by US-based company Mondelez International, when ...
,
Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco's ...
,
Oreo Oreo () (stylized as OREO) is a brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two biscuits or cookie pieces with a sweet creme filling. It was introduced by Nabisco on March 6, 1912, and through a series of corporate acquisitions, mergers and split ...
, Oscar Mayer,
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
,
Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other mari ...
, and Tang. Forty of its brands were at least a century old. The company was headquartered in
Northfield, Illinois Northfield is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located approximately north of downtown Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village's population was 5,751. It is part of a collection of upscale residential communities north of ...
, near
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. Kraft was listed on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
and became a component of the
Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity inde ...
on September 22, 2008, replacing the
American International Group American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. , AIG companies employed 49,600 people.https://www.aig.com/content/dam/aig/amer ...
. In August 2011, the company announced plans to split into a North American grocery products business and a faster-growing global snacks company. The snack company,
Mondelez International Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding and beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26 billion and operates in ...
Inc. is recognized as Kraft Foods' legal successor, while the grocery company was named
Kraft Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arran ...
, now a part of
Kraft Heinz The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC), commonly known as Kraft Heinz, is an American multinational food company formed by the merger of Kraft Foods and Heinz co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Kraft Heinz is the third-largest food and beverage ...
.


History


Origin of the firm

Kraft Foods traced its roots to the National Dairy Products Corporation, formed on December 10, 1923, by Thomas H. McInerney and Edward E. Rieck. The firm was initially set up to execute on a rollup strategy in the fragmented United States
ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
industry. Through acquisitions it expanded into a full range of dairy products. By 1930 it was the largest dairy company in the United States and the world, exceeding Borden. McInnerney operated the Hydrox Corporation, an ice cream company located in Chicago, Illinois. In 1923 he went to Wall Street to convince
investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...
s there to finance his scheme for consolidating the United States ice cream industry. He initially found " hard sledding" with one banker saying the dairy industry "lacked dignity". He persevered and convinced a consortium including Goldman Sachs and
Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, a ...
to finance a roll-up strategy. As a result of his efforts, National Dairy Products Corporation was formed in 1923 in a merger of McInnerney's Hydrox with Rieck McJunkin Dairy Co of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The resulting firm was then listed on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
with the offer of 125,000 shares having been oversubscribed. The firm grew quickly through a large number of acquisitions. As is typical in a roll-up strategy, acquisitions were primarily for stock in National rather than cash. National Dairy Products Corporation acquired more than 55 firms between 1923 and 1931, with a few notable entities among those:


Beginnings for Kraft

Born in Stevensville,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada in 1874, James L. Kraft
immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in 1903 and started a
wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...
door-to-door Door-to-door is a canvassing technique that is generally used for sales, marketing, advertising, evangelism or campaigning, in which the person or persons walk from the door of one house to the door of another, trying to sell or advertise a pro ...
cheese business in Chicago; its first year of operations was "dismal", losing US$3,000 and a horse. However, the business took hold and Kraft was joined by his four brothers to form J.L. Kraft and Bros. Company in 1909. As early as 1911, circulars and advertisements were in use by the company. In 1912, the company established its New York City, headquarters to prepare for its international expansion. By 1914, thirty-one varieties of cheeses were being sold around the U.S. because of heavy
product development In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market, renewing an existing product or introducing a product in a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design, along w ...
, expansion by
marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
, and opening a wholly owned cheese
factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...
in Stockton, Illinois. In 1915, the company had invented
pasteurized Pasteurization American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mi ...
processed cheese Processed cheese (also known as process cheese, cheese food, prepared cheese, cheese product, or plastic cheese) is a food product made from cheese and unfermented dairy ingredients mixed with emulsifiers. Additional ingredients, such as vegeta ...
that did not need
refrigeration The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...
, thus giving a longer
shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a ...
than conventional cheese. The process was
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
ed in 1916 and about six million pounds of the product were sold to the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
for military rations during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. In 1916, the company began national advertising and had made its first acquisition—a Canadian cheese company. In 1924, the company changed its name to Kraft Cheese Company and listed on the Chicago Stock Exchange. In 1926, it was listed on the NYSE. The firm then began to consolidate the United States dairy industry through acquisition, in competition with National and Borden. Firms acquired included: in May 1926 the Kraft Walker Cheese Co. was registered in Australia. It was a separate company from Fred Walker & Co. but managed by the same staff. Fred Walker was chairman by 1930, and after his death in July 1935, Kraft acquired the company. Later, in 1927, it established its London, United Kingdom, and
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
, Germany, sales offices—its first forays outside North America. Sales for 1927 were $60.4m. In 1928, it acquired Phenix Cheese Company, the maker of a
cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Stabilizers such as carob bean gum and carrageenan are often added in industrial production. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration de ...
branded as Philadelphia cream cheese, founded by Jason F. Whitney, Sr. and the company changed its name to Kraft-Phenix Cheese Company. In 1929, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' reported that Kraft Phenix,
The Hershey Company The Hershey Company, commonly known as Hershey's, is an American multinational company and one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. It also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milksh ...
and Colgate were looking at merging. In the same year, it was reported that National, Borden and Standard Brands (a firm that is now part of Kraft Foods) were all looking at acquiring the firm. By 1930, it had captured forty percent of the cheese market in the U.S. and was the third largest dairy company in the United States after National Dairy and Borden.


Post National acquisition of Kraft-Phenix

At the time of the acquisition in 1930, National Dairy had sales of $315m compared with $85m for Kraft Phenix. National Dairy management ran the combined business. Following the Kraft-Phenix acquisition, the firm continued to be called National Dairy until 1969 when it changed its name to Kraftco. Historically, all of the firm's sales came from dairy products. However, the firm's product lines began to diversify away from dairy products to caramel candies, macaroni and cheese dinners and margarines. From the 1950s onward, the firm began to move away from low value added commodity dairy products, such as fluid milk. This trend would continue for the firm, through neglect and divestiture, until the primary remaining dairy product produced by the firm would be cheese. As a result, the modern history of the firm emphasizes the cheese history. In 1933, the company began marketing by radio sponsorship. In 1935, the Sealtest brand of ice cream was launched as a unified national brand to replace the firm's numerous regional brands. During World War II, the company sent four million pounds of cheese to Britain weekly. Product development and advertising helped the company to grow during the postwar years, launching sliced process cheese and Cheez Whiz, a brand of process cheese sauce, in the 1950s. During these years, Thomas McInnerney, National Dairy's founder, and James L. Kraft, Kraft's founder, died, and at the end of the decade, the divisions became less autonomous and even diversified to the glass-packaging business with the acquisition of Metro Glass in 1956. In 1947, the company tested the marketing power of the emerging medium of television by producing an hour-long drama/anthology series, the Kraft Television Theatre. The product advertised on the program, ''MacLaren's Imperial Cheese'', was selected because "... t hadnot only had no advertising appropriation whatsoever, but had not even been distributed for several years." As described by internal documents of J. Walter Thompson—the advertising firm which conceived of the marketing test—the result was "although there was no other advertising support for it whatsoever, still grocery stores could not keep up with the demand." In the 1960s, product development became intense, launching fruit jellies, fruit preserves, marshmallows, barbecue sauces and ''Kraft Singles'', a brand of individually wrapped cheese slices. During this decade, the company also expanded in many markets worldwide. In 1961, the firm acquired Dominion Dairies of Canada, marking the first effort by the firm to expand into fluid milk and ice cream outside the United States. In the same year it also acquired The Southern Oil Company in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, England.


National Dairy becomes Kraft

In 1969, the firm changed its name from National Dairy to Kraftco Corporation. The reason for the name change was given at the time: "Expansion and innovation have taken us far afield from the regional milk and ice cream business we started with in 1923. Dollar sales of these original products have remained relatively static over the past ten years and, in 1969 accounted for approximately 25% of our sales." At the same time, the firm transferred to Glenview, Illinois, in 1972. In 1976, its name changed to Kraft, Inc. to emphasize the trademark the company had been known for and as a result of the fact that dairy, other than cheese, was now only a minor part of the company's sales. Reorganization also occurred after the name change.


Dart merger

In 1980, Kraft merged with Dart Industries—makers of the Duracell brand of batteries,
Tupperware Tupperware is an American home products line that includes preparation, storage, and serving products for the kitchen and home. In 1942, Earl Tupper developed his first bell-shaped container; the brand products were introduced to the public in 1 ...
brand of plastic containers, West Bend brand of
home appliance A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation. Appliances are divided into three ...
s, Wilsonart brand of plastics and Thatcher glass—to form Dart & Kraft. During the 1980s, Dart & Kraft offered mixed results to its shareholders, as new acquisitions in the food business—such as Churny premium cheeses, Lender's Bagels, Frusen Gladje ice cream and Celestial Seasonings tea—slightly offset the lagging nonfood business—Tupperware's decrease in sales and
KitchenAid KitchenAid is an American home appliance brand owned by Whirlpool Corporation. The company was started in 1919 by The Hobart Manufacturing Company to produce stand mixers; the "H-5" was the first model introduced. The company faced competition a ...
's (acquired soon after the merger) slide in market share—leading Dart & Kraft to spin off its nonfood business (except Duracell batteries) into a new entity ( Premark International, Inc.) while changing its name back to Kraft, Inc. Premark was bought by
Illinois Tool Works Illinois Tool Works Inc. or ITW is an American Fortune 200 company that produces engineered fasteners and components, equipment and consumable systems, and specialty products. It was founded in 1912 by Byron L. Smith and has built its growth on ...
in 1999. In 1988, Kraft sold Duracell to private equity firm
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...
, who then put it into an
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
in 1989. Gillette bought Duracell in 1996, and itself was acquired by
Procter and Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...
in 2005.


Philip Morris acquisition and merger with

General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporate ...

At the end of 1988, Philip Morris Companies purchased Kraft for $12.9 billion. In 1989, Kraft merged with Philip Morris's General Foods unit—makers of Oscar Mayer meats,
Maxwell House Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the ...
coffee,
Jell-O Jell-O is an American brand offering a variety of powdered gelatin dessert (fruit-flavored gels/jellies), pudding, and no-bake cream pie mixes. The original gelatin dessert ( genericized as jello) is the signature of the brand. "Jell-O" is a ...
gelatin, Budget Gourmet frozen dinners, Entenmann's baked goods,
Kool-Aid Kool-Aid is an American brand of flavored drink mix owned by Kraft Heinz based in Chicago, Illinois. The powder form was created by Edwin Perkins in 1927 based upon a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. History Kool-Aid was invented by ...
, Crystal Light and Tang powdered beverage mixes,
Post Cereals Post Consumer Brands (previously Post Cereals and Postum Cereals; also known as simply "Post") is an American breakfast cereal manufacturer headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota. The company, founded in 1895 by C. W. Post, owns a large portfoli ...
,
Shake 'n Bake Shake 'n Bake is a seasoned bread crumb coating originally marketed to mimic the flavor and texture of Southern fried chicken. Introduced in 1965 by General Foods, it is currently made under the Kraft Heinz brand. Concept Shake 'n Bake provide ...
flavored coatings and numerous other packaged foods—as Kraft General Foods. Its aggressive product development was reversed after the merger, as it became slow in addressing issues on its product lines due to its size, and also company politics. In 1990, the company acquired Jacobs Suchard (a European coffee and confectionery giant) and Freia Marabou (a Scandinavian confectionery maker) to expand overseas as its business was heavily dependent on the U.S. In 1993, it acquired RJR Nabisco's cold cereal business (mainly Shredded Wheat and Shreddies cereals) while selling its Breyers ice-cream division to
Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...
and its
Birds Eye Birds Eye is an American international brand of frozen foods owned by Conagra Brands in the United States, by Nomad Foods in Europe, and Simplot in Australia. The former Birds Eye Company Ltd., originally named "Birdseye Seafood, Inc." had b ...
unit to
Dean Foods Dean Foods was an American food and beverage company and the largest dairy company in the United States. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company maintained plants and distributors in the United States. Dean Foods had 66 manufacturing faciliti ...
. In 1994, it sold its frozen dinners unit to H.J. Heinz and in 1995, it sold its foodservice unit. In 1995, it changed its name to the present name, Kraft Foods. The same year, it sold its bakery division (except Lender's Bagels, which was sold in 1996 to
Kellogg Company The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toas ...
), its candy division and its tablespreads division. Log Cabin
syrup In cooking, a syrup (less commonly sirup; from ar, شراب; , beverage, wine and la, sirupus) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars ...
was sold in 1997. On August 2, 1996, Kraft announced a deal with PepsiCo to market the
Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includin ...
brand of grocery products. As of 2007, Philip Morris (now Altria Inc.) had sold its stake in Kraft foods and the two companies are no longer affiliated.


Financial expansion

In 2000, Philip Morris (renamed Altria in 2003) acquired Nabisco Holdings for $18.9 billion and merged the company with Kraft Foods the same year. In 2001, Philip Morris sold 280 million Kraft shares via the third-largest IPO of all time, retaining an 88.1% stake in the company. In 2004, it sold its sugar confectionery division to Wrigley, while doing minor divestitures—including its hot cereals division (
Cream of Wheat Cream of Wheat is an American brand of farina, a type of breakfast porridge mix made from wheat middlings. It looks similar to grits, but is smoother in texture since it is made with ground wheat kernels instead of ground corn. It was first ...
) to
B&G Foods B&G Foods is an American branded foods holding company based in Parsippany, New Jersey. The company was formed in 1996 to acquire Bloch & Guggenheimer, a Manhattan-based producer of pickles, relish and condiments which had been founded in 1889. ...
in 2007, its pet snacks division (
Milk-Bone Milk-Bone is a brand of dog biscuit. It was created in 1908 by the F.H. Bennett Biscuit Company, which operated a bakery on the Lower East Side of New York City. Originally named "Maltoid", the biscuit was a bone-shaped treat made from minerals, ...
) to
Del Monte Foods Del Monte Foods, Inc (trading as Del Monte Foods) is an American food production and distribution company headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. Del Monte Foods is one of the country's largest producers, distributors and marketer of br ...
in 2006, juice drinks and Fruit2o to
Sunny Delight Beverages Sunny Delight Beverages Co. is the creator of SunnyD, formally known as Sunny Delight. It spun off from Procter & Gamble in 2004. The company is owned by Harvest Hill Beverage Company. History The original predecessor of Sunny Delight Beve ...
in 2007 and some grocery brands in 2006. In 2006, the company bought Southern European business of United Biscuits, gaining several local brands such as Galletas Fontanenda. Investor
Nelson Peltz Nelson Peltz (born June 24, 1942) is an American billionaire businessman and investor. He is a founding partner, together with Peter W. May and Edward P. Garden, of Trian Fund Management, an alternative investment management fund based in New Yor ...
bought a three-percent stake at Kraft Foods and was talking with the executives on revitalizing the business, with options such as buying
Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was t ...
fast-food chain or selling off
Post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...
cereals and
Maxwell House Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the ...
coffee. On January 31, 2007, after months of speculation, the company announced that its 88.1% stake would be spun off to Altria shareholders at the end of March 2007, giving each approximately 0.7 shares of Kraft for each share of Altria they owned. Kraft became an independent publicly held company. In July 2007, the company bought
Groupe Danone A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches o ...
's biscuit (cookie) and cereal division for $7.2 billion, including iconic French biscuit brand Lefèvre-Utile. While two years earlier firestorms of protest had arisen over plans for American PepsiCo's hostile takeover of the French company, Kraft's announcement was not met with the same protests, in part because Kraft agreed not to close French factories and keep the new merged divisions headquarters near Paris for at least three years. In November 2007, Kraft agreed to sell its cereal unit to Ralcorp Holdings, a major private-label food maker, for $2.6 billion in a form of a spin-off merger. This would add 50% to Ralcorp's sales, to $3.3 billion, and will be used for Kraft's debt payment, which was at $13.4 billion, in danger of a downgrade by Standard and Poor's. In February 2008,
Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiu ...
run by billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett announced that it had acquired an 8% stake in Kraft then worth over $4 billion. Buffett's business partner Charles Munger had also invested over $300 million in Kraft. Berkshire Hathaway owned 5.6% of the outstanding stock of Kraft Foods, as reported in the holding company's 2010 annual report. On September 22, 2008, the company replaced the troubled insurance company,
American International Group American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. , AIG companies employed 49,600 people.https://www.aig.com/content/dam/aig/amer ...
in the
Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity inde ...
.


Purchase of Cadbury

On September 7, 2009, Kraft made a £10.2 billion takeover offer for the long-established British confectionery group Cadbury, makers of Dairy Milk and Bournville chocolate. On November 9, 2009, Kraft's £9.8bn takeover bid was rejected by Cadbury. Cadbury stated that the takeover bid was a "derisory" offer. Kraft renewed the offer under the same terms on December 4, 2009. The offer generated significant political and public opposition in the United Kingdom and abroad, even leading to calls for the government to implement a policy of economic
protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulatio ...
in cases of takeovers of large companies. On January 19, 2010, Cadbury finally approved a revised offer from Kraft, valuing the confectionery business at $19.5 billion (£11.5 billion). The funding for the takeover was partially provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland, the British part-state-owned bank. The Cadbury purchase was part of the long-term strategy of Irene Rosenfeld, CEO and Kraft Chairman since March 2007, who developed a three-year turnaround plan designed to drive the profitable growth of Kraft Foods. Rosenfeld wanted to develop new markets and expand product range when she assumed the role of chairman. It was assumed that the purchase of Cadbury would help Kraft products develop in new markets such as Brazil and India because of Cadbury's current strong presence in those markets. India is one of its most resilient markets with sales growth of 20% and profits growing at 30% in a competitive market. Kraft believed the Cadbury purchase was also necessary because of the likelihood of
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...
and Hershey joining together. Kraft also believed it could squeeze savings of at least $675m annually by the end of the third year. Irene Rosenfeld saw the Kraft Cadbury merger as the "logical next step in our transformation toward a high-growth, higher-margin company". She also justified the merger in order to build a "global powerhouse in snacks, confectionery and quick meals". Following the purchase of Cadbury, Kraft commanded 14.8% of the global candy and gum market. Kraft argued that it could take advantage of the Cadbury distribution in developing markets of India, Brazil and Mexico. As incomes rise in these developing nations, Kraft hopes that products such as Oreo will become impulse buys for children. Mars, Inc. is second in the confectionery market with 14.6% share, followed by Nestlé with 7.8%. At the time of the purchase, the chocolate and sugar industry had been growing rapidly at 15% over the previous three years and was valued at $113 billion. The purchase of Cadbury was considered strange because they did not have a strong foothold on the confectionery market, but at the time Kraft noted their production of confectionery foods like Toblerone and candy foods like Oreo. Cadbury also owned popular gum brands such as Stride,
Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other mari ...
, Dentyne, and
Chiclets Chiclets is an American brand of candy-coated chewing gum manufactured by Mondelez International. The brand was introduced in 1900 by the American Chicle Company, a company founded by Thomas Adams. History The Chiclets name is derived from t ...
. Roger Carr, chairman of Cadbury, discussed his approval of the takeover by Kraft by saying, "We believe the offer represents good value for Cadbury shareholders and are pleased with the commitment that Kraft Foods has made to our heritage, values and people throughout the world."


Acquisition fallout

Cadbury sales were flat after Kraft's acquisition. Despite the Cadbury takeover helping boost sales by 30%, Kraft's net profit for the fourth quarter fell 24% to $540m due to costs associated with integrating the UK business after the acquisition. Kraft spent a one-time $1.3 billion in integration costs to achieve $675 million in recurring annual synergy savings by the end of 2012 (estimated). Kraft was forced to increase prices to offset rising commodity costs in North America and Europe. Kraft has had to contend with the higher cost of ingredients such as corn, sugar and cocoa. Kraft chief executive Irene Rosenfeld said, “We expect it will remain weak for the foreseeable future.” Taking into account integration costs, the acquisition knocked about 33% off Kraft's earnings per share immediately after the purchase of Cadbury. In March 2011, Kraft caused national outrage when they sold the site of a historic Cadbury factory it vowed not to close for £50million after initially publicly promising the continuity of production within the UK in order to win over support for the deal from shareholders. Instead, production was immediately outsourced to Poland. The
Somerdale Factory Somerdale was a chocolate factory located in Keynsham near Bristol in South-west England, closed by Kraft foods in 2011. It was the home of a Cadbury plc production facility, and was originally built by the Fry family when they expanded through ...
was closed just days after the takeover by Kraft Foods. Former Cadbury workers demanded an apology for the abrupt selling of the plant, but Kraft's CEO Irene Rosenfeld refused to explain her actions. Kraft continues to use Cadbury brands in emerging markets to expand all of its products. In April 2011, Kraft set to invest $150 million in South Africa's manufacturing plants over three years. President Sanjay Khosla said, "
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
is a priority market for us, where we focus on power brands like Cadbury chocolate."


Sale of frozen pizza division to Nestlé

On March 1, 2010,
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...
concluded the purchase of Kraft's North American frozen pizza business for $3.7 billion. Kraft left the door open to repurchase with a buyback option not before one year and not after three years for the original sale price of $3.7 billion. Although not likely if Kraft were to want to repurchase they would have to come up with cash only and no stocks. The sale included
DiGiorno DiGiorno and Delissio are a co-owned brand of frozen pizzas sold in the United States and Canada, respectively, and are currently subsidiaries of Nestlé. About DiGiorno manufactures over 250,000 pizzas each day for consumers for national sale in ...
, Tombstone and Jack's brands in the United States, the Delissio brand in Canada and the
California Pizza Kitchen California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) is an American casual dining restaurant chain that specializes in California-style pizza. The restaurant was started in 1985 by attorneys Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax in Beverly Hills, California, United States ...
trademark license. It also includes two Wisconsin manufacturing facilities in Medford and Little Chute. The business generated 2009 net revenues of $1.6 billion, with 3,400 employees.


Proposed split

After a period of poor share performance and investor criticism, Rosenfeld was forced to announce in 2011 the proposed split of the company into two new entities. Both were to be listed on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
, but the company has recently decided to move to NASDAQ, and the split companies will also trade on NASDAQ. The first entity would retain the Kraft foods names and brands, and focus on the North American foods business. The second, later proposed to be named
Mondelēz International Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding and beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26 billion and operates in ...
, would focus on the global snacks business, and would include the former Cadbury businesses, plus global brands including Dairylea. On April 2, 2012, Kraft Foods Inc. announced that it had filed a Form 10 Registration Statement to the SEC to split the company into two companies to serve the "North American grocery business". The split was structured so that Kraft Foods changed its name to Mondelez International and spun off Kraft Foods Group as a new publicly traded company.


Sponsorships and promotions

Kraft Foods Inc was an official partner and sponsor of Major League Soccer and sponsored the Kraft Nabisco Championship, one of the four "majors" on the LPGA tour. The company also sponsored the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, a post-season college football
bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...
. ''
Kraft Hockeyville ''Kraft Hockeyville'' is an annual competition sponsored by Kraft Heinz, the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association in which communities compete to demonstrate their commitment to the sport of ice hockey. The winning commu ...
'' originally was Canadian reality television series developed by CBC Sports in 2006 and was sponsored by Kraft Foods in which communities across Canada compete to demonstrate their commitment to the sport of ice hockey. The contest revolves around a central theme of community spirit in Canada. In 2007, the contest was relegated to segments aired on ''
Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...
'' Kraft released an iPad app called "Big Fork Little Fork" in 2011 which, in addition to games and other distractions, has information regarding how to use Kraft foods in nutritious ways. This app costs $1.99; a version for home computers is available on the iTunes app store.


Brands

Before the company was split, its core businesses were in
beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoo ...
, cheese, dairy foods,
snack foods A snack is a small portion of food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snack ...
, confectionery, and
convenience foods Convenience food, also called tertiary processed food, is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) to optimise ease of consumption. Such food is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily po ...
. Kraft's major brands, which each generated revenues exceeding $1 billion, as: * Cadbury * Jacobs * Kraft, including Kraft Dinner,
Kraft Singles Kraft Singles is a brand of processed cheese product manufactured and sold by Kraft Foods, introduced in 1950. Kraft individually wrapped "slices" are not really slices off a block, but formed separately in manufacturing. In the US, Kraft Single ...
, Kraft Mayo * LU *
Maxwell House Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the ...
*
Milka Milka is a brand of chocolate confectionery, originally made in Switzerland in 1901 by Suchard. It has then been produced in Lörrach, Germany for the past 100 years. Since 2012 it has been owned by US-based company Mondelez International, when ...
*
Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco's ...
*
Oreo Oreo () (stylized as OREO) is a brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two biscuits or cookie pieces with a sweet creme filling. It was introduced by Nabisco on March 6, 1912, and through a series of corporate acquisitions, mergers and split ...
* Oscar Mayer *
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
*
Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other mari ...
* Tang Seventy additional brands have revenues greater than $100 million. In total, 40 brands are at least 100 years old.


Controversies


Trans-fat litigation

In 2003, a California lawyer made national headlines by suing Kraft for using trans fat in Oreo cookies. Kraft foods announced a trans-fat free reformulation of Oreos shortly after the 2003 lawsuit was filed, and the lawsuit was dropped. Kraft denied that the change was made in response to the lawsuit, noting that the reformulation had been in planning long before the lawsuit. In 2010, two
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
residents filed a
class action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...
lawsuit against Kraft Foods for claiming certain products are healthy when in fact they contain unhealthy
trans fat Trans fat, also called trans-unsaturated fatty acids, or trans fatty acids, is a type of unsaturated fat that naturally occurs in small amounts in meat and milk fat. It became widely produced as an unintentional byproduct in the industrial pr ...
. Kraft denied any wrongdoing, saying all packaging claims are true and legal. As of June 2012, the case is still ongoing."Taking Kraft to Court"
A
United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
certified the class on June 6, 2012.
Teddy Grahams Teddy Grahams are bear-shaped graham cookie snacks created by Nabisco. Introduced in 1988, Teddy Grahams come in two distinct shapes: bears with arms up and legs closed, and bears with legs open and arms down. When first introduced, Teddy Grahams ...
, varieties of
Ritz Crackers Ritz Crackers is a brand of snack cracker introduced by Nabisco in 1934. The original style crackers are disc-shaped, lightly salted, and approximately in diameter.. Each cracker has seven perforations and a finely scalloped edge. Today, the R ...
, Honey Maid Grahams, Premium Saltines, Ginger Snaps, and Vegetable Thins all contain artificial trans fat, and Kraft presents these products as healthy with phrases like "wholesome choice", "sensible snacking", and "made with real vegetables". The complaint in the case argues that these claims are a violation of California's Unfair Competition Law, Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and False Advertising Law."Second Amended Complaint for Violations of the UCL, FAL, and CLRA"
, September 16, 2010
The lawsuit cites current scientific consensus on the dangerous health effects of trans fat, which causes coronary heart disease and has been linked to type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer. The American Heart Association concludes that there is "no safe level" of trans fat in the diet. Based on the trans fat content and other unhealthy ingredients in Kraft products, the lawsuit makes several arguments: *Health claims like "a wholesome choice", which appears on Teddy Grahams, and "Sensible Snacking", which appears on several products, are false. *"No cholesterol" claims are misleading because they imply that the snack is good for cholesterol levels, when in fact trans fat is worse for cholesterol health than actual dietary cholesterol. *Claims like "made with real vegetables" or "real ginger & molasses" are misleading because the products contain less of these "real" and healthy ingredients than they contain artificial trans fat. *Teddy Grahams packaging claims to be a "good source of calcium, iron & zinc to support kids' growth and development", but this health claim is deceptive because the trans fat content is more harmful than the minerals are helpful. *Various additional phrases like "whole wheat" and "graham" imply a health benefit that the products do not contain. *On each package, some individual claims may be true, but overall, they add to the deceptive message of healthfulness. Kraft denies any wrongdoing. Kraft's response briefs emphasize that the challenged claims are technically true. For example, Vegetable Thins are "made with real vegetables", and Kraft argues that this true statement cannot be called misleading. Kraft uses a similar line of argument for claims like "good source of calcium, iron & zinc to support kids' growth and development", "whole wheat", and others. Regarding several packaging claims, Kraft argues that they are not factual statements that can be proven true or false. For example, Kraft argues that the word "wholesome" is subjective and vague. Promotional statements that are too vague to prove or disprove are called
puffery In everyday language, puffery refers to exaggerated or false praise. Puffery serves to "puff up" what is being described. In law, puffery is usually invoked as a defense argument: it identifies futile speech, typically of a seller, which does ...
and are not actionable under the law. Kraft argues that "wholesome", "sensible", and "smart" are all puffery and therefore cannot be found misleading or deceitful.


Political campaign

In 2012, Kraft contributed $1,950,500 to a $46 million political campaign known as "The Coalition Against The Costly Food Labeling Proposition, sponsored by Farmers and Food Producers" The organization was founded to oppose Proposition 37, a California citizen's initiative mandating the labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. As a result, there were calls for a boycott of Kraft products.


Environmental record

For years Kraft purchased paper for its packaging from Asia Pulp & Paper, the third-largest paper producer in the world which was called a "forest criminal" for destroying "precious habitat" in Indonesia's rain forest. In 2011, when Kraft cancelled its contract with Asia Pulp & Paper, Greenpeace executive director
Phil Radford Philip David Radford (born January 2, 1976) is an American activist who served as the executive director of Greenpeace USA. He is the founder and President of Progressive Power Lab, an organization that incubates companies and non-profits that b ...
commended the company for "taking rainforest conservation seriously".


In the news

Kraft began a major restructuring process in January 2004, following a year of declining sales (blamed largely on the rising health consciousness of Americans) and the sacking of co-CEO Betsy Holden. The company announced closures of 19 production facilities worldwide and the reduction of 5,500 jobs, as well as the sale of 10% of its branded products. On January 19, 2010, Kraft sealed the deal to buy 100% of the share capital of Cadbury for over $19 billion. On March 17, 2010, Kraft Foods said it was "truly sorry" over its closure of a Cadbury factory in Somerdale. Senior Kraft executive Marc Firestone made the public apology to MPs at a parliamentary select committee hearing. In March 2011, in the US, Kraft Foods introduced MiO, a liquid flavoring product with zero calories and sugar-free geared to 18 to 39-year-old consumers. MiO has no artificial flavors but it does have artificial colors, artificial sweeteners and artificial preservatives, unlike some competing flavoring products, according to ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
''. In August 2011, Kraft Foods announced plans to split into two publicly traded companies—a snack food company and a grocery company. On September 10, 2010, a disgruntled employee angered over a recent suspension, Yvonne Hiller, opened fire inside the Philadelphia Factory where she had worked for 15 years. Armed with a .357, Yvonne shot 3 co-workers, killing 2 of them. Philadelphia Police responded within minutes of the 911 call. SWAT took Yvonne into custody at 8:30pm.


Recalls

In September 2000, up to $50 million worth of taco shells were recalled by Kraft from supermarkets and
Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includin ...
restaurants. The shells contained genetically modified corn, which was not approved for human consumption by the
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
; the recall was the first of a
genetically modified food Genetically modified foods (GM foods), also known as genetically engineered foods (GE foods), or bioengineered foods are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering. Gene ...
. The corn was supplied to a plant from which Kraft bought the shells. In April 2009, Kraft Foods recalled products containing pistachios after the discovery of salmonella at one of its Illinois manufacturers. Kraft pinpointed as the source a California pistachio grower, which initially recalled over of nuts before broadening the recall to much of its 2008 crop. A ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'' editorial credited the "aggressive food safety system at Kraft Foods" with effectively addressing the danger. In September 2011, Kraft recalled over 130,000 cases of Velveeta Shells and Cheese microwaveable cups because of possible wire bristles in the cups.


See also

* List of Kraft brands *
List of dairy product companies in the United States This is a list of dairy product companies in the United States. A dairy product is food produced from the milk of mammals. Dairy products are usually high energy-yielding food products. A production plant for the processing of milk is called a dair ...
*
General Foods Corporation General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporate ...
* Ovson Egg


References


External links

* – ''present day successor corporation''.
Hoover's.com: Kraft Foods Inc. Fact SheetKFT:US Bloomberg News.com: Kraft Foods IncBusinessweek.com: KFT:New York

Financial Times.com: Kraft Foods Inc
— ''collected news and commentary.''
The Wall Street Journal.com: Kraft Foods Inc


* {{Illinois Corporations . Food manufacturers of the United States Heinz Mondelez International Condiment companies of the United States Confectionery companies of the United States Dairy products companies of the United States Snack food manufacturers of the United States Multinational dairy companies Multinational food companies Multinational companies headquartered in the United States Companies based in Cook County, Illinois Manufacturing companies based in Illinois Northfield, Illinois American companies established in 1903 Food and drink companies established in 1903 Food and drink companies disestablished in 2012 1903 establishments in Illinois 2012 disestablishments in Illinois Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Purveyors to the Court of Sweden Defunct manufacturing companies based in Illinois General Foods