Kraft Foods, Inc. (NYSE The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at US$12.25 trillion as of May 2010. Average daily trading value was approximately US$153 billion in 2008: KFT) is the largest confectionery, food, and beverage corporation headquartered in the United States^[4] and the second-largest in the world (after Nestlé SA Nestlé S.A. is the largest nutrition and foods company in the world, founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, which was established in 1866 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and the Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé Company, which was founded in 1866 by Henri Nestlé).^{[citation needed]} It markets many brands in more than 155 countries.

The company is headquartered in Northfield, Illinois Northfield is an affluent village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately 19 mi north of Chicago. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 5,389, a Chicago suburb. Its European headquarters are just outside Zürich Zürich or Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. While the municipality itself has 380,500 inhabitants, the Zürich metropolitan area is an urbanised area of international importance constituted by a population of nearly 2, Switzerland.

A public company A public company or publicly traded company is a company that has permission to offer its registered securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or occasionally a company whose stock is traded over the counter (OTC) via market makers who use non-exchange quotation services, it is listed on the New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at US$12.25 trillion as of May 2010. Average daily trading value was approximately US$153 billion in 2008 and became a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average, also referred to as the Industrial Average, the Dow Jones, the Dow 30, or simply the Dow, is one of several stock market indices created by Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones & Company co-founder Charles Dow. The average is named after Dow and one of his business associates, statistician Edward Jones. It on September 22, 2008, replacing the American International Group American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) is an American insurance corporation. Its corporate headquarters are located in the American International Building in New York City. The British headquarters office is on Fenchurch Street in London; continental Europe operations are based in La Défense, Paris, and its Asian headquarters office is in.^[5]

Origin of the firm

The firm today known as Kraft Foods was formed on December 10, 1923 by Thomas H. McInnerney.^[6] The firm was initially set up to execute on a rollup strategy in the then fragmented United States ice cream Ice cream or ice-cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners. In some cases, artificial flavourings and colourings are used in addition to the natural ingredients. This industry. Through acquisitions it expanded into a full range of dairy products. By 1930, eight years after it was founded, 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 bankers 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 to finance a roll-up strategy.^[7]

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 , Pennsylvania, located in the United States, is the second-largest city in the state and is the county seat of Allegheny County. Its population was 334,563 at the 2000 census; by 2009, it was estimated to have fallen to 311,647. The population of the seven-county metropolitan area was 2,354,957 in 2009. Downtown Pittsburgh retains, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles (92 km) of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. The resulting firm was then listed on the New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at US$12.25 trillion as of May 2010. Average daily trading value was approximately US$153 billion in 2008 with the offer of 125,000 shares having been oversubscribed.^[6]

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. Examples of firms acquired include: (list is not complete - National acquired more than 55 firms between 1923 and 1931)

Beginnings for Kraft

Canadian-born and of German origin, James L. Kraft started a wholesale Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services. In general, it is the sale of goods to anyone other than a standard consumer door-to-door Door-to-door is a sales technique in which a salesperson walks from the door of one house to the door of another trying to sell a product or service to the general public. A variant of this involves cold calling first, when another sales representative attempts to gain agreement that a salesperson should visit. Door-to-door selling is usually cheese Cheese consists of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein casein. Typically, the milk is acidified and addition of the enzyme rennet causes coagulation. The solids are separated and pressed into final form. Some cheeses have molds on the rind or throughout business in Chicago in 1903; its first year of operations was "dismal", losing US$ The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents3,000 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, New York, 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 is the term used to describe the complete process of bringing a new product or service to market. There are two parallel paths involved in the NPD process: one involves the idea generation, product design and detail engineering; the other involves market research and marketing analysis, expansion by marketing Marketing is the process by which companies create customer interest in products or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business development. It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves, and opening a wholly owned A subsidiary, in business matters, is an entity that is controlled by a separate higher entity[citation needed]. The controlled entity is called a company, corporation, or limited liability company; and in some cases can be a government or state-owned enterprise, and the controlling entity is called its parent . The reason for this distinction is cheese factory A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production. Typically, factories gather and concentrate resources: in Illinois.^[8]

In 1915, the company had invented pasteurized Pasteurization is a process of heating a food, usually liquid, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time, and then cooling it immediately. This process slows microbial growth in food. The process was named after its creator, French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur. The first pasteurization test was completed by Louis Pasteur processed cheese Processed cheese, process cheese, cheese slice , prepared cheese, or cheese food is a food product made from normal cheese and sometimes other unfermented dairy ingredients, plus emulsifiers, extra salt, food colorings, or whey. Many flavors, colors, and textures of processed cheese exist that did not need refrigeration Refrigeration is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space, or from a substance, and moving it to a place where it is unobjectionable. The primary purpose of refrigeration is lowering the temperature of the enclosed space or substance and then maintaining that lower temperature. The term cooling refers generally to any natural or, thus giving a longer shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that food, drink, medicine and other perishable items are given before they are considered unsuitable for sale or consumption. In some regions, a best before, use by or freshness date is required on packaged perishable foods than conventional cheese.^[8] The process was patented A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state (national government) to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention in 1916 and about six million pounds of the product were sold to the U.S. Army The United States Army is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven uniformed services. The modern Army has its roots in the Continental Army which was formed on 14 June 1775, before the establishment of the for military rations during World War I World War I was a military conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918 and involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Central Powers. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. More than 15 million people were.

In 1916, the company began national advertising and had made its first acquisition — a Canadian cheese company^[8]

In 1924, the company changed its name to Kraft Cheese Company and listed on the Chicago Stock Exchange The Chicago Stock Exchange is a Chicago-based stock exchange. The Exchange is a national securities exchange and self-regulated organization, which operates under the oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Chicago Stock Exchange is the third most active stock exchange in the United States by volume, and the largest.^[8] 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:

Later, in 1927, it established its London, United Kingdom, and Hamburg Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany (second to Berlin) and the seventh-largest city in the European Union. The city is home to over 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighboring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 4.3 million inhabitants. The port of Hamburg, 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 sweet, soft, mild-tasting, white cheese, defined by the US Department of Agriculture as containing at least 33% milkfat (as marketed) with a moisture content of not more than 55%, and a pH range of 4.4 to 4.9 branded as Philadelphia cream cheese Cream cheese is a sweet, soft, mild-tasting, white cheese, defined by the US Department of Agriculture as containing at least 33% milkfat (as marketed) with a moisture content of not more than 55%, and a pH range of 4.4 to 4.9, and the company changed its name to Kraft-Phenix Cheese Company.

In 1929, the New York Times The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. Although it remains both the largest local metropolitan newspaper in the United States as well as being third largest overall, behind The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, the weekday circulation of the paper has fallen precipitously reported that Kraft Phenix, The Hershey Company The Hershey Company , known until April 2005 as the Hershey Foods Corporation and commonly called Hershey's, is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America. Its headquarters are in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hershey's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894 as the Hershey Chocolate Company, a and Colgate Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American diversified multinational corporation focused on the production, distribution and provision of household, health care and personal products, such as soaps, detergents, and oral hygiene products (including toothpaste and toothbrushes). Under its "Hill's" brand, it is also a manufacturer of were looking at merging.^[9] 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. In 1930, the company also began operating in Australia following a merger with Fred Walker & Co.^[8]

Post National acquisition of Kraft-Phenix

At the time of the acquisition, 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.^[10].

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 Caramel is a beige to dark brown confection made by heating any of a variety of sugars. It is used as a flavor in puddings and desserts, a filling in candies and chocolates, and a topping for ice cream and custards candies, macaroni and cheese dinners and margarines Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes. In many parts of the world, the market share of margarine and spreads has overtaken that of butter. Margarine is an ingredient in the preparation of many foods and, in recipes and colloquially, is sometimes called oleo. From the 1950s onward, the firm began to move away from low value added commodity dairy products, such as fluid milk.^[11] 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 Radio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space. Information is carried by systematically changing some property of the radiated waves, such as sponsorship. In 1935, the Sealtest brand of ice cream Ice cream or ice-cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners. In some cases, artificial flavourings and colourings are used in addition to the natural ingredients. This was launched as a unified national brand to replace the firms numerous regional brands.^[8]

During World War II Albania · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Burma · Cambodia · Canada · Ceylon (Sri Lanka) · Channel Islands · China · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · Dutch East Indies · Egypt · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland ·, the company sent four million pounds of cheese to Britain The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land weekly.^[8]

Product development and advertising helped the company to grow during the postwar years, launching sliced process cheese and Cheez Whiz Cheez Whiz is a thick processed cheese sauce or spread sold by Kraft Foods. It was developed by a team led by food scientist Edwin Traisman and was first marketed in 1953, 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 Glass production comprehends two types of glass: sheet glass, made by the float glass process, and (ii) glass-container glass business with the acquisition of Metro Glass in 1956.^[8]

In 1947 the company tested the marketing power of the emerging medium of television Television is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic ("black and white") or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission. The word is derived from mixed Latin by producing an hour-long drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance, though it has also come to refer to a specific genre of fiction involving a serious mood and conflict. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" (Classical Greek: δρᾶμα, drama), which is derived from "to do" (Classical Greek: δράω, drao). The/anthology series An anthology series is a radio or television series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each episode. Several series employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a new drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One, began on radio and then expanded to television, the Kraft Television Theatre. The product advertised on the program, McLaren’s Imperial Cheese, was selected because "... [it had] not only had no advertising appropriation whatsoever, but had not even been distributed for several years." As described by internal documents of J. Walter Thompson JWTis the largest advertising agency in the United States and the fourth-biggest in the world. It is one of the key companies of Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP Group and is headquartered in New York — 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."^[12]

In the 1960s, product development became intense, launching fruit jellies Fruit preserves are fruits, or vegetables, that have been prepared and canned for long term storage. The preparation of fruit preserves traditionally involves the use of pectin as a gelling agent, although sugar or honey may be used as well. The ingredients used and how they are prepared will determine the type of preserves; jams, jellies and, fruit preserves Fruit preserves are fruits, or vegetables, that have been prepared and canned for long term storage. The preparation of fruit preserves traditionally involves the use of pectin as a gelling agent, although sugar or honey may be used as well. The ingredients used and how they are prepared will determine the type of preserves; jams, jellies and, marshmallows The marshmallowis a confection that, in its modern form, typically consists of sugar or corn syrup, water, gelatin that has been softened in hot water, dextrose, and flavorings, whipped to a spongy consistency. One commonly proposed theory about the origin of marshmallow holds that the traditional recipe used an extract from the mucilaginous root, barbecue sauces Barbecue sauce is a liquid flavoring sauce or condiment ranging from watery to very thick consistency. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops meat after cooking or during barbecuing, grilling, or baking. Traditionally it has been a favored sauce for pork or and Kraft Singles, a brand of individually wrapped cheese slices.^[8] 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.^[13] In the same year it also acquired The Southern Oil Company in Manchester, 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."^[14] At the same time the firm transferred to Glenview, Illinois, in 1972.^[8] 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.^[8]

Dart merger

In 1980, Kraft merged with Dart Industries - makers of the Duracell brand of batteries, Tupperware brand of plastic containers, West Bend brand of home appliances, Wilsonart brand of plastics and Thatcher glass - to form Dart & Kraft.^[8]

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'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 in 1999. In 1988, Kraft sold Duracell to private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, who then put it into an initial public offering in 1989. Gillette^[8] bought Duracell in 1996, and itself was acquired by Procter and Gamble in 2005.

Philip Morris acquisition and merger with General Foods

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 coffee, Jell-O gelatin, Budget Gourmet frozen dinners, Entenmann's baked goods, Kool-Aid, Crystal Light and Tang powdered beverage mixes, Post Cereals, Shake 'n Bake 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.^[8]

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 and its Birds Eye unit to Dean Foods. In 1994, it sold its frozen dinners unit to H.J. Heinz and in 1995, it sold its foodservice unit.^[8]

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 CPC International), its candy division and its tablespreads division. Log Cabin syrup was sold in 1997.^[8]

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.^[8] 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 in 2007, its pet snacks division in 2006, juice drinks and functional water in 2007 and some grocery brands in 2006.

Altria announced on January 31, 2007, that it would spin off all the remaining Kraft Foods shares to Altria's shareholders; each will be given approximately 0.7 share of Kraft for every Altria share they own.

Investor Nelson Peltz bought a three-percent stake at Kraft Foods and is talking with the executives on revitalizing the business,^[15] with options such as buying Wendy's fast food chain or selling off Post cereals and Maxwell House coffee.^[15] 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. Kraft is now an independent publicly held company.

In July 2007, the company bought Groupe Danone's biscuit (cookie) and cereal division for $7.2 billion, including iconic French biscuit brand Lefèvre-Utile.^[15][16] 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.^[15]

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 is at $13.4 billion, in danger of a downgrade by Standard and Poor's.^{[17][clarification needed]}

In February 2008, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. run by billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett announced that it had acquired an 8% stake in Kraft worth over $4 billion. Buffett's business partner Charles Munger had also invested over $300 million in Kraft.

On September 22, 2008, the company replaced the troubled insurance company, American International Group in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.^[5]

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.^[18] On November 9, 2009 Kraft's £9.8bn takeover bid was rejected by Cadbury. Cadbury stated that the takeover bid was a "derisory" offer.^[19] Kraft renewed the offer under the same terms on December 4, 2009.^[20]. The offer generated significant political and public opposition in the United Kingdom and abroad, even leading to calls for the government to invoke a policy of economic protectionism in cases of takeovers of large companies.^[21] 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 is partially provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland, the British state-owned bank.^[22]

Selling To Nestle

On January 6, 2010, Kraft agreed to sell its North American frozen pizza business to Nestle for $3.7 billion. The sale, which is subject to regulatory clearance, includes DiGiorno, Tombstone and Jack's brands in the United States, the Delissio brand in Canada and the California Pizza Kitchen 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.^[23]

Sponsorships

^{[citation needed]}

Kraft is an official partner and sponsor of Major League Soccer and sponsors the Kraft Nabisco Championship, one of the four "majors" on the LPGA tour.

Promotions

Kraft HockeyVille is a Canadian reality television series developed by CBC Sports and 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 and is directed by Mike Dodson.

Brands

For full list of current and former brands, see List of Kraft brands

The company's core businesses are in beverage, cheese and dairy foods, snack foods, confectionery, and convenience foods. The full list of Kraft brands can be found at Largest Brands on Kraft's own website.

Kraft lists its own major brands, which each generate revenues exceeding $1 billion, as:^[24]

• Kraft Dinner
• Oscar Mayer
• Philadelphia
• Maxwell House
• Nabisco
• Jacobs
• Côte d'Or
• Milka
• LU
• Vegemite
• Cadbury
• Trebor

50 additional brands have revenues greater than $100 million. In total, 40 brands are at least 100 years old.^[24]

Cadbury

In 2010 Kraft bought Cadbury, resulting in several boycotts of all Kraft related products. A YouGov SixthSense survey has revealed that at the time of the buy-out 94% of the British population was aware that Cadbury was being sold to Kraft.^[25]

Kraft Foods in the news

In 1992, the gelatin industry, in particular Kraft's Atlantic Gelatin plant in Woburn, Massachusetts, which supplies the vast majority of Jell-O, came under scrutiny for a history of noxious smells, toxic waste releases into Boston Harbor, and a policy of corporate secrecy. Heading off a rash of local complaints, industry lobbyists invited Massachusetts state representatives Paul Casey and Carol Donovan into the plant. However, the representatives were barred from going past the conference room. Repeated requests for a plant tour by journalists were refused. In 1993, the plant was hit with a $250,000 fine for violating the Clean Air Act of 1970. In a February 4, 1996 article, the Associated Press reported that a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection official was one of only a few outsiders who had seen the inside of the Woburn plant.^{[citation needed]}

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 September 7, 2009, Kraft made an offer to buy 100% of the share capital of Cadbury for over £10bn. The Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, the UK body that administers the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, has given Kraft 40 days to secure the deal or walk away for at least six months.^[26] As a result the communications war between the two organizations has escalated. Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld launched the bid with an online video to sell its story to the investment community^[27].

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.^[28]

• List of Kraft brands
• General Foods Corporation
• Ovson Egg
• Wise Use Movement

References

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6. ^ ^{a b} Wall Street Journal, Dec 13 1923
7. ^ Los Angeles Times, July 28, 1929
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9. ^ New York TImes, October 16, 1929
10. ^ Kraftco Corporation Annual Report 1969
11. ^ Compare National Dairy annual report 1938, 1958 and 1976 sales mix data
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14. ^ Kraftco annual report 1969, p3
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17. ^ Rrstar.com Rockford Register article
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19. ^ Sky.com
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24. ^ ^{a b} Largest Brands
25. ^ http://sixthsense.yougov.com/food--drink-reports/snacking-.aspx
26. ^ Guardian 30/9/2009
27. ^ Communicatemagazine.co.uk, Communicate magazine - September 2009
28. ^ "Kraft apologises for closing Cadbury plant". NewStatesman. March 17, 2010. http://www.newstatesman.com/business-food-and-drink/2010/03/cadbury-factory-plant-kraft. Retrieved March 18, 2010.

External links

• Official website
• Kraft Food/Recipe Website (North American Site)
• UK official website
• Kraft Foods Inc. Fact Sheet from Hoover's
• Kraft Foods Radio Show
• List of North American Kraft Companies
• Thinsations Website

Categories: Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange | Dow Jones Industrial Average | Kraft Foods | Companies established in 1903 | Companies based in Cook County, Illinois | Northfield, Illinois

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• Food: Encyclopedia
• Fast Food: Encyclopedia
• Egg (Food): Encyclopedia
• Dip (Food): Encyclopedia
• Dish (Food): Encyclopedia

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