Wikipedia:

Kraft Foods

Kraft Foods Inc.
Type Public (NYSE: KFT)
Founded 1903
Headquarters Northfield, Illinois, USA
Key people Irene Rosenfeld, CEO
Industry Food Processing [1]
Products See brands listing.
Revenue Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg $34.356 billion USD (2006)
Net income Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg $3.06 billion (2006)
8.9% profit margin
Employees 90,000 (2006)
Website www.kraft.com

Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) is the largest food and beverage company headquartered in North America and the second largest in the world after Nestlé SA.

The Philip Morris Company (now known as Altria Group), a company that produces tobacco products, acquired Kraft for $12.9 billion in 1988, eventually merging it with another food subsidiary, General Foods, which it had acquired in 1985. In 2000, Philip Morris acquired Nabisco and merged it with Kraft. Altria sold 280 million Kraft shares via an initial public offering in 2001, retaining an 88.1% stake. On January 31, 2007, after months of speculation, the company announced that its 88.1% stake would be spun off to Altria shareholders, however the exact date is not expected to be announced until January 2008[1]

Kraft is headquartered in Northfield, Illinois, USA, a Chicago suburb. Kraft Foods markets many popular brands in more than 155 countries.

Kraft Foods is named after James L. Kraft, who founded the original wholesale cheese business in 1903.

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.

1950s Kraft delivery van in Australia, advertising "Velveeta", "Vegemite" and "Kraft Cheddar"
Enlarge
1950s Kraft delivery van in Australia, advertising "Velveeta", "Vegemite" and "Kraft Cheddar"

In 2005, Kraft was sued for spamming its Gevalia coffee brand by Hypertouch, an ISP. Kraft was accused of sending multiple waves of spam to the ISP, and the action brought under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 act. At the time of writing, the suit had not yet been ruled upon.[2]

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 5500 jobs, as well as the sale of 10% of its branded products. Kraft Foods expects to eliminate 8000 jobs, roughly 8% of its workforce.[citation needed]

Acquisitions

Then Kraft Foods sold several brands after its Nabisco merger. It sold Lifesavers Co. to Wrigley, its certain Canada grocery items, particularly Del Monte and Aylmer to CanGro, its sugar confectionery business and its pet snacks business under the Milk-Bone brand to Del Monte Foods.

Kraft bought several brands parallel to its portfolio, like Boca Burger Co., which makes Boca meat alternatives, Fruit2o, and Veryfine beverages.

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

Investor Nelson Peltz bought a three-percent stake at Kraft Foods and is talking with the executives on revitalizing the business,[3] with options such as buying Wendy's fast food chain or selling off Post cereals and Maxwell House coffee.[3]

In July 2007, the company bought Groupe Danone's biscuit (cookie) and cereal division for $7.2 billion.[3][4] 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, although a possible deal comes with strings: promising not to close French factories and keep the cookie headquarters near Paris for at least three years.[3] Kraft is much more powerful in the US than in foreign markets.[3]

Sponsorships

Kraft Foods 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.

Brands

Kraft Foods' core businesses are in beverage, cheese and dairy, snackfoods and confectionery, convenience foods and cereals.

Notable products produced by Kraft Foods are

Former Brands


See also

References

  1. ^ Altria Continues its Breakup (2007-08-31). Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
  2. ^ Kraft sued over Gevalia spam
  3. ^ a b c d e No ketchup, please. The Economist (2007-07-05). Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
  4. ^ Getting better?. The Economist (2007-07-12). Retrieved on 2007-07-22.

External links


Kraft brands

Capri Sun | Crystal Light | Dairylea | General Foods | Jell-O | Kool-Aid | Kraft Dinner | Maxwell House | Oscar Mayer | Post Cereals | Tang | Toblerone | Vegemite

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