Kraft Foods

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This article is about the post-2012 de-mergered grocery business, now a division of Kraft Heinz Company. For the pre-2012 Kraft Foods, see Kraft Foods Inc. For the unrelated group of businesses, see The Kraft Group. For other uses of "Kraft", see Kraft (disambiguation).
Kraft Foods Group, Inc.
Subsidiary[1]
Traded as NASDAQ: KRFT
Industry Food processing
Fate Merged with Heinz
Successor Kraft Heinz
Founded 2012
Headquarters Northfield, Illinois, United States
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 John Cahill
(Chairman and CEO)
Products List of products
Revenue Decrease US$ 18.218 billion (2013)[2]
Increase US$ 4.591 billion (2013)[2]
Increase US$ 2.715 billion (2013)[2]
Total assets Decrease US$ 23.148 billion (2013)[2]
Total equity Increase US$ 5.187 billion (2013)[2]
Number of employees
 23,000 (2012)[3]
Parent Kraft Heinz
Website www.kraftfoodsgroup.com

Kraft Foods Group, Inc., was an American manufacturing and processing conglomerate[4] headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Northfield, Illinois.[5]

The company was restructured in 2012 as a spin off from Kraft Foods Inc., which in turn was renamed Mondelēz International. The new Kraft Foods Group was focused mainly on grocery products for the North American market, while Mondelēz is focused on international confectionery and snack brands. Until the merger with Heinz, Kraft Foods Group was an independent public company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

On July 2, 2015, Kraft completed its merger with Heinz, arranged by Heinz owners Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital,[6][7] creating the fifth largest food and beverage company in the world, Kraft Heinz Company.[8][9]

History[edit]

Spinoff of Kraft Foods Group from Mondelēz International, Inc[edit]

Former Kraft Foods corporate logo

In August 2011, Kraft Foods Inc. announced plans to split into two publicly traded companies—a snack food company and a grocery company.[10]

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."[11]

On October 1, 2012, Kraft Foods Inc. spun off its North American grocery business to a new company called Kraft Foods Group, Inc. The remainder of Kraft Foods Inc. was renamed Mondelēz International, Inc. and was refocused as an international snack and confection company.[12]

On November 19, 2013, it was ruled that Starbucks will have to pay Kraft Foods Inc. $2.7 billion because of an early contract termination. The money will go to Mondelēz International, Inc.[13]

Kraft and Heinz Merger[edit]

On March 25, 2015 Kraft Foods Group Inc, the maker of Velveeta cheese and Oscar Mayer meats, announced that it would merge with ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co, owned by 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway Inc, to form the world's fifth-largest food and beverage company.[14] Kraft's shares rose about 17 percent in premarket trading after the announcement of the deal, which will bring Heinz back to the public market following its takeover two years ago.[15] The companies completed the merger on July 2, 2015.[16]

Sponsorships and promotions[edit]

Kraft is an official partner and sponsor of both Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League. Kraft Hockeyville originally began in 2006 as a Canadian reality television series developed by CBC/SRC 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. The winning community gets a cash prize dedicated to upgrading their local home arena, as well as the opportunity to host an NHL preseason game. In 2007, it was then relegated to segments aired during Hockey Night in Canada. In 2015, Kraft Hockeyville was expanded into the United States, with a separate competition for communities in America.

From 2002 to 2014, Kraft 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, from 2010 to 2012.

In 2011, Kraft has released an iPad app called "Big Fork Little Fork" which, in addition to games and other distractions, has information regarding how to use Kraft foods in nutritious ways.[17][18] This app costs $1.99; a version for home computers is available on Apple's App Store.

Brands[edit]

Main article: List of Kraft brands
The old Kraft logo still seen on some Kraft branded products

The company's core businesses are in beverage, cheese, dairy foods, snack foods, and convenience foods. A selection of Kraft's major brands is as follows:[19]

Corporate social responsibility[edit]

For years, Kraft purchased paper for its packaging from Asia Pulp & Paper, the third largest paper producer in the world, which was labeled as a "forest criminal" for destroying "precious habitat" in Indonesia's rainforest.[20] In 2011, when Kraft canceled its contract with Asia Pulp & Paper, Greenpeace Executive Director Phil Radford commended Kraft for efforts made towards forest protection, for "taking rainforest conservation seriously."[21]

Controversy[edit]

In 2013, food blogger and activist Vani Hari and 100 Days of Real Food blogger Lisa Leake launched an online petition drive to compel Kraft Foods Group, Inc. to remove controversial synthetic dyes Yellow 5 (labeled as Tartrazine) and Yellow 6 from its macaroni and cheese products.[22]

In April 2013, Hari and Leake delivered a petition with some 270,000 signatures to Kraft headquarters in Chicago, Ill., and asked the company to change its macaroni and cheese recipes.[23][24]

In October 2013, Kraft announced that it would remove artificial dyes from three macaroni and cheese varieties made in kid-friendly shapes, but not its plain elbow-shaped Kraft Macaroni and Cheese product with "original flavor."[25]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Prospectus Filed Pursuant to Rule 424". The Kraft Heinz Company. July 2, 2015. Retrieved February 11, 2016. 
  2. ^ a b c d e Kraft Foods Group, Inc. Form 10-K, Securities and Exchange Commission, February 21, 2014
  3. ^ "About Us". Kraft Foods. Retrieved May 9, 2013. 
  4. ^ "Kraft Foods Inc.". Funding Universe. 2002. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2008. 
  5. ^ "2009 Fact Sheet." Kraft Foods. 6/7. Retrieved January 30, 2011. "Corporate Offices Kraft Foods Inc. Three Lakes Drive Northfield, IL 60093"
  6. ^ "3G Capital, Berkshire to Buy Kraft Foods, Merge It With Heinz". Bloomberg. March 25, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015. 
  7. ^ "Kraft Foods to merge with ketchup maker Heinz". Reuters. March 25, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015. 
  8. ^ Nolan Feeney (25 March 2015). "Kraft and Heinz Merge to Become World's 5th-Largest Food Company". TIME magazine. 
  9. ^ Coyne, Justine (July 2, 2015). "Goodbye H.J. Heinz Co.; Kraft Heinz merger a done deal". Pittsburgh Business Times. Retrieved 2015-07-03. 
  10. ^ "Kraft Foods - Investor Center - Financial News Release". Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved August 4, 2011. 
  11. ^ "Financial News Release: Kraft Foods Announces Filing Of Form 10 Registration Statement For Planned Spin-Off Of North American Grocery Company". PR Newswire. April 2, 2012. Retrieved April 9, 2012. 
  12. ^ Rushe, Dominic (March 21, 2012). "Kraft spins off snacks business into new Mondelez International company". The Guardian (London). Retrieved March 21, 2012. 
  13. ^ "Starbucks To Pay Kraft $2.7 Billion For Early Contract Termination". Vending Machine News. Retrieved November 19, 2013. 
  14. ^ "H.J. Heinz Company And Kraft Foods Group Sign Definitive Merger Agreement To Form The Kraft Heinz Company" (Press release). 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2015-03-26. 
  15. ^ "Kraft and Heinz merger to form world's fifth-largest food company led by Warren Buffet.". Reuters. March 25, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015. 
  16. ^ "The Kraft Heinz Company Announces Successful Completion of the Merger between Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation" (PDF). The Kraft Heinz Company. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015. 
  17. ^ "Big Fork Little Fork". KraftRecipes.Com. Retrieved January 4, 2011. 
  18. ^ Kleinberg, Adam (January 4, 2011). "Why Every Brand Needs an Open API for Developers". Mashable.Com. Retrieved January 4, 2011. 
  19. ^ "Largest Brands". Kraft Foods Group. 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2012. 
  20. ^ "Paper Giant Pledges to Leave the Poor Rainforest Alone. Finally. Asia Pulp & Paper—the notorious destroyer of pristine tiger and orangutan habitat—says it's changing its ways.". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2013-11-27. 
  21. ^ Phil Radford. "Hasbro Turns Over a New Leaf, Steps Up for Rainforests". Huffington Post. Retrieved November 27, 2013. 
  22. ^ Bachai, Sabrina. "Kraft To Remove Artificial Dyes From Mac And Cheese: Yellow Dye Linked To Hyperactivity In Children". Medical Daily. Retrieved February 12, 2014. 
  23. ^ Harris, Paul. "Kraft meets with bloggers protesting chemical additives in mac'n'cheese". theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 February 2014. 
  24. ^ Wilson, Jacque. "Kraft removing artificial dyes from some mac and cheese". CNN. Retrieved 12 February 2014. 
  25. ^ Choi, Candice. "Kraft to remove artificial dyes from three products". Associated Press. Retrieved 12 February 2014. 

External links[edit]

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