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Kraft Foods

What is Kraft: Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) is an American confectionery, food and beverage corporation.

NYSE Ticker: KFT

Sub-Brands: Cadbury, Maxwell House, Nabisco, Oreo, Oscar Meyer, Milka.

Founder(s): JL Kraft, Thomas H Mclnnerney

Kraft Foods History

The history of KRAFT Foods goes back to 1903, when, with $65 in capital, a rented wagon and a horse named Paddy, J.L. Kraft started  purchasing  cheese  at  Chicago’s  Water  Street wholesale market and  reselling  it  to local merchants.  In 1917  the  company  started supplying cheese in tins to the U.S. Government for the armed forces in World War I.  The success of Kraft led to its acquisition, in 1930, by National Diary Product Corporation, a firm set by Thomas Mclnnerney on December 23, 1910.

Kraft Foods Trivia

1. In 1928, it acquired Phenix Cheese Company, the maker of a cream cheese branded as Philadelphia cream cheese, and the company changed its name to Kraft-Phenix Cheese Company. In 1969, the firm changed its name from National Dairy to Kraftco Corporation.
2. In 1980, Kraft merged with Dart Industries to form Dart & Kraft.
3. 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.
4. 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
5. 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.
6. In February 2008, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. run by billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett announced that it had acquired an 8% stake in Kraft Foods worth over $4 billion
7. In 1933, the company started to use radio on an extensive scale. It sponsored the one-hour weekly musical and variety show ‘Kraft Musical Review’, which headlined notable show business personalities. New products such as Miracle Whip salad dressing (1933), Kraft macaroni and cheese dinner (1936), and Parkay margarine (1937) were introduced through the ‘Kraft Music Hall’ and became immediate favorites.
8. While in his seventies, James Kraft helped create one of the first major television programs, the ‘Kraft Television Theatre’, which was said to have set audience and studio production records. The show ran from 1947 until 1958.