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Kraft
Foods
Headquarters:
Three Lakes Dr.
Northfield, IL 60093
Employees: 90,000
CEO: Irene Rosenfeld
Stock Symbol: KFT
Website: http://www.kraft.com
Kraft Foods is one of the world's largest food and beverage companies. You've probably eaten food made by Kraft which sells packaged food in 155 countries, including seven brands with revenue of more than $1 billion, such as Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings; Oscar Mayer meats; Philadelphia cream cheese; Nabisco cookies and crackers; Jacobs coffees and Milka chocolates.
Other well-known products sold by Kraft include Kool-Aid, Planters peanuts, Toblerone candy, Oscar Mayer wieners, Ritz crackers, Oreo cookies, DiGiorno pizza, Miracle Whip mayonnaise and Tang drink mix.
Kraft became a fully independent company on March 30, 2007, and is listed in the Standard & Poor's 100 and 500 indexes.
The company had total sales of $34.4 billion in 2006 and net income of $3.0 billion. North American sales generated $23 billion last year.
The company announced in November it would merge its cereals business with Ralcorp for about $2.6 billion. The Post cereals business had net revenues of about $1.1 billion in 2006 and includes such popular cereals as Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, Shredded Wheat, Selects, Grape Nuts and Honeycomb.
In addition to the Post brands, the transaction includes four manufacturing facilities -- Battle Creek, Mich.; Jonesboro, Ark.; Modesto, Calif.; and Niagara Falls, Ontario -- and certain manufacturing equipment. Kraft anticipates that approximately 1,250 employees will join Ralcorp.
Kraft shareholders will own 54 percent of the new Ralcorp following the merger of the cereals business.
History
In 1903, 29-year-old James L. Kraft moved to Chicago, where he started selling cheese to grocers from a horse-drawn wagon. In his previous job as a clerk at a grocery store in his native Ontario, Canada, Kraft had learned first-hand that cheese was a highly perishable and unpredictable commodity. Now in business for himself, Kraft knew his success depended on offering cheese with consistent flavor and freshness.
In order to get the best cheese, Kraft made sure he was the first in line each day at the South Water Street market in downtown Chicago. After carefully selecting his cheese, the enterprising Kraft made personal calls to grocers, who liked the service because it saved them a trip to the wholesale market. To enhance his growing reputation, Kraft began to package cheese under the Kraft name - one of the first to take cheese from a commodity to a branded product.
Six years later, four of Kraft's brothers joined him, and they incorporated the business under the name of J.L. Kraft & Bros. Co., with J.L. Kraft as president. While the company was a success, Kraft began working on ways to improve certain qualities in cheese so that it would have longer store life and more consistent flavor. In 1911, the company expanded its offices and set up a makeshift laboratory to experiment with blending various cheeses, cooking temperatures, and mixing methods to produce high-quality products with a longer shelf life.
By 1915, Kraft discovered that if he heated and continuously stirred the cheese then placed it in a sterile container, when the cheese cooled, it would regain its solid state. Later that year, Kraft introduced process cheese in four-ounce tins, and with its consistent quality and improved shelf life, the product became an immediate success. The process cheese created such a demand that Kraft had to add new production areas and plants. In 1916, a patent for the "Process of Sterilizing Cheese and an Improved Product Produced by Such Process" was issued to Kraft. This patent marked a major milestone for Kraft, achieving his goal of revolutionizing the production of cheese.
In 1988, Kraft, Inc. is acquired by Philip Morris Companies Inc., making Philip Morris the world's largest consumer products company. The Kraft division would be combined with General Foods and Nabisco.
In 2001, Philip Morris offered shares in Kraft in an IPO.
In 2007, Altria Group (formerly Philip Morris) officially spun off Kraft Foods as an independent company.
Benefits
Medical Insurance Plans - Kraft offers medical insurance plan options
that help protect employees and their families against major
medical expenses. All plans include valuable preventive care
coverage, as well as prescription drug, mental health and substance
abuse and vision care programs.
Dental Insurance Plan - Kraft offers two dental plan options.
Both include 100% coverage for routine care as well as coverage
for minor and major restorative care. One option covers orthodontia
and TMJ services.
Heath Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) - The Health
Care FSA enables employees to set aside before-tax dollars to
pay for eligible healthcare expenses. An employee can contribute
up to $5,000 a year. Reimbursements are tax-free.
Life Insurance - Basic life insurance is provided at no
cost to employees. The company also offers optional, employee-paid
group universal life insurance and personal accident insurance.
Disability Plans - Kraft offers a disability plan that
helps protect employees' income while recovering from short-term
illnesses or injuries. Employees may also elect one of two optional,
employee-paid long-term disability plans for additional income
protection.
Business Travel Plan - Kraft provides travel insurance
for employees traveling on Kraft business.
Retirement Plan Kraft's retirement plan is fully
paid for by the Company and provides 100% vesting in the pension
benefit after five years of service. At retirement, eligible
employees receive a benefit based on a percentage of their final
average pay and years of service.
Thrift Plan - Kraft offers a 401(k) savings plan to which
salaried and most non-union hourly employees can contribute up
to 16% of pay. After one year of service, Kraft matches 75 cents
per dollar on the first 6% of pay saved. The plan offers a wide
array of investment options and an on-line tool for investment
advice. Employees may enroll upon date of hire and save on a
before-tax or after-tax basis, or a combination of both. New
employees can immediately roll over funds from previous employers'
401(k) plans.
Employee Assistance Program - This program is designed
to provide confidential professional assistance to employees
and their eligible dependents in dealing with personal problems
that may influence health, well-being or work effectiveness.
Resource and Referral Program - Kraft provides a wide
range of work-life resources at no cost to employees. These include
tips on nutrition and exercise, educational resources, child
care referrals, elder care referrals, adoption assistance, parenting
resources, and many other tools to help employees manage their
work and personal life.
Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) - The Dependent
Care FSA helps employees set aside before-tax dollars to pay
for eligible dependent care expenses such as child care and care
for an incapacitated adult dependent. Employees can contribute
up to $5,000 a year. Reimbursements are tax-free.
Vacations and Holidays - Kraft offers competitive vacation
and holiday schedules. Specific schedules vary, depending on
the local practices at each of our locations. Salaried employees
may also purchase additional vacation days during each year's
annual benefit enrollment.
Educational Assistance - Most Kraft business units provide
reimbursement (up to an annual maximum of $10,000) to employees
who complete educational studies at accredited colleges and universities
approved under the program's eligibility guidelines.
Group Auto and Home Insurance Program - Eligible employees
may insure their cars, homes and other personal property through
the convenience of payroll deduction and competitive group rates.
Group Legal Services - We offer an employee-paid legal
services program for assistance with real estate matters, wills,
document preparation, and other legal needs.
Long-Term Care Insurance - Kraft offers employees the
option to purchase insurance to cover the costs of custodial
care for themselves and their eligible spouses or their parents
and parents-in-law.
Updated November 25, 2007