food

Kraft Foods Forms Two New Business Groups

Kraft Foods Group has announced plans to create two new, stand-alone business units: Meals and Desserts, and Enhancers and Snack Nuts.

The new business structures and leadership appointments will be effective July 1. 

Creating the new units will enable Kraft Foods to "place even greater focus on brand-building, while reducing the complexity of managing a portfolio with many distinct brands and product categories," according to the company.

"Since we launched the new Kraft, we've focused heavily on turbo-charging our iconic brands," said Kraft CEO Tony Vernon in a statement. "And we've made a lot of progress thanks to great marketing and innovation. With the creation of our two newest business units and great leaders in place, we're taking an important step to strengthen our focus on some of the most beloved brands in North America."

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The new business units are being created by dividing the brands in the company's Grocery segment into two stand-alone units. The new units will include many of Kraft's leading brands.

Categories and brands that have natural synergies, such as Cool Whip and JELL-O, will remain together, while the Planters brand will benefit from having the snack nuts and peanut butter categories managed under one leadership structure, according to Kraft. 

The Meals and Desserts unit will include Cool Whip whipped topping, Jet-Puffed marshmallows, JELL-O dry packaged and ready-to-eat desserts, Kraft Mac & Cheese dinner, Shake 'N Bake coatings, Stove Top stuffing mix and Velveeta dinners and meal kits.

The Enhancers and Snack Nuts unit will include A.1. steak sauce, Grey Poupon mustards, Kraft and Bulls-Eye barbecue sauces, Kraft and Good Seasons dressings, and Kraft and Miracle Whip spoonable dressings, as well as Planters nuts, trail mixes and peanut butters.

With the new units' creation, Kraft will as of July 1 have five business units -- the two new ones plus Beverages, Cheese, Refrigerated Meals, and International & Foodservice.

Kraft will begin reporting the financial results of the two new business units as separate segments at the end of its fiscal 2013 third quarter. The company will also make historical results for these new segments available by the end of that quarter.

New Unit Leaders

The leaders of the new business units will report directly to CEO Vernon. Michael Osanloo has been named EVP and president of the Meals and Desserts Unit. Osanloo is currently EVP and president of Kraft's Grocery business unit, in which capacity he has spearheaded the reinvigoration of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and Velveeta dinners, according to Kraft. Osanloo's team also launched one of Kraft's most recent new product successes: Velveeta Cheesy Skillets.

Jane Hilk has been named EVP and president of the Enhancers and Snack Nuts unit.Hilk, a 22-year Kraft veteran, currently serves as SVP of marketing for Oscar Mayer. Under her leadership, the business launched ground-breaking new advertising campaigns for its flagship brands and introduced Oscar Mayer Selects, one of Kraft's newest $100-million product lines.

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