CAREERS: Company CV - Kraft UK

Kraft Foods Inc operates in two major markets through Kraft Foods North America and Kraft Foods International.

The latter incorporates Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America and Asia Pacific.

Kraft UK's business spans five categories: coffee, cheese, confectionery, desserts and grocery. Its top brands include Kenco coffee, Dairylea cheese and Terry's Chocolate Orange.

In 1903, James Lewis Kraft opened a food shop in Chicago. The Kraft Cheese Company was formed in Europe in 1927. In 1985, Phillip Morris Companies Inc acquired General Foods and in 1988 bought Kraft Inc to form the world's biggest consumer products company.

Three years later, the two were merged to form Kraft General Foods Europe.

Jacobs Suchard was acquired in 1990 and in 1993, Phillip Morris combined the two to form Kraft Jacobs Suchard.

In the same year, Kraft General Foods International acquired Terry's of York and in 1994 purchased Lyons Signature, Lyons World of Coffee brands and a private label business from Allied Lyons.

In 2000, the group announced it would unite its various companies in Europe under the name Kraft Foods.

February 2003 saw its Kenco Rappor coffee brand sponsor a selection of comedy, reality and entertainment programmes on Channel Four and E4. The £1.5m deal was part of the coffee brand's 'Live now, sleep later' integrated media strategy. Sponsored shows included The Comedy Lab on terrestrial TV and Banzai on E4.

Later that month, Kraft invested £1m in a promotional link-up between Dairylea Lunchables and Cartoon Network. The activity involved on-pack promotions for the channel's Stack-a-Toon weekend.

In March, Kraft launched Philadelphia Mini Tubs - packs of four snap-off portions. The launch was supported by a £2m marketing campaign, including TV ads featuring the Philadelphia girls.

In July, Dairylea launched a TV ad created by J Walter Thompson featuring animated cows showing ways of using Dairylea as a cooking ingredient, such as adding it to pasta. The campaign originally broke in April 2003 and was the first major activity in the cheese-spread sector for five years.

In October, Dairylea Lunchables began an on-pack campaign based on The Simpsons cartoon. Billington Cartmell devised the work, which featured an instant-win competition.

Net revenue $29.7m (£16.3m)
Operating income $6.3m (£3.5m)
Employees 50,000 worldwide
(Year to December 31 2002)
Advertising agency
J Walter Thompson
Media agency
ZenithOptimedia
New media agency
Zed Media
Outdoor agency
Meridian Outdoor
Adspend (year to November 2003)
TV £8.7m
Outdoor £2.8m
Press £2.2m
Cinema £1.5m
Direct mail £129,454
Radio £192,984
Total £15.5m
Source: ACNielsen MMS
Top marketer Maria Surricchio, marketing director
UK headquarters
St George's House, Bayshill Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 3AE
Tel: 01242 236 101
Fax: 01295 258 015
Web site: www.kraftfoods.co.uk

This article was first published on Marketing