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Companies that vanished: General Foods gobbles up rivals, then gets gobbled

Trey Thoelcke — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:15:00 EST

Filed under: Products and Services, Competitive Strategy, Altria Group (MO), Kraft Foods'A' (KFT), Entrepreneurs

This post is part of a series on some of the most memorable companies that have disappeared.

The history of General Foods can be traced back to the Postum Cereal Company, founded by Charles William Post, inventor of Postum and Grape Nuts, in 1895. Wall Street player E.F. Hutton in time became the chairman, and he initiated a series of acquisitions beginning in 1925: Jell-O, Minute Tapioca, Log Cabin, Hellmann, Calumet Baking Powder, and Birdseye. It was after the Birdseye acquisition in 1929 that the food conglomerate became General Foods.

Among General Foods' many product offerings were Sanka decaffinated coffee and the astronaut's favorite, Tang. General Foods also continued to make acquisitions, including the makers of Kool-Aid in 1953, the Burger Chef restaurant chain in 1968, and Oscar Mayer in 1981.

But late in 1985, General Foods was itself acquired by Philip Morris Cos., which later became Altria Group (NYSE: MO), in the largest non-oil acquisition to date. When Philip Morris acquired Kraft in 1988, the two food companies were merged. In 2007, Altria spun off Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT), which now owns such former General Foods brands as Jell-O, Kool-Aid, and Maxwell House coffee. And it was announced in late 2007 that Post Cereals, including Grape Nuts, would be sold to Ralcorp Holdings (NYSE: RAH).

Continue reading Companies that vanished: General Foods gobbles up rivals, then gets gobbled

Companies that vanished: General Foods gobbles up rivals, then gets gobbled originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have you had your fruit (product) today?

Kevin Shult — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:14:00 EST

Filed under: Launches, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, PepsiCo (PEP), Marketing and Advertising, Kraft Foods'A' (KFT)

Americans are having a love affair with anything that contains even a hint of fruit. Consumer demand is so high, the U.S. is on a pace to roll out a record number of products that claim to have fruit content, according to Datamonitor. There have been over 240 fruit-related products launched in the past six months alone, compared to 124 in all of 2000.

Marketers have taken the fruit craze so seriously that Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) will launch nine products in 27 fruity varieties this year. Other products include PepsiCo Inc.'s (NYSE: PEP) Frito-Lay brand Flat Earth Baked Fruit Crisps, with half a serving of fruit per ounce. Kraft's Jell-O is launching its first ready-to-eat Jell-O cut with fruit pieces, aptly named Fruit Passions. Baskin-Robins' has come out with a kid-friendly mixed berry blend called Penguin Swirl that turns your tongue black.

The fruit craze comes two years after the government changed the Food Pyramid's recommended level of fruit and vegetable consumption, which created greater demand. Tom Vierhile, director of Datamonitor's Productscan Online, told USA Today that some marketers may also be looking for ways to get their banned products back in schools. "Fruit gives a positive that marketers can talk up."

But schools, as well as the general public, need to be savvy label readers. While some new products might be"fruit-infused," they're not always healthy. Krispy Kreme's (NYSE: KKD) jelly-filled donuts could never be seen as a "healthier alternative" to those delicious creme-filled donuts. What ever happened to a good ol' piece of fruit? Caveat cenator.

Have you had your fruit (product) today? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kraft Foods worth a look as a stand alone stock

Victoria Erhart — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:52:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings Reports, Good news, Bad News, Management, Competitive Strategy, Kraft Foods'A' (KFT)

Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) was spun off by Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) on March 30, into an independent company. In its first independent quarter, Kraft profits dropped 30% to $720 million. But this is far from the full story. Much of the decline in profits can be attributed to one time restructuring costs, and Kraft even managed to beat analyst expectations by a penny as revenues increased 5.7% to $8.6 billion for the quarter.

Now that it is an independent company, is the stock a good investment? I would argue that, in a few months, the $33 per share will seem like a bargain once the restructuring charges are recouped and the new market and product initiatives begin to gain traction.

Continue reading Kraft Foods worth a look as a stand alone stock

Kraft Foods worth a look as a stand alone stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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