Innovative new foods and beverages meet consumer needs for health & wellness, convenience and premium taste
NORTHFIELD, IL – May 5, 2006 – What are consumers looking for in foods and beverages today? According to Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT), a global leader in branded foods and beverages, the answer lies in innovative products that meet consumer needs for health and wellness, convenience and premium taste. Kraft will showcase more than 60 new products that address these needs at the 2006 Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Supermarket Convention and Educational Exposition, May 7-9, in Chicago.
"The consumer is at the core of all our new product innovations at Kraft," explains Brian Driscoll, Senior Vice President, Customer Development Organization for Kraft North America Commercial. "By leveraging our proprietary technologies and the scale of our company, we are developing great foods and beverages that help consumers around the world eat and live better."
Nutritious and Delicious
While consumers increasingly recognize the importance of incorporating nutritious foods and beverages into their diets, taste is clearly the most important factor in selecting which items to purchase.1 With this in mind, Kraft is expanding its portfolio of great-tasting, better-for-you options, including many foods and beverages that feature the company’s Sensible Solution flag, Kraft’s nutrition labeling program that helps consumers easily identify better-for-you choices from among its many products.
A number of these products now carrying the Sensible Solution flag will be on display at FMI, including new entries from Lunchables, such as Fun Pack Mini Hot Dogs and Pizza; Capri Sun Roarin’ Waters Fruit Flavored Water – the first nationally distributed flavored water designed to help kids meet their daily fluid intake needs – in three delicious flavors; and Grape-Nuts Trail Mix Crunch Cereal, featuring a crunchy combination of oat clusters, raisins, almonds and a touch of honey. And Kraft continues to build on the outstanding success of its 100 Calorie Packs from Nabisco, adding three new cookie and cracker varieties, including Wheat Thins Multigrain Chips, and the first 100-calorie nutrition energy snack bar, Balance Bar 100 Calories Bar.
Kraft also is offering a number of whole grain options, including DiGiorno Harvest Wheat Crust Pizza in three Rising Crust and two thin crispy crust varieties, and four varieties of 100% Whole Grain from Nabisco Cookies and Crackers. The company’s South Beach Diet product line, which topped $170 million in sales in 2005, is expanding with 20 new products in 2006. And for consumers who want to enjoy a treat after their meal, Kraft is unveiling sugar free alternatives of Cool Whip and Jell-O Pudding Snacks.
E-Z Does It
Whether it’s to save time preparing meals at home, provide nourishment away from home or to simply help unwind after a busy day, consumers are seeking food and beverage choices that fit within their hectic lives. Kraft continues to respond to consumers’ changing needs with convenient new products such as Kraft to Go! Crackers and Cheese, featuring Kraft Natural cheese paired with mini Nabisco crackers in a portable container; a revolutionary Kraft Grate-It-Fresh Parmesan Cheese Grater that delivers fresh grated taste in one easy twist; Back to Nature On-the-Go Snacks in Crispy Cheddars, Crispy Wheats and Honey Graham Sticks; microwaveable South Beach Diet Breakfast Wraps; and Crystal Light On-the-Go and Kool-Aid Singles Soft Drink Mix, individual packets designed for easy, convenient mixing with bottled water. Kraft has even found a way to make dunking an Oreo Cookie more convenient: new limited edition Oreo Dunkers Cookies in an oblong shape that makes it easy and fun to sink an Oreo into an ice cold glass of milk.
Flavor-full Offerings
More than ever before, consumers have access to a plethora of new foods and flavors. In fact, 80 percent of Americans say they enjoy foods and drinks that have distinct flavors, while 69 percent say they enjoy experimenting with new foods.2 Kraft is helping to bring these dynamic tastes and flavors to the mainstream by expanding its offerings of premium-quality products that deliver on many of today’s popular flavor trends. For example, Kraft is debuting its latest pizza innovation at FMI – DiGiorno Garlic Bread Pizza – which brings together two all-time favorites in one great new product.
Kraft also is serving up a great cup of premium coffee from its Gevalia, Tassimo and Yuban brands that boast intriguing varieties like Harrar from Ethiopia (Gevalia) and Rainforest Alliance Certified™ Dark Roast (Yuban). Meanwhile, the Tassimo Hot Beverage System, the first one-cup, on-demand machine to create a variety of authentic coffeehouse beverages – including coffee, tea, cappuccino, espresso, lattes and hot chocolate – all at the touch of a button, continues its expansion in North America, with its launch in Canada, new T DISC varieties and a new brewer in the United States and expanded distribution points in select U.S. mass merchandisers and club stores later this year
The "Beach" is also a great place to find some of today’s hottest flavors thanks to four new South Beach Diet Frozen Entrees featuring authentic Asian-inspired flavors, like Kung Pao Chicken and Szechwan Style Pork. The A.1. brand has created a quick, convenient and delicious way to add flavor to seafood with new A.1. Marinades for Seafood in Ginger Teriyaki with Orange, Mango Chipotle, and Roasted Garlic with Lemon varieties. And grill masters looking to add some kick to summertime cookouts can turn to four new bold offerings of Bull’s-Eye Barbecue Sauces, including Smokin’ Chipotle and Raging Buffalo flavors.
Finally, the ultimate authority on premium taste, freshness and quality – Mr. Peanut – has outdone himself this year. To celebrate the centennial anniversary of Planters, the nutty icon is helping introduce four varieties of Planters Nut Lovers Mixes, which feature 50 percent of the "favorite" nut types, including Cashews, Macadamias, Pecans and Pistachios, in each mix. Planters Nut Lover Mixes were created especially for people who have particular tastes when it comes to nuts.
With the theme, "Kraft Plus: Global Resources, Local Solutions," Kraft’s booth (#1637) is expected to draw more than 15,000 visitors.
Kraft Foods markets many of the world’s leading food brands, including Kraft cheese, Maxwell House and Jacobs coffees, Nabisco cookies and crackers, Philadelphia cream cheese, Oscar Mayer meats, Post cereals and Milka chocolates, in more than 150 countries.
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About Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT) is the world's second-largest food and beverage company. For more than 100 years, we've been dedicated to helping people around the world eat and live better. Hundreds of millions of times a day, in more than 150 countries, consumers reach for their favorite Kraft brands including Kraft cheeses and dinners, Jacobs, Gevalia and Maxwell House coffees, Oscar Mayer meats, DiGiorno pizzas, Oreo cookies, Ritz and Wheat Thins crackers and chips, Philadelphia cream cheese, Milka and Côte d'Or chocolates, Honey Bunches of Oats cereals, Good Seasons salad dressings and Tang refreshment beverage. They've also started adding our Tassimo hot beverage system, South Beach Diet line and a growing range of better-for-you Sensible Solution products to their shopping baskets, continually expanding their list of Kraft favorites.
1 2006 NMI Health & Wellness Trends Report
2 Roper Reports Worldwide 2005
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please see complete Kraft Foods new product list enclosed in this press kit for more details on these and more new food and beverage innovations being unveiled by Kraft at the 2006 FMI Supermarket Convention and Educational Exposition. Digital photo images of the individual products can be obtained at www.kraft.com/newsroom/press.html and additional product information and recipes can be accessed on a new Media Only website at www.kraftfoods.com/FoodandFamilyPRPortal/Home/.