Cadbury CEO Todd Stitzer told a fair trade conference in London on Thursday that taking away its “principled capitalism” would destroy Cadbury’s appeal, according to the UK’s Guardian newspaper.
Cadbury has given a confident presentation of its stand-alone strategy in the midst of speculation that the company is unlikely to hold onto its independence following Kraft’s failed take-over bid.
Kraft Foods has defended its valuation of the Cadbury business and insisted that it remains the most logical buyer for the UK confectionery manufacturer.
Kraft Foods has confirmed it has had an initial takeover bid for Cadbury rejected but said it intends to work towards a deal that would create a $50bn food industry powerhouse.
The need to maximise profit combined with a desire to help the environment have been major drivers in Kraft slashing water use in its food processing operations by more than 20 per cent in three years, the company said.
Kraft Foods is continuing to sharpen its focus on core brands with its latest divestment announcement – the sale of its Nordic and Baltic salted snack business to a private equity firm.
Northern Foods and Kraft have successfully offset high commodity costs by focusing on core brands, while Weston Foods suffered an operating income decline of 30 per cent.
US food giant Kraft has set up a new Spanish and Portuguese Kraft
subsidiary following the purchase of Groupe Danone's global biscuit
business, including LU Iberia, in November 2007.
Kraft Foods announced on 24 April that it has signed agreements to
sell its Artiach biscuits business in Spain to Barcelona-based
bakery Panrico and its Balaton chocolate trademark in Hungary to
Nestle.
A labour union at Kraft's Chinese division said the firm violated
labour laws by not adequately informing its employees about the
relocation of its headquarters in the country, according to local
news reports.
Global food firms Kraft and Sara Lee yesterday said they expected
to experience growth over the course of 2008, despite the impact of
the current commodity squeeze.
Global food giant Kraft yesterday posted fourth quarter profit
losses of six per cent, despite higher volume sales of chocolate,
biscuit and beverage brands.
Global food giant Kraft yesterday denied making a bid for Brazilian
poultry company Perdigao, despite a flurry of merger and
acquisition activity over the last year.
Heinz posts a nearly 10 per cent increase in operating profits;
Kraft finalises the acquisition of Danone's biscuit division; and
Korean company Lotte moves into the Japanese cake market.
Food giant Kraft Foods today announced a demerger of its Post
Cereal brand to Ralcorp Holdings for $2.6bn of stock and cash,
as part of the company's strategy to concentrate on core divisions.
Kraft Foods is set to take an even larger share of the global
snack market after receiving conditional approval by the European
Commission to purchase the biscuit, cereals and snack division of
Danone.
Kraft signs the legal documents to
acquire Danone's biscuit unit; Kellogg's will increase its
advertisement spend; and new research suggests that boiling nuts
retains their antioxidant properties.
The European Commission announced it has extended the time
limit on its inquiry into Kraft's proposal to purchase
Danone's biscuit division, after both parties submitted new
information relevant to the deal.
Kraft Foods will drive down costs by $1bn (€732m), rejig its global
portfolio, and exploit its sales capabilities, in a bid to make the
company more profitable, the company's top executive stated at a
conference this week.
Kraft explains its approach to health and wellness in the second of
a series of FoodNavigator-USA.com articles examining the practices
of major US food firms in the face of a growing need to address
human nutrition.
Kraft may be selling the US based cereals business for as much as
$3bn (€2.2bn), because of pressure from new legislation in regards
to advertising to children, according to a report by the Wall
Street Journal.
US snack giant Kraft has announced new initiatives which, it
claims, will enable the company to hit long-term targets and
reverse its recent revenue downturn.
US Food giant Kraft has completed its acquisition of United
Biscuits' Iberian biscuit sector in a $1.07bn (€836m) deal that
will increase its already-strong presence in Europe.
Leading food manufacturer Kraft has paid £575m (€829.6m) for United
Biscuit's southern European snack business. The deal was signed off
over the weekend, said British daily The Financial Times.
American manufacturer Kraft will make a bid for United Biscuit's
southern European division, while Premier Foods and a Dutch equity
firm negotiate for stakes in UB's northern European operations.
US food firm Kraft has launched a customer-led research and
development programme, in a bid to re-engage with consumers and tap
growing health and wellness trends.
Kraft Foods has recorded stable first quarter results, masking
falling operating income with a favourable tax settlement and
raising prices to combat spiralling production costs.
US manufacturer Kraft Foods has announced a "fewer, bigger, better"
policy, concentrating on crucial brands in key areas as the firm
suffers from lagging performance.
US manufacturer Kraft Foods has announced a massive extension to
its three-year restructuring plan that will see a further 8,000
jobs and 20 production plants go, as the company absorbs rising
energy and ingredient costs.
Kraft Foods, the US snack and dairy firm, has agreed to remove all
genetically modified ingredients from its products in China, in a
sign anti-GM attitudes are on the increase.
Kraft Foods has confirmed that it is increasing prices of many of
its products in the United States by an average of 3.9 per cent
because of rising energy and packaging costs caused by higher
global oil prices.
Leading US food manufacturer Kraft Foods has taken another step in
the direction of health and wellness, launching a new line of
wholegrain snack products under its Nabisco brand.
On the back of growing consumer interest in healthy eating, leading
US food maker Kraft Foods is focusing on its increasingly
successful health and wellness segment, announcing plans to further
limit products advertised to children...
Food giant Kraft Foods, the maker of Maxwell House coffee and
Nabisco cookies, will push funds behind 'fewer, bigger and better
new product ideas' to fuel sustainable growth.
The leading US food maker Kraft Foods is putting its weight behind
the increasingly popular South Beach diet, launching a new line of
foods for people following the regime, reports Lorraine
Heller.
Kraft Foods is helping to finance a seat at the Monell Chemical
Senses Center, which should help scientists - and food companies -
to learn more about the intensity and quality of flavors.
Kraft Foods, the world's biggest food company, has announced its US
operation is to provide consumers with more nutritional information
about its products - a precedent already set by its UK division,
Tom Armitage reports.
Despite attempts by Kraft Foods to give the company a healthier
image, earnings fell for the fifth straight quarter as higher
commodity costs and retail price pressures took their toll.
The rising pressure on US food producers to play their part in
improving the health of the world's fattest nation has led Kraft
Foods to promise more nutritional information on selected snack,
dairy and beverage products - a...
Increasingly health conscious US consumers chose to bypass the
snack packs of food giant Kraft in the second quarter, a trend
which weighed heavily on profits at the country's biggest food
maker. But a major marketing push highlighting...