Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) is a company based in the United States which operates in the consumer goods sector. Kraft is currently considered the largest food and beverage company in the United States with 98,000 employees and $66.7 billion in total assets. Kraft Foods Inc. owns many popular brands including Cadbury, Oscar Mayer and Maxwell House. In recent news, Kraft Foods Inc. became a part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Currently Kraft produces many different products, including but not limited to cheese, other dairy products, coffee, hot dogs, lunch meats, chocolate and gum.
Kraft Foods started in 1909 Chicago, Illinois by Canadian-born James L. Kraft and his four brothers. At the time it was named J.L Kraft and Bro's Company. By 1912 Kraft and his brothers took the company to New York where they would prepare to bring their company for additional expansion. In 1914, due to mass marketing the brand had taken off and Kraft had began selling thirty-one sorts of cheese throughout the United States. When 1921 came around, J.L Kraft and Bro's Company underwent a name change and became Kraft Cheese Company. During 1921 Kraft underwent some additional changes, they began buying additional dairy companies and became listed on the Chicago stock exchange as Kraft Foods stock price.
By 1927 Kraft Cheese Company had gone international, reaching London, United Kingdom and Hamburg, Germany. Between 1928 and 1969, Kraft had continued to grow, buying out and merging with several top brands at the time including National Dairy, and Phenix Cheese company and became known as Kraftco.
In 1980, Kraft broke its typical product range and merged with Dart industries. The new company took up the name Dart and Kraft. Kraft later sold off the non-food products returning to the Kraft Inc. name due to sliding shares in early 1988. Later in the year, Philip Morris bought Kraft and later merged with Philip Morris' other product line in general foods. In 1995, Kraft Inc. became known as Kraft Foods Inc. and has since become a recognized brand everywhere.
