FOOD INDUSTRY

Food Industry

Food Industry

Introduction

The manufacturing company that I selected to research upon is Kraft Foods Group, Incorporated. It operates in the Food Industry (Industry Week, p.n.d.). The company began its operations in Chicago in the early 20th century. It gets its name from its founder, James Lewis Kraft, who was an American-Canadian inventor and businessman. He along with four of his brothers opened up the company. Their business growth and expansion began when they extended business to New York in 1912. Kraft Foods Inc. produces a number of food products, but is mostly renowned for its cheese variety. It began from conducting wholesale business of cheese in early 20th century and moving on to manufacture cheese under its own corporate label. The company opened up a factory in Illinois under the supervision of James L. Kraft and his brothers, and soon went on to be included in the list of companies registered with the Chicago Stock Exchange. At that time, it was known by the name of “Kraft Cheese Company”.

The company has undergone many mergers in its short history, from being called “Kenco Coffee Company ™” back in 1923 to becoming “General Foods Corporation” in 1929. In 1988, the largest consumer products company in the world was created when Kraft, Inc. became a part of Philip Morris Companies, Inc. That company's food division went on to form Kraft General Foods in 1989, after which numerous acquisitions were made, such as European brand Jacobs Suchard in 1990 and Terry's (York) in 1993. All three of these businesses stepped forward and joined hands in 1994 to form “Kraft Jacobs Suchard”. The parent company made an acquisition of Nabisco holdings, which led to the expansion of Kraft's product lines. An Initial Public Offering of shares for Kraft Foods, Inc. was held by Philip Morris Companies, Inc. in June of 2001. In 2012, the company gave away its confectionary and snacks business to Mondelez International.

Today the company is operating in around 170 di9fferent countries, and is the proud owner of certain iconic brand names, such as Cadbury, Oreo, and LU, to name just a few (Kraft Foods, p.n.d.). Like every large and renowned company, Kraft Foods, Inc. has also faced certain issues regarding unethical organizational behavior, which this paper aims to review.

Business Description

Kraft Foods, Incorporated is traded under the label KRFT on Nasdaq Stock Exchange. It has been operational since 1903, and is currently operating in the Food Processing Industry. It has been conducting business in various different food industry segments, such as confectionery, cheese, beverages, snacks, dairy products, convenience foods, etc. Some of its brands include Jell-O, Peek Freans, Tang, Oreo, Oscar-Mayer, LU, Cadbury, Miracle Whip Cheese, Lunchables, Ritz, Nutter-Butter, Estella, Polly-O, Velveeta, etc. Majority of its products include food processing products, which are foods that are processed with various chemical ingredients as well as animal by-products. These foods typically have long expiry dates and therefore have a long shelf-life, which becomes convenient for marketing ...