Irene Rosenfeld, chairman and CEO of Kraft Foods Inc., recently highlighted the solid progress the company has made during the first six months of executing its long-term growth strategy. Kraft's four growth strategies are:
- Rewire the organization for growth
- Reframe the company's categories to make its portfolio more relevant to consumers
- Exploit Kraft's sales capab
- Drive down costs without compromising product quality
Rosenfeld reported that the company is spending an incremental $300 to $400 million in 2007 on product quality improvements, new products and increased marketing. In North America, the company is focusing incremental investments on five large, highly profitable categories: macaroni &cheese, pizza, biscuits, cheese and coffee. In the European Union, the company is taking a backto- basics approach to building core brands, particularly in its large chocolate and coffee categories. And, in developing markets, Kraft is coupling this back-to-basics approach with expanded distribution in traditional trade channels in key markets. Kraft is also making significant changes to its leadership, reward systems and structure. In the midst of change, Kraft remains confident in its 2007 outlook. Last month, the company raised its organic net revenue growth expectation for the year to more than 4 percent. The company also remains on track to deliver $1 billion in savings from its $3 billion, multi-year restructuring program.
