kraft & bros. co. national dairy products kraft foods inc. type public traded as nasdaq mdlz industry food processing predecessor kraft foods inc. 1923 2012 founded 2012 2012 chicago illinois united states founder thomas h. mcinnerney headquarters deerfield illinois united states area served worldwide key people irene rosenfeld chairman & ceo revenue us 29.6 billion 2015 1 operating income us 8.9 billion 2015 1 profit us 7.3 billion 2015 1 total assets us 72.56 billion 2013 total equity us 32.37 billion 2013 parent kraft foods 1923 2012 website www.mondelezinternational.com mondelez international styled mondel z mo nd li z 2 is an american multinational confectionery food and beverage company based in illinois which employs about 107 000 people around the world . it consists of the global snack and food brands of the former kraft foods inc after the october 2012 spin off of its north american grocery operations . the mondelez name adopted in 2012 was suggested by kraft foods employees and is a combination of the words for world and delicious in romance languages . 3 4 the company headquartered in the chicago suburb of deerfield illinois 5 manufactures chocolate biscuits gum confectionery coffee and powdered beverages . mondelez international s portfolio includes several billion dollar brands such as oreo chips ahoy tuc belvita triscuit lu nabisco club social barni and peek freans cookies and crackers ; milka terry s c te d or toblerone cadbury marabou fry s and lacta chocolate ; trident dentyne chiclets halls stride and cadbury gum and candy ; and tang powdered beverages . the company has an annual revenue of about 30 billion and operates in approximately 165 countries . 6 mondelez canada holds the rights to christie brown and company which consists of brands such as mr. christie and dad s cookies . its head office is in mississauga ontario with operations in scarborough and montreal . contents 1 history 1.1 origins 1.2 kraft 1.3 national dairy acquisition of kraft phenix 1.4 national dairy becomes kraft 1.5 dart merger 1.6 philip morris acquisition and merger with general foods 1.7 business moves 1.7.1 cadbury purchase 1.7.2 sale of frozen pizza division 1.7.3 kraft foods group and douwe egberts 1.8 attempted hershey acquisition 2 controversies 2.1 trans fat litigation 2.2 political campaign 2.3 environmental record 2.4 wheat futures price fixing allegation 3 recalls 4 persons of the history of mondel z 5 references 6 external links history edit origins edit mondelez international is rooted in the national dairy products corporation national dairy which was founded on december 10 1923 by thomas h. mcinnerney . 7 the company was formed to execute a rollup strategy in the fragmented united states ice cream industry and with acquisitions it expanded into the full range of dairy products . mcinnerney operated the hydrox corporation a chicago ice cream company . in 1923 he went to wall street to ask investment bankers to finance his plan to consolidate the united states ice cream industry . mcinnerney initially encountered resistance with one banker disparaging the dairy industry . he persevered convincing a consortium including goldman sachs and lehman brothers to finance a rollup strategy . 8 as a result national dairy was formed with the merger of mcinnerney s hydrox with the rieck mcjunkin dairy company of pittsburgh . the company was listed on the new york stock exchange with its initial public offering of 125 000 shares oversubscribed . 7 national dairy grew quickly through a large number of acquisitions ; typical of a rollup strategy acquisitions were primarily for national dairy stock instead of cash . the company acquired more than 55 firms between 1923 and 1931 including year firm sector location 1924 w.e. hoffman ice cream pennsylvania 1925 dunkin ice cream ice cream illinois 1925 sheffield farms fluid milk ice cream new york 1926 breyers ice cream ice cream pennsylvania 1928 breakstone brothers fluid milk cheese new york 1928 general ice cream ice cream new york east coast 1929 hiland dairy fluid milk kentucky 1930 kraft phenix cheese us international 1931 consolidated dairy products ice cream other dairy new york new jersey kraft edit kraft foods logo used on kraft products born in stevensville ontario in 1874 james l. kraft emigrated to the united states in 1903 and began a wholesale door to door cheese business in chicago . his first year of operations was dismal when he lost 3 000 and a horse . however the business took hold and kraft was joined by his four brothers to form the j. l. kraft and bros. company in 1909 . in 1912 the company established a headquarters in new york city to prepare for international expansion . by 1914 31 varieties of cheese were sold across the us and kraft opened a subsidiary cheese factory in illinois . 9 in 1915 the company developed pasteurized processed cheese which did not require refrigeration and had a longer shelf life than conventional cheese . 9 the following year kraft began national advertising and made its first acquisition a canadian cheese company . 9 in 1924 the company changed its name to the kraft cheese company and was listed on the chicago stock exchange . 9 two years later it was listed on the new york stock exchange . kraft then began to consolidate the us dairy industry through acquisition competing with national dairy and borden . acquisitions included year company products 1927 a. e. wright salad dressings 1928 phenix cheese cheese other dairy products 1928 southern dairies fluid milk milk powder other dairy products 1928 henard mayonnaise company mayonnaise 1929 d. j. easton mayonnaise 1929 international wood products wood products 1929 gelfand manufacturing manufactured goods in 1928 kraft acquired the phenix cheese company manufacturer of philadelphia cream cheese and changed its name to kraft phenix . citation needed the following year the new york times reported that kraft phenix the hershey company and colgate were considering a merger . 10 by 1930 kraft phenix controlled 40 percent of the us cheese market in the us and was the country s third largest dairy company after national dairy and borden . that year the company began operating in australia after a merger with fred walker & co. 9 national dairy acquisition of kraft phenix edit at the 1930 acquisition national dairy had sales of 315 million compared with 85 million for kraft phenix . national dairy management ran the company . after the acquisition the company was known as national dairy and its management ran the company until 1969 when it was renamed kraftco . 11 although the company s sales were historically dairy products its product lines began to diversify from dairy products to caramel candies macaroni and cheese dinners and margarine . during the 1950s it began to move away from low value added commodity dairy products such as fluid milk . 12 in 1933 national dairy began advertising on radio . two years later sealtest ice cream was introduced as a national brand replacing the company s regional brands . 9 during world war ii the company sent britain four million pounds of cheese weekly . 9 around this time thomas mcinnerney and james l. kraft died ; in the late 1950s national dairy further diversified acquiring metro glass in 1956 . 9 in 1947 the company sponsored an hour long drama anthology series kraft television theatre . the product advertised on the program maclaren s imperial cheese was selected because ... it had not only had no advertising appropriation whatsoever but had not even been distributed for several years . according to internal documents of j. walter thompson the advertising firm which conceived the marketing test although there was no other advertising support for it whatsoever still grocery stores could not keep up with the demand . 13 during the 1960s kraft introduced fruit jellies fruit preserves marshmallows barbecue sauce and kraft singles individually wrapped cheese slices . 9 during that decade the company expanded acquiring dominion dairies of canada in 1961 in its first effort to expand into fluid milk and ice cream outside the united states . 14 national dairy becomes kraft edit in 1969 national dairy changed its name to kraftco corporation expansion and innovation have taken us far afield from the regional milk and ice cream business we started with in 1923 . dollar sales of these original products have remained relatively static over the past ten years and in 1969 accounted for approximately 25 % of our sales . 15 the company moved to glenview illinois in 1972 ; 9 four years later its name changed to kraft as part of a reorganization emphasizing its trademark . 9 dart merger edit in 1980 kraft merged with dart industries manufacturers of duracell batteries tupperware plastic containers west bend home appliances wilsonart plastics and thatcher glass to form dart and kraft . 9 during the decade the company offered mixed results to its shareholders as new acquisitions in the food business such as churny cheese lender s bagels frusen gladje ice cream and celestial seasonings tea slightly offset its lagging nonfood business tupperware and kitchenaid . dart and kraft spun off its nonfood business except duracell into a new entity premark international and changed its name back to kraft . premark was bought by illinois tool works in 1999 . in 1988 kraft sold duracell to private equity firm kohlberg kravis roberts which included it in a 1989 initial public offering . 9 philip morris acquisition and merger with general foods edit kraft foods factory in banbury s ruscote estate . it has been a major employer in the town since 1965 . 16 at the end of 1988 philip morris purchased kraft for 12.9 billion . the following year kraft merged with philip morris s general foods unit manufacturers of oscar mayer meats maxwell house coffee jell o gelatin budget gourmet frozen dinners entenmann s baked goods kool aid crystal light and tang powdered beverage mixes post cereals shake n bake flavored coatings and other packaged foods as kraft general foods . product development slowed after the merger due to the company s size . 9 in 1990 the company acquired jacobs suchard a large european coffee and confectionery company and freia marabou a scandinavian confectionery maker to expand overseas . three years later it acquired rjr nabisco s cold cereal business primarily shredded wheat and shreddies cereals selling the breyers ice cream division to unilever and the birds eye unit to dean foods . in 1994 the company sold its frozen dinner unit to heinz and the following year it sold its food service unit . 9 in 1995 the company changed its name to kraft foods and sold its bakery division except lender s bagels which was sold to cpc international the following year its candy division and its table spreads division . log cabin syrup was sold in 1997 . 9 business moves edit in 2000 philip morris acquired nabisco for 18.9 billion and merged the company with kraft foods . 9 four years later it sold its sugar confectionery division to the wrigley company divesting milk bone and some grocery brands in 2006 and cream of wheat its juice drinks and fruit2o in 2007 . investor nelson peltz bought a three percent stake at kraft foods and explored revitalizing the company 17 by acquiring the wendy s fast food chain or selling post cereals and maxwell house coffee . 17 in july 2007 the company bought groupe danone s biscuit and cereal division including the french biscuit brand lef vre utile for 7.2 billion . 17 18 although pepsico s planned hostile takeover of the french company two years earlier had sparked protest kraft s announcement was received differently in part because kraft agreed not to close french factories and to keep the merged divisions headquarters near paris for at least three years . 17 in february 2008 berkshire hathaway run by investor warren buffett announced that it