Kraft Foods Redefines Its Recipe For Success

Two years into its three-year turnaround plan to return to sustainable growth, Kraft Foods CEO Irene Rosenfeld yesterday unveiled the new, reinvented Kraft Foods she promised investors -- which centers around the theme "Make Today Delicious."

"'Make Today Delicious' defines, unites and inspires us by capturing the essence of Kraft Foods," said Rosenfeld. "During the past two years, we've built a solid foundation by reinvesting in our brands, putting a new organization in place and improving our cost structure. As the next step in our turnaround, we're adding three new ingredients to our recipe for success -- a higher purpose that acts as a common call to action, values in action that guide our behavior and a new look and feel to visually depict our renewed energy. Together, they will accelerate our journey from good to great."

To define the new Kraft Foods, the company engaged thousands of employees and consumers worldwide via social networking tools and interactive focus groups.

"Employees and consumers told us loud and clear: delicious is our difference," said Rosenfeld. "'Delicious' will be the litmus test for everything we do. When times are tough, we all need to feel part of something bigger, so this new direction could not have come at a better time."

According to Kraft, "Make Today Delicious" articulates what the new Kraft Foods is all about, from the food it makes to the experiences it creates for consumers. "Whether it's grabbing a quick bite or sitting down to family night, we simply must make delicious foods people feel good about," said Rosenfeld. "But 'delicious' is so much more. It starts with delighting consumers with great-tasting food, but it's also about making a delicious difference in our workplaces, our communities and our world."

Building on its "rewire" strategy, which put the right structure and teams in place to enable growth, Kraft Foods has evolved its focus to building a high-performing organization. Values in action are the key ingredients in making that purpose a reality, said the Northfield, Ill.-based company.

"Pairing our new purpose with clear values unifies employees and enables a high-performing culture," noted Rosenfeld. Kraft Foods' values in action are:

--We inspire trust.
--We act like owners.
--We keep it simple.
--We are open and inclusive.
--We tell it like it is.
--We lead from the head and the heart.
--We discuss. We decide. We deliver.

"It's intentional that our first value is 'We inspire trust,' which is more important than ever in today's environment," said Rosenfeld. "And, it's no coincidence that our last value ends with 'We deliver,' because we know how important it is to deliver results."

With a new purpose and values setting a fresh direction, Kraft Foods also gave its corporate logo a facelift to more clearly deliver on the "delicious" message by featuring a smile -- the natural reaction to delicious foods and experiences, according to Kraft -- and a colorful flavor burst. The revamped logo signals to employees, consumers and investors what the new Kraft Foods is all about.