Kraft to launch packaged products

Kraft Foods, the $31 billion foods subsidiary of the New York-headquartered Altria Group, formerly Philip Morris Companies, plans to launch several of its packaged products in India by the end of this year.

A team of four senior Kraft executives headed by Arjun Gupta, president of Kraft Asia Pacific, was in India early last month to examine the potential of the market.

Plans are still under evaluation but sources suggest that Kraft may initially introduce shelf-stable products, such as packaged cheese, rather than perishable products owing to the lack of sophisticated cold chain infrastructure in India.

It is not yet clear whether the products will be imported through an agency or launched under the now dormant KJS India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Philip Morris International (PMI), Altria group's wholly-owned global tobacco subsidiary.

KJS India was given government approval in 1996 to set up a Rs 40 crore downstream food project.

The incorporation of the company preceded Altria's acquisition of Nabisco in 2000, which was merged with Kraft, and the subsequent separation of the group's food and tobacco businesses.

KJS set up a plant to manufacture the soft drink concentrate Tang near Hyderabad. The Tang plant has, however, been closed since late 2003, following the inability to garner sufficient sales.

(The writer was in New York courtesy the Altria Group)