Kraft Foods Introduces New Food Items

In an effort to increase earnings, Kraft Foods has introduced new products with a focus on snacks, convenient meals, health and wellness, and premium items, reported Crain’s Business Journal.

The new items include: macaroni-and-cheese-flavored crackers, granola bars and an aerosol version of Cool-Whip. Among the other items introduced are Planters Kettle-Roasted Peanuts; single-serve deli slices of meat, and Oscar Mayer hot dogs.

Kraft is also coming out with more 100-calorie snack packs, Crystal Light beverage sticks and flavors of microwaveable pizzas. In total, the company intends to add 80 new food products to its lineup in 2008. Most of the new products are line extensions rather than major new innovations.

Gregg Warren, an analyst in Chicago with Morningstar, said: “New products are very important. New products allow you to charge high prices, and in this environment you are looking to raise prices to cover higher commodity costs.”