"Driving Change, One Meal At A Time"

KRAFT is certainly showing their community support- or perhaps global support is a more appropriate term to use instead. KRAFT’s corporate website has a tab labeled “Responsibility: Corporate responsibility has always been part of who we are and what we do. Read more about how we are making a difference.” Under this tab is a link to their “Community Involvement” webpage. On this site, KRAFT summarizes how involved they are: In a nutshell, KRAFT donates food, volunteers and cash donations to support hundreds of non-profit organizations all over the world plus donates their products to where natural disasters occur. Here in the United States, KRAFT is partnered with “Feeding America” the nation’s leading hunger relief charity. The website also has a link to their “Corporate Community Involvement Report”: the report’s theme is “Change”; with the front of the cover having the quote: “Driving Change: One Meal at a Time”. The report goes on to explain where exactly KRAFT is helping out the “community”…for example KRAFT helps out non-profit organizations in AIDS-ravaged countries in Africa, and they also outline organizations they support in Venezuela, China and the USA. The report also contains a list of 46 countries where KRAFT “drives a change”, and a fact sheet containing the following 2007 number statistics:

· 100 million a year in total donation
· 29 disaster zones where KRAFT responded with humanitarian aid in 2007
· 130 cities around the world where KRAFT fights hunger and promotes healthy lifestyles
· 60,000 KRAFT employee volunteer hours
· 1.4 million per year in cash donations from KRAFT employees
· 29 disaster zones where KRAFT responded with humanitarian aid
· 1 billion servings of fresh food donated in the US since 1997

There is a very easy connection between KRAFT’s community service and their company: food. Hunger is a major world crisis and therefore is given a lot of attention, thus KRAFT’s active participation in aiding to eliminate world hunger is an excellent use of PR. By associating their name with charitable organizations such as The Red Cross and Feeding America, KRAFT is gaining positive publicity. I believe KRAFT is quite lucky to have such a strong relationship between their services and donations, they perfectly complement one another. Furthermore, natural disasters occur frequently all over the world- such as the horrible Hurricane Katrina that struck here in the USA in 2005. Although devasting, these natural disasters are opportunities for KRAFT to get involved with and gain publicity- healthy and edible foods are considered quite the luxury in places where tornadoes have torn up the land or where earthquakes have damaged a city. Let's explore how KRAFT handled Hurricane Katrina back in the fall of 2005: according to their Community Involvement report in the "Humanitarian Aid" section, KRAFT teamed up with America's Second Harvest (now known as Feeding America), The American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, and local food banks to total more than $1 million in cash and food donations. In addition to, KRAFT had 12 trailors that were filled with KRAFT snacks and a mobile pantry serving foods where needed. A total of 750 KRAFT volunteers from Canada and the US volunteered to rebuild homes around the area- and of course, KRAFT re-stocked these new homes' kitchen pantries with all KRAFT foods and beverages! KRAFT is a neighbor we can rely on.

A Taste for All...

According to Wikipedia, “Brand Image” refers to the psychological aspect of brands that are “a symbolic construct created within the minds of people and consists of all the information and expectations associated with a product or service”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_image). Having the luxury (well, some would say...) and ginormous responsibility of the being the world’s third largest food & beverage company, KRAFT foods owns A TON of food brands and therefore has A TON of consumer expectations to fill. Like I have mentioned in previous blogs, KRAFT owns many brands that we consumers have eaten in our own backyards since we were kids- such as AL’s Steak Sauce, or the infamous OREO and of course RITZ delicious crackers. KRAFT contains a lot of “classic” food brands- meaning that we are all familiar with them and have probably eaten them for years and years- Seriously who doesn’t associate cream cheese with the one and only Philadelphia Cream Cheese or Macaroni and Cheese with KRAFT'S famous blue box Macaroni & Cheese? In addition, on their corporate webpage under “Our Brands” they have in big bold letters “THE WORLD’S FAVORITE, MOST TRUSTED BRANDS” on the top of their page :http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/Brands/
In terms of PR Campaigns, KRAFT has done some interesting PR work with food labels on their numerous products. For example, being pro-active about the healthier eating (i.e. "whole grains" & organic foods ) trends over the past few years, KRAFT has placed nutrition labels on many of their healthier brand products called Sensible Solutions; “Sensible Solution labeling on packages in North America help consumers make informed choices through easy-to-understand nutrition and serving size information” (KRAFT website). Furthermore, KRAFT has also associated themselves with providing “convenience foods” such as my last blog’s entry about their new product, Bagel-fuls. Again, on their corporate webpage they have a section devoted to “Quick Meals” in which they list their Quick Meal brands- at the top of the page in big bold letters are: “Smaller Families, Working Parents Need Truly Delicious, Quick Meals”; http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/Brands/quickmeals/ The site goes on to explain that KRAFT understands the busy lives of their consumers thus they have created food products that are conducive to the consumer’s busy life schedule; but of course they are still providing “truly delicious meals” (KRAFT website) despite the fact they can be made in 2 minutes by popping them in the microwave- such as the highly popular (and praised by college students) “EasyMac”. Are you a picky eater that does not crave those microwave meals and like real, authentic food? I am- thank God KRAFT also feature a “Premium “ brand of foods. On their website, KRAFT has another section devoted to their “Premium” brands, with big bold letters on the top of the page: “Restaurant Quality On-the-Go or at Home”;http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/Brands/premium/. Some of the featured brands include DiGiorno Pizza (which, come on we all know the stupid commercials with the slogan: “It’s not delivery it’s DiGiorno!) and Tassimo luxury coffees.

With a variety of different food brands, KRAFT markets themselves as a company for everyone. It is appropriate to suggest that KRAFT is trying to convey that they have a diverse range of products that would appeal to everyone- even the pickiest of eaters and consumers. They contain food products for busy families on the go, they have the “Sensible Solutions” for people choosing to be health conscious, they have a “Premium” brand of foods for their more picky consumers- and most importantly, they provide the “Brands you know and trust”. I sure do. Honestly, when I see a KRAFT product on the shelves while grocery shopping- I do not think twice about it's validity for human consumption- I trust KRAFT, have seen their food products displayed since I was young, and at 21 years-old they have yet to let me down...plus what girl would ever turn down OREO or CHIPS AHOY cookies when they were upset? Not me.