Bobby says:

So has anyone noticed how horrible the new Kraft Ranch Dressing tastes ever since they came out with the new bottle designs a few months back? Well, I noticed it and emailed Kraft to tell them how bad the new stuff tastes. I received an email back appologizing and saying that they have indeed changed their recipe in many of their salad dressings. The lady also said she was going to send me a reimbursement in the mail to reimburse me for the bottle that I purchased. I got the letter today and they actually sent me a coupon for a free bottle of Kraft Salad Dressing. LOL. Why would I want another bottle of the same stuff I wrote in to complain about how badly it tastes?

Kraft had good intentions in mind, but obviously weren't using their head.

Hmm, we suppose you could try the "Zesty Italian" or something? But yeah, a coupon for more of the crap you didn't like is not exactly the same as a reimbursement. Sigh.

From the WSJ:

But lower-priced "value" products can also have wide margins because they're cheaper to make. "Food companies will be careful to shift consumers to products that are still high margin," says Robert Moskow, an analyst with Credit Suisse. "Powdered Kool-Aid beverages are one of the most profitable food products in history."

Also Monday, the milk industry will begin running ads touting milk as a bargain. Financial guru Suze Orman will don the familiar milk mustache in a print ad that reads: "Even at today's prices, a glass of milk only costs about a quarter...." The ad is a big departure from prior "Got Milk" campaigns that focused on the nutritional value of milk.

The milk industry plans to spend just under $1 million on the Suze Orman ads.

The WSJ says the new campaigns indicative of a food industry that's afraid of consumers. Shoppers have been pinched by a 7.5% jump in food prices in the first 8 months of 2008, and have started buying generics. Oh, no!

If you're a member of the PTA, you can expect ConAgra to start giving you the hard sell on their cheap Banquet frozen dinners — they've hired "hundreds of mothers to provide money-saving tips and free product samples at PTA meetings and church groups across the country. The moms will be paid in Banquet product coupons, the company said."

Campbell will begin calling their soups, "the original dollar menu," stressing that you just have to add water, and Kool-Aid's new claims the product provides "more smiles per gallon" compared to soft drinks.

Food Marketers Cook Up 'Value' Campaigns [WSJ]
(Photo: What Rhymes With Nicole )

• Cereal makers General Mills and Kellogg Co. have both said they will raise prices. General Mills "said it needed to make up for cost increases that it expects will total 9 percent."
• Kraft Foods, whose brands include Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia cream cheese, Oreos and Wheat Thins, will follow its 8% price increase earlier this year with another one to offset rising commodity costs.
• Sara Lee will raise prices 20% for its meat products like Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park Franks. Sara Lee's COO gave this mangled explanation to Datamonitor: "Price increases vary a lot by type of products but the increases will be as low as zero and some products we will decrease on and other increases (will be) in excess of 20%."

The Chicago Sun-Times advises,

Overall grocery prices are expected to rise 5 percent to 6 percent this year. But some categories are projected to post higher increases, such as eggs, fats and oils and cereals.

A report by the Food Institute, a research group for manufacturers, predicted 2008 increases of at least 9 percent for those products.

"Grocery bills going up — again" [Chicago Sun-Times]
"US food firms to increase prices again" [Datamonitor] (subscription only)
(Photo: Getty)

Max says:

While I typically do not keep track of either the price or size fluctuations of my ordinary grocery purchases, this label jumped out at me. The label, for Kraft Italian salad dressing, prominently boasts "Still 16oz!". Whether this is a marketing reacting to the increased awareness of the 'grocery shrink ray' I cannot be certain. Unfortunately I do not have the price comparison available to see if Kraft has simply raised the price while keeping the same amount of salad dressing.

Resist, Kraft. Resist!

PREVIOUSLY: Kraft Invents The Twinkie Of Bagels: "Bagelfuls"

Kraft's $100 Million Idea: Cream Cheese-Filled Bagels [Brandweek]

Kraft is seeking unspecified damages. The Northfield, Ill.-based company also wants P&G to stop sales of the Folger's plastic coffee container, saying Kraft will be harmed if those sales continue.

P&G responded on Wednesday with a suit of its own in the same court, spokesman Bryan Brown said. The suit alleges containers Kraft uses for Maxwell House violate one of P&G's patents. The suit likewise seeks unspecified damages and asks that a judge rule to prevent Kraft from using P&G's patents.

The suits follow one filed by P&G against Kraft on Aug. 27 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco. In that case, Cincinnati-based P&G sought a similar patent infringement ruling involving a different patent that it alleges Kraft uses in plastic containers for Maxwell House.

That case also sought unspecified damages and an injunction to prevent Kraft from selling the coffee in the packaging.

A fresh packaging system for roast and ground coffee having a top load capacity of at least about 16 pounds (7.3 Kg) comprising a container with a closed bottom, an open top, and a body enclosing a perimeter between the bottom and the top. A protuberance is continuously disposed around the perimeter of the body proximate to the top and forms a ridge external to the body. A flexible closure is removeably attached and sealed to the protuberance so that the closure seals the interior volume of the container. The container bottom and container body are constructed from a material having a tensile modulus number ranging from at least about 35,000 to at least about 650,000 pounds per square inch (at least about 2,381 to at least about 44,230 atm).

Kraft, P&G sue over coffee cans [AP]
Packaging system to provide fresh packed coffee [Google Patents]

Kraft says the flavor "can help improve the nutritional profile of products by reducing their calorie content." Sadly, fake butter doesn't taste the same, so manufacturers will have to "adjust their formulations - perhaps through the addition of functional starches or shortenings - in order to build back the texture and mouthfeel normally achieved by butter." The flavor isn't limited to popcorn, it can be used for any product where one would need a "toasted butter flavor," including crackers, soups, and prepared meats.

Doesn't Kraft worry about diacetyl's health effects when inhaled?

The truth is, diacetyl doesn't pose a great risk to consumers, and is really only dangerous when inhaled regularly in large amounts. Workers may be at risk, but there are still no OSHA standards that deal with diacetyl, so it seems that Kraft is in no hurry as long as consumers do not demand that they stop using the ingredient. Kraft says it is currently formulating a diacetyl-free version of the flavor, to be introduced at some time in the future.

"To some customers diacetyl is not an issue, to others it is. We're moving forward towards formulating solutions to meet customer needs," KFI flavorist Susan Parker told FoodNavigator-USA.com.

Kraft launches toasted butter flavor [Food Navigator via Pump Handle]
(Photo:greenmelinda)

Why such a price difference? Obviously, cheese spirals are a technological marvel and Kraft needs to recoup the cost of building an entire spiral factory, not to mention the research and development. Plus, there's the benefit of eating mac n cheese feature 3 chicks you've never heard of. So, if you're looking for the best mac n cheese value, stick with the classic elbow box.

spiral macaroni is a racket [thoughts on technology]

The recall applies to the following products:

•Oscar Mayer Louis Rich Chicken Breast Strips with Rib Meat Southwestern Seasoned
Net Wt 6oz, UPC 71871 55720
•Oscar Mayer Louis Rich Chicken Breast Strips with Rib Meat Grilled
Net Wt 6oz, UPC 71871 55721
•Oscar Mayer Louis Rich Chicken Restaurant Style Breaded Chicken Breast Strips
Net Wt 6oz, UPC 71871 55784
•Oscar Mayer Louis Rich Chicken Breast Strips with Rib Meat Italian Style
Net Wt 6oz, UPC 71871 55723
•Oscar Mayer Louis Rich Oven Roasted Chicken Breast Cuts with Rib Meat
Net Wt 6oz, UPC 71871 55722
•Oscar Mayer Louis Rich Chicken Honey Roasted Chicken Breast Cuts with Rib Meat
Net Wt 6oz, UPC 71871 55725
•Oscar Mayer Louis Rich Chicken Breast Strips with Rib Meat Grilled, Family Size
Net Wt 12oz, UPC 44700 02306
•Oscar Mayer Louis Rich Chicken Breast Strips with Rib Meat Southwestern Seasoned, Family Size
Net Wt 12oz, UPC 44700 02307

Oscar Mayer ready-to-eat chicken recalled [MSNBC] (Thanks to Anthony!)
(Photo: eurleif)

These products get their flavor from natural and synthetic ingredients that add up to processed cheese — made in a laboratory, not on a dairy farm...
Kraft, like many food makers, often walks a fine line with its marketing, testing the limits of federal labeling regulations that are often vague or confusing.

Nowhere is that confusion more evident than on products containing Kraft's signature food: cheese.... Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Three Cheese lists no varieties of cheese among its ingredients (a Kraft spokeswoman says the three cheeses are a processed cheddar blend, Monterey Jack and blue cheese), although it does list cheese culture, milk and sodium tripolyphosphate.Many products with the "Real Kraft Cheese" logo, like Easy Cheese, Oscar Mayer Cheesiest Cheese Dogs and Cheez Whiz dip, don't list any natural cheese as an ingredient."

Crain's says calling Kraft's processed-cheese product "real" cheese is legal.

"Calling processed-cheese ingredients real cheese is legal, because while the Food and Drug Administration regulates many food-related claims, defining terms like "low-fat" and "organic," it doesn't define other terms, including "natural" and "real." That means manufacturers can use those terms as they see fit, as long as they do so "in a manner that is truthful and not misleading," according to an FDA spokesman."

As far as the guacamole and Capri-Sun go, Kraft has changed the labels on both. —MEGHANN MARCO

What is 'Real Kraft Cheese'? [Crain's Chicago Business] (Thanks, Kerry!)

PREVIOUSLY:
High-Fructose Corn Syrup No Longer "Natural"

Kraft Lawsuit: Capri Sun Isn't "All Natural"

Kraft: Fake Guacamole Lawsuit

CSPI's Litigation Project Forces Change By Two Major Food Companies [CL&P]

PREVIOUSLY: Kraft Lawsuit: Capri Sun Isn't "All Natural"

Obviously, this woman isn't familiar with Kraft's standards for guacamole. Incidentally, this lawsuit should be about the fact that those straws do not puncture the little foil dot. Grrrr! We hate that foil dot.—MEGHANN MARCO

Kraft is Sued for Falsely Calling Capri Sun Drink "All Natural" [CSPI] (Thanks, Mitchell)
Read The Lawsuit! (PDF) [CSPI]

In fact, Kraft's guacamole contains less than 2% avocado.

""We think customers understand that it isn't made from avocado," said Claire Regan, Kraft Foods' vice president of corporate affairs."

So who is suing? "Brenda Lifsey, the plaintiff, said she made a three-layer dip with Kraft guacamole last year only to discover that it contained almost none of the ingredient she most expected: avocado.
"It just didn't taste avocadoey," said Lifsey, who identified herself as a federal employee who lives in Los Angeles. "I looked at the ingredients and found there was almost no avocado in it."

For the record, by law, peanut butter must contain 90% peanuts. There is no such law for guacamole. Kraft's "Guacamole" is essentially, "a whipped paste made from partially hydrogenated soybean and coconut oils, corn syrup, whey and food starch. Yellow and blue dyes give it the green color."

Well, ew. —MEGHANN MARCO

Lawsuit stirs up guacamole labeling controversy [LATimes]

I did my best to avoid all of these telltale signs, until one day, in the school cafeteria, I dunked my Oreo into a glass of milk and my friend's face went white. "Dude," he whispered, looking over his shoulder frantically, "That's gay." That was the day that the rainbow entered my soul and I finally became tolerant of other sexual orientations. Because I'd rather be queer than eat my Oreo dry.

With that delightful personal anecdote out of the way, Kraft have announced the oblong Oreo cookie, made for easy dunking! Honestly, this is probably the best idea Oreo's had in a long time — we weren't big fans of their fluorescent orange Oreo campaigns. But an Oreo that can be easily shoved to sop up the last dregs of milk in a narrow glass... I've been waiting my whole life for this. Plus, it's a edible symbol of your own enlightened sexual tolerance!

Kraft to try oblong version of Oreo made for dunking [Chicago Business]