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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| KJS India was given government approval in 1996 to set up a Rs 40 crore downstream food project. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| (The writer was in New York courtesy the Altria Group) |
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