Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT), a global leader in branded foods and beverages with
2002 revenues of nearly $30 billion, has one of the food industry’s largest and
most successful sales forces. In the 2002 Cannondale Associates
PoweRankingTM Survey, which identifies the top manufacturers and retailers as
rated by their peers, retailers voted Kraft the No. 1 CPG manufacturer overall, as
well as in several categories, including:
• Best Sales Force/Customer Teams
• Most Innovative Marketing Programs
• Most Helpful Consumer Information
• Best Growth and Profitability
Kraft was recognized as consistently outperforming peer companies such as
Procter & Gamble, General Mills and Coca-Cola.
Kraft Sales is leading the industry in delivering growth and profitability to many of
the nation’s top retailers. Through a strong portfolio of brands, consumer insights,
a customer-centric approach and customized supply chain, Kraft provides retailers
with programs and solutions to increase sales and profits across the total store.
In 2002, Kraft Sales achieved outstanding performance in three key areas:
Category Management
Leading retailers, including Wal-Mart, Kroger and Costco, rely on Kraft for
effective ‘category management.’ As a category manager, Kraft identifies key
insights about a particular product category (such as beverage) and provides
retailers with recommendations on product assortment, shelving and promotion,
helping retailers strengthen relationships with shoppers and increase growth and
profitability across their total store.
Kraft became the first company in its industry to develop a streamlined category
management process, taking it beyond a simple template technology. Kraft
works collaboratively with major retailers to customize category management
analyses tailored to retailers’ shoppers base. Previously an eight-step process
that took several months to analyze data, Kraft’s “3-Step Category Insight Builder”
creates a complete category review in 20% of the time, allowing Kraft sales
professionals to provide customers with more intelligent recommendations and
greater value, faster. Studies of the “Insight Builder” show that it led to gains for
both Kraft and the category.
Customer Marketing
Kraft Foods has excelled in leveraging marketing innovation across its portfolio of
brands and in 2002, accelerated efforts to drive marketing with their customers and
consumers in market. Kraft provided retailers with promotions that generated
store traffic, increased shopper market basket and drove growth and profitability
across the entire store.
Kraft developed annual plans that tied directly to shopper and customer insights
and allowed retailers the option of customizing programs in order to differentiate
from competition. A great example occurred during the 2002 Fall Football
Tailgating Season. Retailers across the country activated promotions that tied in
with local High School, College and NFL football teams. Consumers participated
in promotions via sweepstakes, tailgate recipe books, food solutions on line, in-
store tailgate destination sites, and through athlete/player appearances. Over a
six-week period, these promotions contributed to growth of 4.6% across
participating Brands. Additionally, in-store merchandising increased 20.3% as
customers promoted the recipe ideas and meal solutions that addressed
consumer needs.
Retail Leadership
With over 19,000 Kraft sales professionals calling on approximately 120,000 retail
stores worldwide, Kraft is one of only a few consumer packaged goods companies
with its own direct retail sales force. Kraft Sales assigns dedicated business
teams that serve retailers at the headquarter and local store level. These Customer
Business Teams (CBTs) focus on individual retailer needs, goals and objectives.
This contact allows for Kraft to focus on base distribution, new item speed-to-shelf,
inventory management and merchandising.
The breadth of Kraft’s portfolio allows for a total store growth approach with our
customers at retail. And, Kraft’s world class in-store merchandising and
marketing provides customers with impactful selling systems such as racks,
coolers, shippers, shelving units, peg bars and point-of-sale.
In addition, Kraft operates two strong direct-store-delivery systems for biscuits and
snacks and our frozen pizza businesses. These systems employ more than
6,000 representatives calling on more than 70,000 retail outlets that deliver product
directly to our customers in our own trucks.
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