Mondelez International

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Lore & Background

Mondelez International is rooted in the National Dairy Products Corporation, which was founded on December 10, 1923, by Edward E. Rieck and Thomas H. McInnerney. In 1930, National Dairy acquired Kraft Phenix. The company changed its name to Kraftco Corporation in 1969, and was renamed again to Kraft Inc. in 1976. After its acquisition by Phillip Morris and the merger with General Foods Corporation in 1989, Kraft Inc. was renamed to Kraft Foods Inc. in 1995. Altria (the former Phillip Morris) sold its stake in 2007. On January 19, 2010, Cadbury approved a revised offer from Kraft which valued the company at £11.5 billion ($19.5 billion). Kraft spent $1.3 billion on integration to achieve an estimated $675 million in annual savings by the end of 2012. Taking into account integration costs, the acquisition reduced Kraft's earnings per share by about 33% immediately after the Cadbury purchase. In August 2011, Kraft Foods announced plans to split into two publicly traded companies. The split was completed in October 2012. In 2014, the company announced a merger of its coffee business with the Dutch firm Douwe Egberts, completed on July 2, 2015. In April 2015, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged that Mondelez International bought $90 million of wheat futures with no intention of taking delivery. On June 30, 2016, Mondelez made a $23 billion offer to buy Hershey, which was unanimously rejected. In January 2017, the company sold the Australian grocery business, including Vegemite, to Bega Cheese. On May 6, 2018, Mondelez agreed to buy cookie maker Tate's Bake Shop for approximately $500 million. On June 19, 2019, Mondelez agreed to acquire a majority interest in Perfect Snacks. On February 25, 2020, Mondelez announced it was acquiring a majority stake in Toronto-based Give & Go. In January 2021, Mondelez announced it had bought Hu Master Holdings for more than $250 million. On May 26, 2021, Mondelez announced an agreement to acquire Greek snack company Chipita S.A. In May 2022, it was announced Mondelez had acquired Grupo Bimbo's confectionery business, Ricolino, for approximately US$1.3 billion. In June 2022, Mondelez announced it would be acquiring Clif Bar for $2.9 billion. On December 19, 2022, Mondelez announced it was selling its North American and European gum business to Perfetti Van Melle; the deal closed on October 2, 2023.

Reader's Guide

Mondelez International manufactures chocolate, cookies, biscuits, gum, confectionery, and powdered beverages. Its portfolio includes several billion-dollar components, among them cookie, cracker, and candy brands TUC, Nabisco (manufacturers of Belvita, Chips Ahoy!, Oreo, Ritz, Triscuit, Wheat Thins, etc.), LU, Sour Patch Kids, Barny, and Peek Freans; chocolate brands Milka, Côte d'Or, Toblerone, Cadbury, Green & Black's, Freia, Marabou, and Fry's; gum and cough drop brands Halls and Stride; as well as Tate's Bake Shop cookies, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, and powdered beverage brand Tang. Mondelez Canada holds the rights to Christie Brown and Company, which consists of brands such as Mr. Christie, Triscuits, and Dad's Cookies. The company's headquarters is located in Fulton Market, in Chicago, Illinois. In 2020, the company announced that the headquarters was moving from suburban Deerfield, Illinois to Chicago. Mondelez' North American headquarters was then established in East Hanover, New Jersey, U.S., and a global innovation center was opened in 2023 in nearby Whippany, also in Morris County, New Jersey.

Did You Know?

• The name Mondelez is derived from the Latin word mundus ('world') and delez, a derivative of the word 'delicious'.
• In 2010, Kraft's hostile takeover of Cadbury was valued at £11.5 billion ($19.5 billion) and reduced Kraft's earnings per share by about 33% immediately after the purchase.
• On June 30, 2016, Mondelez made a $23 billion offer to buy Hershey, which was unanimously rejected by Hershey's board.
• In April 2015, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged that Mondelez bought $90 million of wheat futures with no intention of taking delivery, earning the company $5.4 million.
• Mondelez announced in January 2016 that it would source 100% cage-free eggs globally by 2025.

From Ice Cream Rollups to a Global Snack Giant

Mondelez International traces its lineage back to December 10, 1923, when Edward E. Rieck and Thomas H. McInnerney established the National Dairy Products Corporation in Chicago. The original venture was designed to consolidate the then-fragmented American ice cream market through a series of acquisitions. By 1924, the Kraft Cheese Company had been spun out and listed on the Chicago Stock Exchange, while in 1930 National Dairy absorbed Kraft Phenix, creating a combined entity that retained the National Dairy name and leadership even as the Kraft Phenix division continued operating with considerable autonomy. The corporate identity shifted several times over the following decades—Kraftco Corporation in 1969, Kraft Inc. in 1976—before a 1989 acquisition by Philip Morris and a merger with General Foods Corporation reshaped the landscape once more. The entity was formally renamed Kraft Foods Inc. in 1995. Altria, the rebranded Philip Morris, eventually divested its stake in 2007, setting the stage for the company's next major transformation.

The Cadbury Bid and the Cost of Ambition

In September 2009, Kraft Foods launched a hostile takeover bid for British confectionery giant Cadbury, initially offering £10.2 billion for the maker of Dairy Milk and Bournville. Cadbury's board dismissed the first offer as "derisory" and rejected it in November. After Kraft raised its price in December, the deal faced fierce political and public backlash across the United Kingdom and beyond, with some voices calling for government intervention to block large-scale foreign acquisitions. The revised offer, approved on January 19, 2010, valued Cadbury at £11.5 billion—roughly $19.5 billion—with partial financing from the Royal Bank of Scotland. The acquisition delivered a 30 percent boost to overall sales, yet the integration proved costly. Kraft spent $1.3 billion merging operations, targeting $675 million in annual savings by 2012. Net profit for the fourth quarter dropped 24 percent to $540 million, and earnings per share fell approximately 33 percent in the immediate aftermath. CEO Irene Rosenfeld acknowledged that commodity pressures on corn, sugar, and cocoa would keep margins under strain for the foreseeable future.

A Portfolio That Spans the Globe

The name Mondelez itself is a linguistic blend: "mundus" is Latin for "world," and "delez" derives from "delicious," signaling the company's ambition to deliver tasty products on every continent. Operating across roughly 160 countries with annual revenue near $38.5 billion, the firm ranks 108th among the largest U.S. corporations by total revenue per the 2021 Fortune 500. Its product range is staggering. In cookies, crackers, and candy, the portfolio includes Nabisco (home to Oreo, Ritz, Wheat Thins, Chips Ahoy!, Belvita, and Triscuit), TUC, LU, Sour Patch Kids, Barny, and Peek Freans. The chocolate shelf features Milka, Côte d'Or, Toblerone, Cadbury, Green & Black's, Freia, Marabou, and Fry's. Gum and cough-drop lines include Halls and Stride, while Tate's Bake Shop, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, and Tang round out the mix. In Canada, the company holds rights to Christie Brown and Company brands—Mr. Christie, Triscuits, and Dad's Cookies—operating from a Toronto headquarters with plants in Brampton, Hamilton, and Montreal.

Post-Split Maneuvering and Unfinished Business

The October 2012 split that created Mondelez International as the legal successor to Kraft Foods was only the opening act. In 2014 the company merged its coffee operations with Dutch firm Douwe Egberts, forming Jacobs Douwe Egberts (now JDE Peet's), a deal completed in July 2015. The following year brought a $23 billion half-cash, half-stock bid for rival Hershey at $107 per share, which Hershey's board unanimously rejected. Regulatory trouble also surfaced: in April 2015 the CFTC alleged that Mondelez and its former subsidiary Mondelez Global had purchased $90 million in wheat futures with no intent to take delivery, inflating prices and netting the company $5.4 million. On sustainability, January 2016 saw a pledge to source 100 percent cage-free eggs globally by 2025. Leadership shifted in November 2017 when Belgian executive Dirk Van de Put, formerly of McCain Foods, succeeded Irene Rosenfeld as CEO. The company also trimmed its footprint, selling its Australian grocery arm (including Vegemite) to Bega Cheese in early 2017 and ceding most of its European sauce business to Kraft Heinz in October 2017 once its Kraft-name licence expired.

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