Kraft changes snack foods company name to Mondelēz International

Kraft Foods is dividing to create two industry-leading public companies before the end of 2012: a high-growth global snacks business with a new, unfamiliar name and a high-margin North American grocery business with a household name.

The North American grocery business will become Kraft Foods Group, Inc., retaining the Kraft brand for its corporate identity and the brand for many of its consumer products. The global snacks food business is getting a new name, Mondelēz International. According to Kraft, Mondelēz is pronounced “mohn-dah-LEEZ,” and derives from two sources. Monde is from the Latin word for “world,” and delēz is a fanciful expression of “delicious.”

“The Kraft brand is a perfect fit for North American grocery business and gives it a wonderful platform on which to build an exciting future,” says Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld. “For the new global snacks company, we wanted to find a new name that could serve as an umbrella for our iconic brands, reinforce the truly global nature of this business and build on our higher purpose—to ‘make today delicious.’ Mondelēz perfectly captures the idea of a ‘delicious world’ and will serve as a solid foundation for the strong relationships we want to create with our consumers, customers, employees and shareholders.”

Last fall, the company invited employees from around the world to suggest names for the new global snacks company. As part of this co-creation process, more than 1,000 employees participated, submitting more than 1,700 names for consideration. Mondelēz International was inspired by separate suggestions from two employees, one in Europe and the other in North America.

The board of directors has approved the name and will submit an amendment to the company’s shareholder for approval. If shareholders approve the amendment, the company expects the new name to become effective when the global snacks company launches before the end of 2012.