Kraft Foods cuts portions to maintain sales

Kraft Foods intends to cut portion sizes and modify packaging to maintain sales. This decision comes in the wake of reduced consumer spending due to rising prices of oil, and basic food ingredients, combined with falling house prices and difficulty obtaining credit.

A 13% fall in profit by the company was reported last week and blaming the high cost of food commodities like wheat, pointing out that the price of wheat, used in its Triscuit and Wheat Thins crackers, more than doubled in the first quarter.

Irene Rosenfeld, chief executive of Kraft Foods, said: "Without a doubt, we are focused on the opportunities to lower the dollar outlay, particularly in developing markets but also in developed markets." Kraft will introduce a range of smaller products and repackage, for example, Oscar Mayer deli meats in single-serve portions.