Mondelez International

Mondelez International is rooted in the National Dairy Products Corporation (National Dairy), which was founded on December 10, 1923, by Thomas H. McInnerney and Edward E. Rieck. The firm was initially set up to execute on a rollup strategy in the fragmented United States ice cream industry.[11]

In 1924, Kraft Cheese Company was founded and was listed on the Chicago Stock Exchange.[12] Two years later, it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1928, it acquired Phenix Cheese Company, the maker of a cream cheese branded as Philadelphia Cream Cheese, founded by Jason F. Whitney Sr. and the company changed its name to Kraft-Phenix Cheese Company.

In 1930, National Dairy acquired Kraft Phenix. After the acquisition, the combined company retained the National Dairy name and management, though the Kraft Phenix side of the company continued to operate largely independently.[12][13]

On September 7, 2009, Kraft made a hostile £10.2 billion takeover bid for the British confectionery group Cadbury, makers of Dairy Milk and Bournville chocolate.[14] On November 9 the company's bid (then £9.8 billion) was rejected by Cadbury, which called it a "derisory" offer.[15] Kraft upped its offer on December 4.[16] It had significant political and public opposition in the United Kingdom and abroad, leading to a call for the government to implement economic protectionism in large-company takeovers.[17] On January 19, 2010, Cadbury approved a revised offer from Kraft which valued the company at £11.5 billion ($19.5 billion). Some funds for the takeover were provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland, the partially state-owned British bank.[18]

Cadbury sales were flat after Kraft's acquisition.[19] Despite the Cadbury takeover helping to boost overall sales by 30 percent, Kraft's net profit for the fourth quarter fell 24 percent (to $540 million) due to costs associated with integrating the UK business after the acquisition.[20] Kraft spent $1.3 billion on integration to achieve an estimated $675 million in annual savings by the end of 2012.[21] Kraft increased prices to offset rising commodity costs for corn, sugar, and cocoa in North America and Europe. According to Rosenfeld, "We expect it will remain weak for the foreseeable future." Taking into account integration costs, the acquisition reduced Kraft's earnings per share by about 33% immediately after the Cadbury purchase.[20]

In August 2011, Kraft Foods announced plans to split into two publicly traded companies, an international snack-food company and a North American grocery company.[22][23]

The snack-food company, called Mondelez International, would be the legal successor of the old Kraft Foods, while the grocery company would be a new company, Kraft Foods Group. The split was completed in October 2012.[24] It was structured so that Kraft Foods changed its name to Mondelez International and spun off Kraft Foods Group as a new publicly traded company.[25] Kraft Foods Group later merged with Heinz to become Kraft Heinz.[24]

In 2014, the company announced a merger of its coffee business with the Dutch firm Douwe Egberts.[26] The name of the newly merged company would be Jacobs Douwe Egberts.[26] The merger was confirmed on May 6, 2014, and completed on July 2, 2015.[27][28]

In April 2015, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) alleged that Mondelez International and its former subsidiary, Mondelez Global, bought $90 million (£61 million) of wheat futures with no intention of taking delivery.[29] According to the CFTC, the purchase raised the price of the commodity and earned the company $5.4 million.[29]

On June 30, 2016, Mondelez made a $23 billion offer to buy its smaller rival, Hershey.[30] The half-cash, half-stock deal valued Hershey stock at $107 a share.[30] Hershey's board, however, unanimously rejected the offer.[30] In 2016, Terry's was one of a number of brands acquired by Eurazeo from Mondelēz and it subsequently became part of Carambar & Co.[31][32]

In August 2017, it was announced that Dirk Van de Put, Belgian CEO of McCain Foods, would succeed Irene Rosenfeld as CEO in November 2017.[33]

On May 6, 2018, Mondelez agreed to buy cookie maker Tate's Bake Shop for approximately $500 million.[34] The acquisition was completed on June 7, 2018.[35]

On June 19, 2019, Mondelez agreed to acquire a majority interest in Perfect Snacks, owner of refrigerated protein bar Perfect Bar.[36] The acquisition was completed on July 16.[37]

On February 25, 2020, Mondelez announced that it was acquiring a majority stake in Toronto-based Give & Go, a maker of two-bite brownies.[38] The acquisition was completed on April 3, 2020.[39]

In January 2021, Mondelez announced that it had bought Hu Master Holdings for more than $250 million.[40]

On May 26, 2021, Mondelez announced an agreement to acquire Greek snack company Chipita S.A., a high-growth key player in the Central and Eastern European croissants and baked snacks category.[41] On January 3, 2022, Mondelez announced that the acquisition is complete.[42]

In May 2022, it was announced Mondelez had acquired Grupo Bimbo's confectionery business, Ricolino, for approximately US$1.3 billion.[43]

On May 10, 2022, Mondelez announced that it would sell its gum business, including Trident and Dentyne, in developed markets including North America and parts of Europe, as well as the entire Halls cough drop business.[44]

In June 2022, Mondelez announced that it would be acquiring Clif Bar for $2.9 billion. Through the acquisition, Mondelez will obtain Clif, Luna, and Clif Bar Kids as a part of its portfolio.[45]

On December 19, 2022, Mondelez announced that it was selling its gum business, including the Trident, Dentyne, Chiclets and Stride brands, to Perfetti Van Melle, the makers of Mentos. The deal closed on October 2, 2023.[46]

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, many international companies felt compelled to reduce or end business in the Russian Federation.[47] Mondelez made public statements that it had "reduced all non-core activities" and stopped new investments in the country.[48] As of March 12, 2022, Mondelez International was listed in an online spreadsheet by Yale professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld as being among a minority of companies continuing to do business in Russia, where it generates 3.5% of annual revenue (approximately $1 billion).[49]

On May 25, 2023, Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) declared Mondelez International an international sponsor of war, noting that Mondelez's Russian branch increased its profit in 2022 by 303%.[50] This has led to boycotts from consumers and companies in the Nordic countries[51][52] as well as from the football associations of Denmark,[53] Norway[54] and Sweden.[55] Also, Mondelez employees in Eastern Europe have protested.[56]

In September 2017, an investigation[63] conducted by NGO Mighty Earth found that a large amount of the cocoa used in chocolate produced by Mondelez and other major chocolate companies was grown illegally in national parks and other protected areas in Ivory Coast and Ghana.[64][65][66] The countries are the world's two largest cocoa producers.[67][68]

The report documents how in several national parks and other protected areas, 90% or more of the land mass has been converted to cocoa.[69] Less than four percent of Ivory Coast remains densely forested, and the chocolate companies' laissez-faire approach to sourcing has driven extensive deforestation in Ghana as well.[70] In Ivory Coast, deforestation has pushed chimpanzees into just a few small pockets, and reduced the country's elephant population from several hundred thousand to about 200–400.[71][72][73] While Mondelez claimed to have mapped almost all of its cocoa suppliers in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Indonesia by 2018 in an effort to combat deforestation.[74]

In November 2018, an investigation by Greenpeace International found that 22 palm oil suppliers to Mondelez International cleared over 70,000 hectares (170,000 acres; 270 sq mi) of rainforest from 2015 to 2017.[75] Mondelez received a 'yellow', the second of the four possible ratings on the 2022 Chocolate Scorecard for Agroforestry i.e. 'starting to implement good policies'.[76]

In 2021, Mondelez International was named in a class action lawsuit filed by eight former child slaves from Mali who allege that the company aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast. The suit accused Mondelez (along with Nestlé, Cargill, Mars, Olam International, The Hershey Company, and Barry Callebaut) of knowingly engaging in forced labor, and the plaintiffs sought damages for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.[77]

As with deforestation, Mondelez is 'starting to implement good policies' according to the 2022 Chocolate Scorecard.[78] Its Cocoa Life programme for sustainable cocoa aims to address the root causes of child labour with a holistic approach, collaborating with families, encouraging school attendance and monitoring child labour on farms.[79] Cocoa Life farms accounted for 43% of Mondelez' cocoa needs by 2018 and the company planned to have 100% coverage with Cocoa Life by 2025.[80]