Kraft Foods Honored for Innovation Excellence

NORTHFIELD, Ill., Oct 08, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- KFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Consumer Goods Technology (CGT) magazine presented Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) with the 2008 Most Innovative Company award at its Growth & Innovation Forum held Sept. 24-26 in Miami. Kraft was honored for innovation excellence by the magazine's readership of more than 35,000 consumer goods executives as well as its editorial and research advisory boards staffed by top industry analysts and executives.

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"This award recognizes Kraft's successful investments in innovation to drive growth," said Steve Goers, Vice President, Open Innovation and Investment. "This is an exciting time to be at Kraft -- our Research, Development and Quality function is central to achieving Kraft's plan to rebuild our brand equity, strengthen our portfolio and deliver improved financial results. We're creating a pipeline of new product platforms like Cakesters and Deli Creations and reinventing iconic brands like Philadelphia, Oreo, Kool-Aid and Oscar Mayer." Kraft's Research, Development and Quality function has more than 2,000 scientists, chemists and engineers based on five continents.

Goers added, "With our Open Innovation strategy, we're complementing our traditional R&D capabilities with open sourcing of innovation -- actively searching for outside partners to strengthen our innovation capacity and capability to drive growth."

Kraft recently refreshed its Open Innovation web site, http://www.innovatewithkraft.com, to attract potential innovation partners to help the company create new product platforms and improve existing products and brands.

About Consumer Goods Technology

Consumer Goods Technology (http://www.consumergoods.com) is committed to helping consumer goods executives improve business performance through integrated media that delivers actionable insight, benchmark analysis and peer-to-peer networking. In print, online and at events, it focuses on the specific needs and challenges of the industry.

About Kraft Foods Inc.

For more than a century, Kraft (http://www.kraft.com) has offered delicious foods and beverages that fit the way consumers live. Millions of times a day in more than 150 countries, consumers reach for their favorite Kraft brands, including nine with revenues exceeding $1 billion: Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings; Oscar Mayer meats; Philadelphia cream cheese; Maxwell House coffee; Nabisco cookies and crackers and its Oreo brand; Jacobs coffees; Milka chocolates; and LU biscuits. Kraft is one of the world's largest food and beverage companies with annual revenues exceeding $37 billion, more than 100,000 employees and more than 180 manufacturing and processing facilities globally. The company is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 index as well as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Ethibel Sustainability Index.

Forward-Looking Statements Safe-Harbor

This press release contains forward-looking statements that our Research, Development and Quality function is central to achieving Kraft's plan to rebuild our brand equity, strengthen our portfolio and deliver improved financial results and that we are actively searching for outside partners to strengthen our innovation capacity and capability to drive growth. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in any such forward-looking statements. Such factors, include, but are not limited to, continued higher input costs, pricing actions, increased competition, increased costs of sales, our ability to realize our expected cost savings, a shift in our product mix to lower margin offerings, risks from operating internationally, and tax law changes. For additional information on these and other factors that could affect our forward-looking statements, see our filings with the SEC, including our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K/A and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. We disclaim and do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement in this press release.

SOURCE Kraft Foods Inc.

http://www.kraft.com

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