Oreos in China

Watching the Olympics this evening I saw something that amazed me even more than Usain "LIghtning" Bolt's runaway 100 meter victory.

I saw a special on Oreos. Oreos, well known to American consumers, have become quite popular in China. Kraft sells two types of Oreos in China; the traditional round Oreos that we all grew up with and long thin, four-layered, Oreos designed for the Chinese market.

A standard size package of Oreos costs about 70 cents in China. Unfortunately, that is quite expensive for many Chinese consumers. So Kraft, the maker of Oreos, released a smaller package that cost 17 cents. That amount was just right for the targeted Chinese consumer.

The rest of the sales success is credited to two old-fashioned American traditions: in-store promotions and advertising. A popular Ad shows a younger member of the family teaching an older member the proper way to eat an Oreo....sounds familiar.

Kraft acquired Nabisco in 2000 when they were still a subsidiary of Philip Morris. Philip Morris bought Nabisco from RJ Reynolds and merged the newly acquired entity into Kraft-General Foods before spinning Kraft off last year.

Kraft Foods continues to be one of our largest holdings.

Stand Fast!