Kraft Foods - Competitors

Kraft Foods Competition

Now Viewing Kraft Foods's competition in: Bakeries

Recent Developments

More Americans Choose Store Brands - American consumers are increasingly switching to store from name brand as food prices rise and the US economy weakens. Bakeries supplying breads sold as a store's brand are likely to benefit. The nation's biggest grocers, including Wal-Mart, Kroger, Supervalu, and Safeway, report that sales of their own brands are rising, according to the Lexington Herald Leader.

Raw Material Prices Rising - US bakeries are paying more for raw materials due to the rising cost of producing those materials and rising global demand for grains. Prices bakeries pay for flour and flour base mixes and doughs rose 26.6 percent in July 2008 compared to July 2007. Bakeries will be negatively affected if rising raw material prices can't be passed to customers.

Union Claims Deal will Save Bankrupt Baker from Liquidation - The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says that it secured a deal with the creditors of Interstate Bakeries Corporation (IBC) that will save the company from liquidation. IBC, one of the largest wholesale bakers in the US, wasn't directly involved in the negotiations. IBC, which filed for bankruptcy in 2004, has shrunk its work force more than 20 percent.

Competitive Landscape

Demand is related to eating trends and to the changing structure of the grocery industry. Profitability for individual companies is determined by efficiency of operations. Large companies have scale advantages in procurement, production, and distribution. Small companies can compete by offering specialty goods or superior local distribution services. Despite high automation, the low value of the product produces a fairly modest $150,000 in annual revenue per employee for commercial bakers.

Full Industry Overview For Bakeries

Bakeries Industry Forecast

from Hoover's/D&B subsidiary First Research

The output for US bakery and pasta products is forecast to grow at an annual compounded rate of 5 percent between 2008 and 2013.

Bakery Products Growth Steadies

First Research forecasts are based on INFORUM forecasts that are licensed from the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. (IERF) in College Park, MD. INFORUM's "interindustry-macro" approach to modeling the economy captures the links between industries and the aggregate economy.