Kraft Foods has reorganized its staff, cutting about 600 jobs as it streamlines operations in its five divisions in the U.S. and Canada.
Kraft North America Commercial eliminated sub-divisions within its Snacks, Beverages, Cheese & Dairy, Convenient Meals, and Grocery divisions; product-category leaders now report directly to division heads. The changes take effect this week.
“We want to make our internal processes less cumbersome and time-consuming so we can spend more effort on activities that add real value to Kraft— make our jobs more satisfying, too,” said Dave Johnson, Kraft North America Commercial president in an internal memo announcing the shift. The new structure will speed up the approval process and free up money for marketing.
A similar reorg takes effect for Kraft Canada in January, to leverage Kraft’s North American scale and marketing programs and to reduce duplication of resources while maintaining local consumer insights. Kraft’s five group VPs-division presidents, all based in the U.S., will assume responsibility for Canadian marketing: Daryl Brewster (Snacks & Cereals) Jeri Finard (Beverages) Kevin Ponticelli (Cheese & Dairy) Rick Searer (Convenient Meals) and Mary Beth Stone West (Grocery).
The 600 jobs being cut are part of the 6,000 jobs that Kraft said it would eliminate between 2004 and 2007 as part of its Sustainable Growth Plan. Northfield, IL-based Kraft has cut 5,200 jobs so far, including the 600 that are part of this week’s revamp. Staffers are expected to start leaving in November.
Changes may follow in Kraft’s support groups— Consumer Insights and Strategy, Consumer Promotions, Finance, New Product Development, Packaging and Sales Planning— those departments revamp to serve the streamlined divisions. It’s unclear how the reorganization will affect agency assignments.
