The Kraft Heinz Company
Packaged Foods and CondimentsFounded 2015- Updated June 2026
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Last reviewed: June 2026
CorpDigest
The Kraft Heinz Company
Company History
Founded 2015 in Chicago, Illinois
Last reviewed: 2026-06-06 · By Swet Parvadiya
H.J. Heinz started bottling horseradish in 1869 in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania — not ketchup, which came seven years later in 1876. The horseradish was packaged in clear glass rather than the colored bottles that competitors used to hide low-quality product. That decision, to show rather than conceal, became the founding principle of the Heinz brand: the purity promise, the 57 varieties campaign launched in 1896, the distinctive bottle shape that American consumers would recognize for the next century and a half.
James L. Kraft began his cheese business in Chicago in 1903, initially buying cheese wholesale and delivering it by horse-drawn wagon to merchants. In 1915, he patented a pasteurized cheese process that could extend shelf life from days to months, solving the distribution problem that had made fresh cheese impractical for national retail. Kraft Dinner, the iconic mac and cheese product, launched in 1937 and became a wartime staple when rationing made protein scarce.
Both companies spent the twentieth century acquiring, extending, and diversifying. Kraft merged with General Foods in 1989, creating one of the largest food companies in the world. Philip Morris acquired Kraft in 1988. Heinz was taken private by 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway in 2013 for $28 billion. Two years later, the same investors merged Heinz with Kraft in a $55 billion transaction, creating The Kraft Heinz Company as a new publicly traded entity with a mandate to extract value through disciplined cost management.
The post-merger period produced significant goodwill writedowns and eventually a 2019 SEC investigation into accounting irregularities, both of which forced a strategic reassessment and multiple rounds of executive turnover. The company has been searching for a new growth thesis ever since.
James L. Kraft was an American entrepreneur who founded the Kraft cheese company in 1903. Starting with a single horse and wagon in Chicago, Kraft built a wholesale cheese business that grew into a global food giant. His most significant innovation was the development of a pasteurization process in 1915 that allowed cheese to be packaged and shipped without spoiling. This breakthrough was critical during World War I, when the US military needed non-perishable food sources for its troops, leading to massive contracts that established Kraft as a major industrial player. Kraft's introduction of Kraft Dinner (Macaroni & Cheese) in 1937 further cemented the company's place in American culinary culture, providing an affordable, long-shelf-life meal during the Great Depression and World War II. Kraft's business philosophy was centered on innovation, quality, and scale, principles that guided the company's growth for over a century before its merger with Heinz in 2015.
Henry John Heinz was an American entrepreneur who founded the H.J. Heinz Company in 1869. Starting with a small bottling operation for horseradish in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, Heinz built a food empire based on a commitment to quality and transparency. His decision to use clear glass bottles for his horseradish was revolutionary, allowing consumers to see the purity of the product, a stark contrast to the adulterated foods that dominated the market at the time. Heinz introduced his iconic tomato ketchup in 1876, which became the foundation of the company's global success. The company's famous '57 Varieties' slogan was adopted in 1896, inspired by a shoe store advertisement Heinz saw while riding a train in New York City. Heinz was a pioneer in food safety and employee benefits, introducing medical insurance and recreation facilities for his workers decades before they became standard practice. His commitment to quality, transparency, and employee welfare established a corporate culture that guided the Heinz company for over a century before its merger with Kraft in 2015.
Henry John Heinz starts bottling horseradish in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, using clear glass bottles to demonstrate product purity, establishing the foundation for the Heinz brand.
The Heinz company introduces its iconic tomato ketchup, which becomes the foundation of the company's global success and the most recognized condiment brand in the world.
James L. Kraft starts a wholesale cheese business in Chicago with a horse and wagon, laying the groundwork for what would become the Kraft Foods empire.
Kraft develops a pasteurization process that allows cheese to be packaged and shipped without spoiling, leading to massive contracts with the US military during World War I.
Kraft introduces Kraft Dinner (Macaroni & Cheese), a product that becomes a staple of the American diet during the Great Depression and World War II due to its affordability and long shelf life.
Kraft introduces Kraft Singles, individually wrapped processed cheese slices that become one of the best-selling cheese products in the United States.
Philip Morris Companies acquires Kraft for $12.9 billion, one of the largest corporate acquisitions in history at the time, marking the beginning of a new era of consolidation for the company.
Kraft Foods acquires the British confectionery giant Cadbury for $19.6 billion, significantly expanding its global snack and confectionery portfolio before spinning off its North American grocery business in 2012.
Kraft Foods Group merges with H.J. Heinz Company in a transaction orchestrated by 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway, valued at approximately $100 billion including debt, creating the fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world.
The company records a $15.4 billion goodwill impairment related to its Kraft natural cheese and Oscar Mayer brands, alongside a $1.1 billion SEC settlement regarding the misclassification of supply chain procurement costs.
The company divests its natural cheese business to Lactalis for $3.2 billion, a strategic retreat from a highly competitive, low-margin category where it lacked scale and cost advantages.
Steve Cahillane assumes the role of CEO, immediately halting the planned corporate separation and authorizing a $600 million capital deployment into US manufacturing and marketing.
The merger of Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Company was orchestrated by 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway to create the fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world, predicated on the belief that the combined entity could extract massive cost efficiencies by applying 3G's rigorous zero-based budgeting model.
Kraft Heinz invested $200 million in the Chilean foodtech startup NotCo to form a joint venture aimed at capturing the plant-based protein market without bearing the full capital risk of internal R&D.
Kraft Heinz was formed in July 2015 when Kraft Foods Group merged with H.J. Heinz, a deal orchestrated by 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway that combined roughly $28 billion in annual revenue. The merger created what was then one of the five largest food companies in the world, uniting brands such as Heinz ketchup, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, and Oscar Mayer under one roof.
In February 2019 Kraft Heinz recorded a $15.4 billion goodwill and intangible impairment, concentrated on the Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands, and disclosed an SEC investigation into its procurement accounting. Its shares fell roughly 27% in a single day and the dividend was cut about 36%, exposing the limits of 3G Capital's aggressive cost-cutting model.
In 2025 Kraft Heinz announced a plan to separate into two independent public companies, roughly a decade after the 2015 merger that created it, aiming to reverse years of stagnant growth. One entity would focus on faster-growing global sauces and spreads led by Heinz, while the other would hold slower-moving North American grocery staples.
After the 2015 merger, 3G Capital applied zero-based budgeting that lifted operating margins from about 16% in 2014 to over 22% by 2017. But marketing spending was cut by more than 30% between 2015 and 2019, and the resulting brand underinvestment is widely blamed for the volume declines that followed the 2019 writedown.
Kraft Foods Group entered the merger having been created in 2012, when Kraft Foods split off its international snacks arm as Mondelez International. H.J. Heinz, by contrast, was a Pittsburgh condiment maker founded in 1869, so the 2015 deal joined a recently reorganized grocery business with a company more than 140 years old.