KRAFT FOODS SWEETS AND TREATS ADD CHRISTMAS MAGIC AND NEW YEAR'S SPARKLE AROUND THE WORLD

NORTHFIELD, Ill., Dec. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Kraft Foods, the world's largest chocolate maker and biscuit baker, is making the holidays around the world even sweeter this year with plenty of new seasonal biscuits and chocolates – in addition to annual favorites.

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"People around the world eagerly await the special chocolates, cookies, crackers and other products we make only for the Christmas and New Year's holidays," said Mary Beth West, Chief Category & Marketing Officer.  "The response to these products every year is fantastic when people celebrate and entertain with their friends and families."

Because the holidays are celebrated differently, and at different times, all over the world, these limited edition products are designed for the traditions in each country.  Here's just a sampling of what Kraft Foods is cooking up around the world this year:

Christmas in Summer
Christmas arrives in Australia before almost every other country, but it falls three days into the southern summer.  While Santa is more likely to ride a surfboard than a sleigh, Kraft's popular little green frog Freddo wears antlers on the new Freddo & Friends gift pack.  Tucked inside are plenty of Cadbury Freddo, Caramello Koala and Cadbury Magical Elves chocolate treats. The new Cadbury Dairy Milk Christmas block chocolate bar comes with a built-in holiday card, which makes a great gift for Cadbury chocolate lovers.

Year of the Dragon
While China marks the New Year on Jan. 1, the larger celebration is the traditional Chinese New Year, ushering in the Year of the Dragon, on Jan. 23.  Because the Chinese New Year is celebrated with fireworks and candies, Kraft added sparks to the new Choclairs Gift Tin, which lights up with images of fireworks against a purple night sky.  Kraft introduced four new Oreo tins for the holiday.  One combines the favorite holiday color red with a flying ribbon, symbolizing happiness, luck and celebration.  The lucky theme continues inside with strawberry creme-filled Oreo cookies.  Another tin of lavender, pink and blue, is filled with double fruit cookies with tempting combinations of orange/mango creme and raspberry/blueberry creme.

Pasalubong and Noche Buena
Families gather in the Philippines to celebrate the holidays and share treats.  For the first time, the Oreo Christmas pack offers Filipinos the world's favorite cookie in a colorful box.  The Toblerone Milk Chocolate holiday pack is a much loved pasalubong, or homecoming gift, for people returning home for the holidays.  And Noche Buena, the traditional Christmas Eve dinner, is incomplete without dishes made with Kraft Eden cheese, another favorite in the Philippines, in a special Christmas pack with recipes for Eden cheese.

Where Christmas Comes Next Year
Most Russians celebrate Christmas after the New Year, on Jan. 7.  There, the holidays bring families together, and Kraft's milk- and chocolate-filled Barni bear biscuits come in a package that can be cut and assembled to create an elaborate castle.

Christmas in Europe
In Germany and Austria, the Christmas season starts on Dec. 6 with St. Nicholas Day and continues to St. Stephen's Day on Dec. 26.  The wait for Christmas is that much tastier with the Milka Advent Calendar where, behind each door is a tasty Milka Alpine Milk chocolate figure filled with delicious milk cream.  In Germany, the land that invented the Christmas Tree, Milka Santa Claus is a treat and even a tree decoration.  In Austria, it's known as Milka Nikolo -- or St. Nick.  New to the holiday line this year are white chocolate Milka Fine Rounds.

In Italy, celebrations begin eight days before Christmas and continue through New Year's Day until the Feast of the Epiphany on Jan. 6.  To keep track of the days, for the first time this year, seasonal Milka chocolate comes with an Advent Calendar.

Christmas in many Swedish homes is preceded by the St. Lucia ceremony on Dec. 13, where children serve their parents breakfast buns and coffee.  As more Swedes enjoy dark chocolate these days, Kraft's Aladdin Dark chocolate is a new part of the Christmas tradition.  This Christmas, Aladdin Dark is available in a seasonal box filled with dark chocolate pralines with nine different fillings.

Ushering in 2012 in the UK
Chocolate is a big part of Christmas in the UK, and Cadbury is its most popular brand.  But next year is no ordinary year, as 2012 marks the year the Olympics return to London.

As the official "treat provider" of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Cadbury products are available in colorful holiday gift packs with striking images of London – and a collectable tin in the shape of a London bus.  The gift packs are filled with favorites such as Cadbury Crunchie, Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel and Cadbury Flake.  

Also this season, Kraft Foods is helping to make wishes come true for children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses with Cadbury Wishes chocolate stars with bubbly chocolate and truffle centers.  Ten percent of the profits from the Cadbury Wishes gift pack will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation UK, which aims to grant 1,200 wishes in 2012.

North American Holidays
Canadian traditions borrow from Scottish, French, English and other cultures.  And, like the UK, Canada celebrates the Boxing Day holiday on the day after Christmas.  In Canada this year, Kraft offers a tree ornament full of individually wrapped Toblerone Swiss Milk Chocolate and Honey Almond Nougat.  New this year are Oreo Holiday Treats with thin, crispy chocolate Oreo wafers topped with a layer of smooth Oreo creme and covered in dark chocolate.

The holidays mean lots of breakfasts, brunches, dinners and parties in the United States.  Among the new and returning seasonal products are Snowflake and fudge-covered Ritz and Sweet Cinnamon Wheat Thins crackers, Red Creme Winter Oreo cookies, Gingerbread Honey Maid graham crackers, Royal Vinter Spice Gevalia coffee, Planters Winter Spiced Nuts, Creme Brulee Almonds and Tailgate Nut Mix and Almonds, Kraft Jet-Puffed French vanilla SnowmanMallows, PeppermintMallows and HolidayMallows.

Oscar Mayer bacon is a key ingredient in many morning meals, appetizers and side dishes.  In fact, more Oscar Mayer bacon is sold in November and December than any other time of year, and there's more traffic for bacon recipes during the holidays than any other time of year (at http://www.kraftrecipes.com/home.aspx).

Kraft produces Roka Blue cheese spread only from October through the holiday season.  A staple since the 1950s, Roka Blue is popular for making cheese balls.  In addition, Philadelphia Cream Cheese features its only seasonal flavor – Pumpkin – beginning in the fall.  And 24-ounce blocks of Cracker Barrel extra sharp cheddar cheese, aged for over a year, are available only during the holidays through selected outlets.

ABOUT KRAFT FOODS
Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) is a global snacks powerhouse with an unrivaled portfolio of brands people love.  Proudly marketing delicious biscuits, confectionery, beverages, cheese, grocery products and convenient meals in approximately 170 countries, Kraft Foods had 2010 revenue of $49.2 billion.  Twelve of the company's iconic brands – Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oreo, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Tang and Trident – generate revenue of more than $1 billion annually.  On Aug. 4, 2011, Kraft Foods announced plans to divide and create two independent public companies:  a high-growth global snacks business and a high-margin North American grocery business.  The transaction will take at least 12 months to complete, during which time plans regarding the structure, management, governance and other matters will be announced.  A leader in innovation, marketing, health & wellness and sustainability, Kraft Foods is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor's 500, Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Ethibel Sustainability Index.  Visit www.kraftfoodscompany.com and www.facebook.com/kraftfoodscorporate.

– make today delicious –

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SOURCE Kraft Foods