It's tough to run a multinational CPG brand these days. There's tepid consumer spending in the U.S., Europe and even Asia, on top of that "new normal" thing that came out of the Great Recession. Regulators are pursuing food and beverage companies that aren't getting on the better-for-you train fast enough. And commodity prices and currency-exchange rates vacillate wildly.
In its just-released list of new products planned for 2012, Kraft Foods reflects many of these pressures — but also reveals a determination to use the strengths of the brand and the company to take advantage of developing opportunities. General Mills likewise provided a sampling of its new-product forays for the new year, in a conference call this week.
