Kraft Foods Acquires Borden Shelf-Stable Pasta Line

Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT - news), a global leader in branded foods and beverages, today announced that it has purchased the It's Pasta Anytime! convenient meal business and certain assets from Borden Foods Corporation. The brand was introduced in April 2000, and year one retail revenues were about $36 million.

The brand will become part of Kraft's Cheese, Meals & Enhancers group, based in Glenview, IL. Terms were not disclosed.

``The It's Pasta Anytime! line is an exciting addition to our convenient-meal portfolio, joining such items as Easy Mac microwaveable macaroni and cheese dinners and Stove Top Oven Classics,'' said Betsy D. Holden, Co-CEO, Kraft Foods, and President and CEO, Kraft Foods North America. ``The brand is right on target in meeting the growing need for fast, nutritious, great-tasting meals. Consumers can make a delicious, pasta lunch or dinner in less than three minutes in the microwave.''

The It's Pasta Anytime! line includes six varieties of single-serve meals, each with individual pouches of pasta and sauce in a microwaveable tray: Penne with Tomato Italian Sausage Flavor Sauce, Spaghetti Style Pasta with Tomato Beef Flavor Sauce, Penne with Tomato Mushroom Sauce, Thin Spaghetti Style Pasta with Sauteed Onion and Garlic Sauce, and Elbows with Tomato Cheese Sauce.

Kraft Foods markets many of the world's leading food brands, including Kraft cheese, Maxwell House and Jacobs coffees, Nabisco cookies and crackers, Philadelphia cream cheese, Oscar Mayer meats, Post cereals and Milka chocolates, in more than 140 countries.

For more information, please visit our website at www.kraft.com For more information on the Classico It's Pasta Anytime! brand, visit www.bordenfoods.com/ipa.asp

SOURCE: Kraft Foods