Sunday, May 11, 2003

Oligopoly brief: Altria What is Altria? The new name for Price-Waterhouse Consulting Group A new anti-depression drug from Pfizer A sucralose-based sugar substitute The Number 24 company in the Fortune 500 If you answered 4, you are either a keen student of the business pages or owned stock in Philip Morris. That company, earlier this year, changed its name to the Altria Group, a name conjured up by the same corporate namesmith community that made up Accenture and Verizon. Until 2002, Philip Morris could be designed as the company that sold things that were not very healthy to put in your mouth, namely: Marlboro (the old Philip Morris tobacco company, founded In London around 1850), Velveeta (Kraft, acquired in 1988), Tang (General Foods, acquired in 1985), Chips Ahoy (Nabisco, acquired in 2000), and Miller Lite (Miller Brewing, acquired in 1969). In 2002, Miller was disacquired, sold its majority share to growing international firm, SAB (South African Breweries), now SABMiller (though it still holds a substantial 38% of the new company). Altria, with revenues of $72 billion a year, is divided into two major parts, the Kraft Food division and the Philip Morris tobacco company. Both are giants in over 150 countries. Over a dozen of the company's brands have over a billion dollars a year in sales. Marlboro is by far the #1 cigarette brand across the world, and thus Philip Morris is the leading worldwide tobacco company. Kraft Foods is the #2 food company in the world, after Nestle, and it is #1 in the United States. It is the largest cheese producer in the world, and the number one manufacturer of cookies and crackers. The company is major player in the chocolate and coffee markets, as well.  The reasons for the name change? Well, Altria says on its web site: Approved by the Company's shareholders in 2002, the introduction of Altria reflects important evolutions in our development. The name "Philip Morris" is truly a tobacco name-a name associated with a remarkable history as a leader in that industry both in the United States and around the world. But we also have come to own a number of companies that are not tobacco-based, companies such as General Foods, Kraft, Jacobs Suchard and Nabisco. By changing its name, Altria Group will clarify its identity as what it is: a parent company to both tobacco and food companies that manage some of the world's most successful brands. But according to a study in the April 2002 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, the reasons are otherwise: Philip Morris hoped that this latest PR maneuver would improve its image without sacrificing tobacco profits. According to the corporation's consultants, "the name change alternative offers the possibility of masking the negatives associated with the tobacco business." The name change is part of a long-term effort to improve the corporation's public perception, which has included shifting the focus of attention away from Philip Morris (Altria) as a tobacco company, to a "consumer packaged goods company." Consultants recommended this change, as "forty percent of the general public can't even guess what a consumer packaged goods company is." Philip Morris (Altria) fears that if its new name is automatically associated with tobacco, the effort is "doomed." Product type Category US and World-wide Brands Select national brands Cigarettes Philip Morris brands Alpine, Basic, Benson & Hedges, Bristol, Bucks, Cambridge, Chesterfield, Collector's Choice, Commander, English Ovals, Lark, L&M, Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Players, Saratoga, Virginia Slims Apollo Soyuz (Russia), Diana (Italy), Fajrant (Poland), Galaxy (Brazil), Muratti (Italy), Optima (Russia), Peter Jackson (Canada), Petra (Czech Rep.), Philip Morris (Argentina), Red & White (India), SG (Portugal) Beverages Coffee General Foods International, Gevalia, Maxim, Maxwell House, Sanka, Starbucks*, Yuban Carte Noire (France), Hag (Germany), Jacobs (Germany), Kenco (UK), Nabob (Canada)   Powdered soft drinks Country Time, Crystal Light, Kool-Aid, Tang Clight (Latin America), Fresh (Brazil), Frisco (Mexico)   Ready to drink Capri Sun*, Country Time, Crystal Light, Kool-Aid Bursts, Tang, Total Balance Kaba (Germany) Meals Meats OscarMeyer, Louis Rich     Convenience meals Kraft, Lunchables, Stove-Top, Taco Bell* Miracoli (Germany), Reis-fit (Germany)   Frozen Pizzas California Pizza Kitchen*, DiGiorno, Jack's, Tombstone Delissio (Canada)   Meat alternatives Boca     Pasta, Sauces DiGiorno Vesta (Mexico) Cheese Cottage Cheese & Yogurt Breakstone's, Breyers*, Knudsen, Light n' Lively     Cream cheese Philadelphia, Temp-tee     Natural cheese Athenos, Churny, Cracker Barrel, DiGiorno, Handi-Snacks, Harvest Moon, Hoffman's, Kraft, Polly-O Casino (Canada), P'tit Quebec (Canada)   Process Cheese Cheez Whiz, Kraft, Old English, Velveeta Dairylea (UK), El Caserio (Spain), Ziz (Mexico) Snacks Cookies/Nabisco Chips Ahoy, Ginger Snaps, Lorna Doone, Mallomars, Newtons, Nillas, Oreos, SnackWell's, Stella D'Oro, many others Mascaritas (Mexico), Trakinas (Asia, South America)   Crackers Cheese Nips, Honey Maid, Premium, Ritz, Stoned Wheat Thins, Triscuit, Uneeda, Waverly, Wheat Thins, Zwieback, and many others Express (Argentina), Kraker Bran (Latin America), Lucky (Taiwan)   Candies and other snacks Altoids, Callard & Bowser, Life Savers, Planters peanuts, Terry's, Toblerone Cute d'Or (Belgium), Daim (Europe), Lux (Ukraine),Marabou (Scandanavia), Milka (Europe), Suchard (Europe), Sonha de Valsa (Brazil), Sugus (East Asia) Groceries Baking supplies Baker's chocolate, Baker's coconut, Calumet baking powder Royal baking powder (Mexixo)   Condiments, Sauces, etc. A-1 steak sauce, Bull's Eye barbecue sauce, Claussen pickles, Good Seasons salad dressings, Grey Poupon mustard, Kraft sauces, dips, mayonnaise, ketchup, and dressings, Miracle Whip, Oven Fry coating mix, Sauceworks, Seven Seas Salad Dressings, Shake 'n Bake coating mix RSVP (Canada), Vegemite (Australia)   Packaged desserts and desserts aids Certo pectin, Cool Whip, Dream Whip, D-Zerta, Jello, Knox gelatin, Kraft ice-cream toppings, Minute pudding, Sure-Jell pectin Bird's (UK, Canada), Royal (Latin America), Whip 'n Chill (Canada) Breakfast foods Post Cereals Alpha-Bits, Fruit & Fiber,Raisin Bran, Shredded Wheat, Toasties, 100% Bran, etc. Corn Flight (South Korea)   Other breakfast foods Postum powdered drink, Cream of Wheat cooked cereal, Kool Stuf toaster pastries van Houten cocoa (Europe)  Misc. Misc. groceries Balance bars, Ever-Fresh fruit preservative, Jenny Craig* bars, Milk-Bone dog biscuits, Minute Rice, Oasis bars Aylmer canned vegetables, soups (Canada), Bonox beef stock (Australia), Nevadas marshmallows (Mexico), Primo soups (Canada), Tres Estrellas flour (Mexico) 2:51:23 PM

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