Jesse Newman

Kraft was a cheese seller in Illinois.

He started out selling cheese out of a horse-drawn wagon, as one did.

And our protagonist, James Kraft, he went on to make processed cheese and then to make mac and cheese.

And so Kraft mac and cheese as we know it was introduced in 1937.

When it was released, it cost 19 cents a box.

And it became wildly popular during the Great Depression and during World War II.

People are looking for fresher food, healthier food.

They want cleaner labels, simpler ingredients.

And a lot of Kraft's products, including Kraft mac and cheese, just comes to be seen as sort of the epitome of productivity.

This was true of many of their brands.

Think Jell-O, Kool-Aid.

We loved them as kids, but a lot of parents were already reaching for healthier options.

And I really can't overstate how big a deal this is in the food industry.

This is supposed to be sort of a new chapter for many of these brands.

Executives at the time said that the merger was going to make the brands more relevant.

It was really going to rescue what, you know, already at this time, in some cases, were ailing brands.

They pretty quickly start to eliminate a lot of jobs.

They close plants.

And it's a big change at the start of Kraft Heinz Life.

And did that strategy improve the business?