Warren Buffett is famous for telling Berkshire Hathaway (
BRK-A
,
quote
) acquisitions, "keep doing what you have been doing." Good
management is critical to his evaluation of companies, which is
why his long tenure as Kraft's (
KFT
,
quote
) largest shareholder speaks well of it.
Chief Executive Officer Irene Rosenfeld is the linchpin of
Kraft's current management. Ranked the
world's #1 businesswoman
by the
Financial Times
in 2011, Rosenfeld has done much to lead Kraft
Inc to a larger presence in emerging markets.
The acquisition of British chocolate maker Cadbury in 2010 was
one such example. Among other things, this is leading to a
substantial effort by Kraft in India
, where revenues have risen 40%
.
(Berkshire Hathaway actually
opposed the Cadbury acquisition
, suggesting that even the Sage of Omaha has his blind
spots.)
The most significant move by Rosenfeld to better position
Kraft for operations abroad has been the splitting of the company
into two units: a North American grocery unit and a global
snack unit. About this, Rosenfeld observed that, "We are
talking about two companies with sizable scale in their
respective markets."
"The North American grocery business is a $16bn business with
a set of iconic brands, more than 80% of which have the number
one market position in their respective categories. The global
snacks business is a $32 billion behemoth, with the number one
position in three of our four categories and a sizeable footprint
in key markets, particularly in developing markets."
Investors looking for a broad-based exposure to American
consumer giants venturing abroad may be interested in
the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (
XLP
,
quote
). XLP devotes 5.17% of its holdings to Kraft, with larger
investments in global businesses like Proctor & Gamble (
PG
,
quote
) and Walmart (
WMT
,
quote
).