NORTHFIELD, ILL. — Kraft Foods Inc. said it plans to change the name of its global snacks business to Mondelez International, Inc. According to Kraft, “Mondelez” (pronounced mohn-dah-LEEZ’) is a newly coined word that evokes the idea of a “delicious world.”

Kraft said “Monde” derives from the Latin word for “world,” and “delez” is a fanciful expression of “delicious.”
Kraft announced last year that it is dividing to create two public companies before the end of 2012: a high-growth global snacks business and a high-margin North American grocery business. The North American grocery company will become Kraft Foods Group, Inc., retaining the Kraft brand for its corporate identity and as the brand for many of its consumer products.

“The Kraft brand is a perfect fit for the North American grocery business and gives it a wonderful platform on which to build an exciting future,” said Irene Rosenfeld, chairman and chief executive officer. “For the new global snacks company, we wanted to find a new name that could serve as an umbrella for our iconic brands, reinforce the truly global nature of this business and build on our higher purpose — to ‘make today delicious.’ Mondelez perfectly captures the idea of a ‘delicious world’ and will serve as a solid foundation for the strong relationships we want to create with our consumers, customers, employees and shareholders.”

Kraft invited employees to suggest names for the new global snacks company, and the process resulted in more than 1,700 names submitted for consideration. Mondelez International was inspired by separate suggestions from two employees, one in Europe and another in North America, Kraft said.

Shareholders will vote on the new name at the company’s annual meeting on May 23. If approved, the new name would become effective when the global snacks company launches before the end of 2012.

Kraft said it has reserved the stock symbol “MDLZ.” If the name change amendment is approved, the company intends to request that its common stock trade under this new stock symbol after the spin-off. The stock symbol for the North American grocery company will be announced at a later date, Kraft said.

In the meantime, the name and stock trading symbol for Kraft Foods Inc. will not change.