A tribute to the iconic blue box dinner
Mac and cheese is a comfort food that never fails to please. With National Mac and Cheese Day taking place on Sunday, it’s the perfect time to salute the heavyweight champion of boxed mac and cheese: Kraft Mac and Cheese.
The idea of pairing pasta with cheese dates back to 160 B.C. in Rome, according to the food website Epicurious. The first known recipe was written in Northern Europe in 1769, a few decades before President Thomas Jefferson served it at a state dinner in 1802, Smithsonian magazine wrote.
In 1914, J.L. Kraft & Bros. Co., later Kraft Foods, built its first cheese manufacturing plant and produced 6 million pounds of cheese to feed soldiers during World War I.
During the Great Depression, Kraft introduced its boxed macaroni and cheese, a meal for four that cost 19 cents, according to Smithsonian magazine. Originally called Kraft Dinner (and it’s still called that in Canada) when it was introduced in 1937, the product sold 9 million boxes in its first year, according to Kraft Heinz.
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As the first packaged dry meal on the market, the canned meal became “a hearty substitute for many during the rationing of meat and dairy products during World War II,” the company said in a statement to USA TODAY. Sales in 1943 topped 50 million packages, according to Kraft Heinz.
“It was a cheap way to feed a family, it became wildly popular, and mac and cheese has been a comfort food staple ever since,” Bon Appetit noted in an October 2023 ranking of boxed mac and cheese (it performed well, but didn’t come out on top).
Today, Kraft Heinz Co. says it sells about a million cans a day.
“For more than 85 years, Kraft Mac & Cheese has been with our fans at every stage of their lives,” said Ashleigh Calderone, senior brand manager for Kraft Mac & Cheese at Kraft Heinz. “With every bowl of creamy, cheesy noodles, we provide comfort and familiarity when they need to recharge.”
Here’s a look at some of Kraft Mac and Cheese’s most important moments.
1954: Kraft Macaroni and Cheese gets its iconic blue box
Originally, the product’s box was primarily yellow, but nearly two decades later, the food company has switched to blue, according to Nexstar Media Group.
2006: Kraft introduces new macaroni and cheese models
As Kraft Macaroni & Cheese continued to dominate, the company began making new spinoff products, including organic macaroni and cheese and individual macaroni and cheese serving bowls (just add water, microwave, then add cheese sauce).
2016: Kraft changes the recipe for macaroni and cheese
The food manufacturer said it was not bowing to consumer pressure when it announced plans to replace synthetic colours in foods with colours made from natural sources such as paprika, annatto and turmeric.
“Our loyal fans told us they didn’t want their Kraft Mac & Cheese to look or taste any different,” Kraft spokeswoman Lynne Galia told USA TODAY. “We worked hard to ensure the new recipe had the same look and taste that people know and love in the iconic blue box.”
2020: Kraft macaroni and cheese sales rise during pandemic, but drop when SNAP hit
During the COVID-19 lockdown, sales of Kraft macaroni and cheese have skyrocketed, with some people even eating it for breakfast, Business Insider reported.
More than half of parents (56%) said they served their kids mac and cheese for breakfast more often than in the past during lockdowns, the company found in a survey of 1,000 parents conducted in the summer of 2020. For example, Kraft Heinz released a limited-edition Kraft Mac & Cheese “breakfast box” in early 2021.
“A Kraft Mac & Cheese breakfast is a win-win for families at a time when they need every win they can get,” Kelsey Cooperstein, Kraft Heinz brand director, said at the time.
Conversely, earlier this year, Kraft Heinz saw a decline in macaroni and cheese sales in the final months of 2023 as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits enacted during the pandemic expired in February 2023.
The company’s macaroni and cheese business “is disproportionately driven by our exposure to SNAP,” Kraft Heinz CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera said in February during a discussion with investment analysts about the company’s financial performance for fiscal 2023.
2022: Kraft Mac and Cheese adopts a new name and a new look
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese became Kraft Mac and Cheese in June 2022 — a name change meant to “reflect how fans organically talk about the brand,” Kraft Heinz said at the time.
The product’s blue box has also been revamped with a more prominent noodle smile, dripping with liquid cheese, and a new, bolder font with white letters instead of yellow.
2023: A plant-based version of Kraft Mac and Cheese is coming
In late November 2023, Kraft Heinz announced that it had partnered with TheNotCompany, a Chicago startup that makes plant-based milk, burgers and other products, to create Kraft NotMac&Cheese.
The Kraft Heinz Not Company joint venture, which previously collaborated on NotCheese Slices and NotMayo, began rolling out NotMac&Cheese in the United States in early 2024 and is continuing its international expansion.
NotMac&Cheese comes in two flavors (original cheddar and white cheddar) and replaces dairy with ingredients like fava bean protein and coconut oil powder.
Nutritional information for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
Here are the nutritional details for a prepared serving of Kraft Original Mac & Cheese Dinner, according to Kraft Heinz.
Calories: 360Total fat: 12 g (16% Daily Value)Cholesterol: 10 mg (4%)Sodium: 710 mg (31%)Total carbohydrates: 49 g (18%)Protein: 10 g
Contributed by: Wyatte Grantham-Phillips and Gabe Hauari.
Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.
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