JAMES L KRAFT

CANADIAN-AMERICAN, 1874-1953

Born in Canada, Kraft emigrated to the United States in 1903, where he attended a business college. Moving to Chicago the following year, he purchased cheese in bulk from wholesalers and then sold it to local retailers in tinfoil and glass jars. Kraft was so successful that by 1914 he had opened his first cheese manufacturing plant with his brothers. He also developed a process for pasteurising cheese that he then sold in fourounce tins, becoming the first person to gain a patent for processed cheese. By revolutionising the manufacturing and distribution of cheese, Kraft improved its shelf-life and helped trigger an increased consumption of cheese in the USA.

The US armed forces bought over 2.7 million kilos of Kraft’s canned cheese during World War I