They changed the recipe for Kraft Dinner! Really. After decades of stoic adherence to the ‘original’ recipe – one which made generations of college dorm dwellers addicts – Kraft Heinz has yielded to contemporary calls for healthier ‘comfort’ foods, banishing artificial flavours and colours…
The kid in this heritage KD ad is probably fifty-something, now. But KD
itself remains ageless, in spite of the abolition of artificial
preservatives, colours and flavours.
Kraft Heinz has no more iconic product than Kraft Dinner – known to millions simply as ‘KD’ and, in the U.S., Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. It’s been around since 1937 and just about everyone over the age of 30 in North America has eaten it at one time or another. Some of us – self included – considered it an essential food group during our college dorm-living years. Not just because we craved the Cheesy, Salty, Pasta hit it delivered. It was reliable. Anybody could prepare it perfectly. And, most important, it was cheap.
But as beloved as KD is by the silent majority, strident millennials have been calling for a makeover with an eye toward healthier ingredients. So, Kraft Heinz set out to get rid of all the ‘bad stuff’ without destroying the flavour, texture and and other desirable qualities that made the product famous. They replaced artificial ingredients with natural ones like Paprika, Annatto and Turmeric. Easy enough. But old school KD fans were skeptical that KD would still taste like KD.
Now, here’s the REAL story…
Kraft Heinz actually launched the new KD under a cloak of secrecy – the biggest blind taste test ever run, they said. For three months starting last December, they began shipping the new KD and braced for an outburst of outrage from KD purists. Some 50 million boxes were put on the market. And guess what happened? Nothing. Apparently, nobody noticed the change!
Good news for Kraft Heinz. Not so good for self-professed KD gourmets!
~ Maggie J.