Kraft Macaroni and Cheese may be the most simultaneously beloved and maligned food product in history, but judging by the age of the product, 87 years, its sales tell the real story. Americans love it. Introduced in 1937, the product was originally part of a line of pasta-themed products called ‘Kraft Dinner,’ which also included spaghetti and chicken and noodles.
Macaroni and Cheese was the only “Kraft Dinner” product that survived. While we only know it as ‘Kraft Mac & Cheese’ in America, Australia, and New Zealand, it is still called Kraft Dinner in Canada. The Kraft name is not used at all in the U.K. where it is only known as Mac & Cheese, as, apparently, the Brits are not fond of the brand, perhaps because of their takeover of Cadbury in 2010.
Kraft Mac and Cheese was one of the first true convenience foods that became a national staple. When Kraft Macaroni and Cheese dinner first debuted in 1937, it was advertised as feeding a family of four for 19 cents. Its sales have only grown. After the pandemic, Kraft reported a 27% increase in sales of the product.
The idea of pairing macaroni with cheese, of course, is much older. Recipes have existed since the 1300s, i.e. ‘To dress macaroni with parmesan cheese.’ This recipe was simple. Mix cooked macaroni pasta with a ‘gill of good cream’ and a ‘lump of butter rolled in flour’ and then add parmesan cheese ‘toasted.’
But until processed cheese was invented, there was no way, at least during the 1930s, to produce a packaged macaroni and cheese product that wouldn’t spoil immediately. It makes perfect sense, then, that Kraft should be the company to crack it. After all, although James L. Kraft was not the first person to make processed cheese, he did improve on it and was the first person to patent it in 1916.
Kraft was very successful selling processed cheese in various ways, including supplying the army in the early days, and looked for even more ways to sell it.
Early boxes came with grated processed cheese but Kraft, at some point (research needed) created a powdered base by removing some of the fat and dehydrating processed cheese and adding tartrazine food coloring for that perfect cheesy color. The customer would add fat and liquid to the base in the form of butter and milk.
The product was introduced at the perfect time for Americans affected by World War II since food rations restricted purchases and meat was at a premium. Although I have not confirmed this, it is claimed that 8 million were sold in the first year alone.
However, its success is owed not only to its cost-effectiveness but to it being shelf-stable.
It is not clear whether Kraft was the first to market macaroni and cheese in a box, although he certainly perfected the idea. Many sources claim that the idea was first tried by Grant Leslie of St. Louis, Missouri, who so boxes of pasta with a pack of grated cheese attached with a rubber band.
Another, more detailed claim is that Leslie worked for a company called Tenderoni Macaroni and found that attaching Kraft grated cheese to boxes of pasta enabled him to sell more.
While Leslie may have sold boxes of Tenderoni Macaroni, there was no company by that name. Instead, Tenderoni was the brand name of a line of boxed pasta products produced Stokely Van Camp during the 1930s. Company Kraft found out about this and hired him…I was unable to verify these claims and the many sources may simply be repeating a claim made by one or two sources, likely through the Wikipedia entry.
However, the recipe for ‘Baked Tenderoni and Cheese’ that appeared on boxes of the pasta called for the cooked pasta to be mixed with milk and grated American cheese (and one tbs real cheese, if desired). It would make sense that adding a pack of grated cheese to the box would help sales.
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