Tang Skyrockets to $1B Brand

NORTHFIELD, Ill.Forty years after skyrocketing to fame and space aboard a 1952 NASA manned space flight with astronaut John Glenn, Tang achieved another celestial feat by becoming Kraft Foods 12th billion-dollar brand, with global sales nearly doubling since 2006.

"In 2006, Tang was just over a $500 million brand. And over the past four years alone, we've nearly doubled that, making Tang Kraft Foods 12th billion-dollar icon," said Sanjay Khosla, President, Kraft Foods Developing Markets.

The growth is due to exciting flavors, new packaging innovations and breakthrough marketing in international markets such as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines. Orange flavor tops the sales charts worldwide, but local flavors like mango in the Philippines, soursop in Brazil, horchata in Mexico and pineapple in the Middle East now make up about 25 percent of Tang sales in developing markets.

"Our business model in Developing Markets of giving local leaders freedom within a framework to act like entrepreneurs has been tremendously successfulTang is no exception," Khosla said. "With an entrepreneurial spirit, our Tang teams across the world connected virtually to harness our global powdered beverage technology and expertise. They used a global approach, combining the best of global and local to transform Tang."

In developing countries, Kraft is touting the benefits of Tangs vitamins and minerals as a way to fortify kids diets. For example, Tang is fortified with vitamin C in all geographies, but in Brazil and the Philippines where kids are iron deficient, it is fortified with iron as well as other vitamins and minerals.

The company also listened to consumer feedback and introduced smaller packages, more affordable sizes, such as 2-liter packs sold in Mexico priced less than 50 cents. Kraft also implemented a new, cost-effective sampling technique as well a more emphasis on sustainable packaging.