Kraft cuts prices on Maxwell House, Yuban

Kraft Foods Inc., the world's second- largest foodmaker, reduced the price of some Maxwell House and Yuban ground coffees after green coffee prices fell.

The reduction of 10 cents a pound on Maxwell House and Yuban coffees is effective today, Bridget MacConnell, a Kraft spokeswoman in Tarrytown, New York, said in a telephone interview. The Northfield-based company also reduced Maxwell House, Yuban and Sanka instant coffee prices by 2.5 cents an ounce, she said.

Global economic weakness may push the price of Arabica coffee, the mild bean used by Starbucks Corp. and other coffee- shop chains, below $1 a pound by the end of the year, Jaime Menahem, a coffee trader at Alaron Trading Corp. in Miami, said today in a telephone interview.

Arabica-coffee futures for March delivery rose 0.1 cent to $1.096 a pound at 12:00 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Before today, the price dropped 20 percent this year.