Kraft: Russian sales haven't slowed

Kraft Foods Inc., the world's second-largest foodmaker, said the global financial crisis hasn't slowed sales in Russia.

"So far, there's no consumer impact," said David Steer, Kraft's president for Russia and Central Asia. Kraft's sales in Russia rose more than 20 percent last year to $700 million and are "on a strong growth track" this year, Steer said in an interview in Moscow today. He declined to be more specific.

The Northfield-based maker of Jacobs Monarch and Carte Noire coffee this year opened a $100 million instant- coffee plant near St. Petersburg to capitalize on rising consumer spending in Russia. Kraft, along with larger competitor Nestle SA, is expanding in a country where energy exports are driving a 10th year of economic growth.

"Russia is one of the top 10 priority markets" for Kraft, Steer said in the interview. "The role of Russia in global strategy is growth."

Kraft became Russia's largest biscuit maker last year when it bought a Groupe Danone SA unit that owns the Bolshevik biscuit factory in Moscow, Steer said today in a presentation in the Russian capital.

Kraft is also investing between 25 million euros ($31 million) and 30 million euros in a new biscuit plant in the Vladimir region east of Moscow to help meet consumer demand, Steer said. The factory will become the company's fourth in Russia and will begin production in about a year, he said. It also has a chocolate factory in the Vladimir town of Pokrov.