Kraft Dinner. [.KD.]

<font size="12" color="#bfffffff"></font><font size="12" color="#ffff0000">The prerequisite to creating packaged macaroni and cheese was the development of "processed" cheeses in which emulsifying salts help stabilize the product, giving it a longer life. James Lewis Kraft, originally of Fort Erie, Ontario, but then living in Chicago, did not invent processed cheese but won a patent for one processing method in 1916 and began to build his cheese business.<br><br>The idea for selling macaroni and cheese together as a package came about during the Great Depression when a St. Louis, Missouri, salesman began attaching grated cheese to boxes of pasta with a rubber band. In 1937, Kraft introduced the product in the U.S. and Canada. The timing of the product's launch had much to do with its success. During World War II, rationing of milk and dairy products, an increased reliance on meatless entrees, and more women working outside the home, created a nearly captive market for the product, which was considered a hearty meal for families. Its shelf life of ten months was attractive at a time when many Canadian homes did not have refrigerators.<br><br>New product lines using different flavours and pasta shapes and increases to shelf life have been introduced over the decades. Kraft Dinner is still seen as inexpensive, easy-to-make comfort food, with marketing to highlight its value and convenience.</font>