Origins & Early Life

James Lewis Kraft (; December 11, 1874 – February 16, 1953) was a Canadian-American entrepreneur and inventor. Kraft emigrated to the United States from Canada in 1902 and established a wholesale cheese distribution business, J.L. Kraft & Bros. Company, in 1903.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

The business eventually became Kraft Foods Inc., the former multinational confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate (now succeeded by Mondelez International). He also developed a patented pasteurization process for cheese that did not require refrigeration, allowing it to be shipped long distances, and putting him among the first to patent a processed cheese. J. L. Kraft was born on December 11, 1874, near Stevensville, Ontario, Canada, located just north of Fort Erie, to Mennonite parents Minerva Alice née Tripp (1848–1933) and George Franklin Krafft (1842–1914), a farmer of German descent.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

He was the second of eleven children. Kraft was educated in the Stevensville area (S.S. No. 9) and worked nearby at Ferguson's General store in Fort Erie from 1901 to 1902. According to Ruth Kraft Anderson, daughter of Kraft's brother Will, the name was originally spelled with two fs, but Kraft decided to remove...

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