James Lewis KraftBorn 11 Dec 1874; died Feb 1953 .Canadian-American manufacturer and inventor of the pasteurizing process for cheese. Founder of the Kraft Co. In 1903, J.L. Kraft established a wholesale cheese business in Chicago. Kraft had a vision of supplying America with nutritious, low-cost cheese products. In 1916, Kraft patented a processed cheese formula, based on milk solids, that would not spoil. He called it "American Cheese." The general public found it bland, but Kraft remained undaunted. He took his formula to the U.S. Army, and sold them 6 million pounds of the processed cheese product. Soldiers developed a taste for Kraft's creation. When the great depression came, the processed cheese was a boon to everyone: real cheese became hard to get and it was expensive. |
