The Kraft Heinz company is splitting into separate companies, one decade after its massive merger, the entity announced. Jesse Newman, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, joins with more details.

Kraft Heinz has announced its intention to split into two separate companies, a decade after the merger that originally brought the two food giants together. The company states that the decision is driven by a desire to simplify its operations and allow for greater focus on its nearly 200 brands across 55 categories and 150 countries.

The planned split will see one company concentrate on condiments, sauces, spreads, and seasonings, while the other will focus on the North American grocery business. Executives acknowledge that the process will be complex, requiring the disentanglement of shared operating frameworks and partnerships. The move follows a broader trend in the food industry, with other major companies also opting to split in recent years.

Kraft Heinz set to split one decade after merger

We're also tracking a major business breakup. Just 10 years after a merger between Kraft and Heinz, the company now wants to split in two. It's a breakup indeed. At the time, the Kraft-Heinz merger was valued at $46 billion. It made the company one of the biggest in the world. Wall Street Journal reporter Jesse Newman is live with us now from Chicago. So Jesse, why the Kraft-Heinz split? Hi there. Well, the company says that they want to be more focused, to be able to focus more on their brands. They've got close to 200 brands across 55 categories, 150 countries. And that's gotten pretty complex. And so they say that they will be able to better focus and have better performance for their brands if they are split into two companies, one which is largely focused on, I would say, it's condiments heavy, it's sauces and spreads and seasonings, and another which is essentially the North American grocery business. So one is going to house a lot of Kraft brands. The other will have a lot of Heinz brands. Yeah, that video is making me crave crinkle-cut fries for better or for worse. You say complex, but you also write this could be complicated. Why is that? Yeah, it's a massive organization with a lot of brands in a lot of different places. They have an overarching operating framework and partnerships with the likes of Google and Microsoft that the company is going to have to disentangle. So it's going to take a while. All right, so we've seen here on CBS News 24-7 stories of massive businesses splitting or reorganizing or restructuring. Do you think this is a pattern that we're going to see more of as pressure increases to satisfy shareholders? We already are seeing more of it in the food business. So in 2022, Kellogg announced that it was going to split. It wound up splitting into two companies, its North American cereal business and a snacking business, Kellanova and WK Kellogg. Just recently, we had the news about Kerry Dr. Pepper. So it does seem to be in vogue in the food and beverage industry as these companies are going through a pretty tumultuous time to figure out their way and how to bring value. All right, and the most important question for you as so many people on the East Coast sit down for lunch, ketchup or mustard on your hot dog? I'm a mustard girl. All right, good for you. Mustard girl all the way. Thank you, Jesse Newman. Nice to talk to you. You have a great day. We appreciate you.

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Breakdown