Kraft to sell 2 juice brands to Sunny Delight Beverages

The Fruit2O and Veryfine beverage brands switch owners.

NORTHFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Kraft Foods Inc. said Tuesday it will sell two juice brands to Sunny Delight Beverages Co, the latest move by the world’s second-largest food and drink maker to better focus on its massive stable of products.

The sale of Fruit2O water and Veryfine beverage brands to the privately held Cincinnati-based company will be completed during the fourth quarter.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The two drinks had net revenue of $135 million last year.

Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld has launched a turnaround effort aimed at revitalizing sales of the company’s brands, which include household names such as Maxwell House, Kool-Aid and Oscar Mayer.

As part of an initiative, Kraft sold its hot-cereal business, including its popular Cream of Wheat products, to a subsidiary of B&G Foods Inc. for $200 million in January. Kraft sold its Minute Rice brand and Milk-Bone pet snacks last year.

The latest deal calls for Kraft to sell the drink brands, along with manufacturing equipment and a plant in Littleton, Mass. The factory’s 200 employees will be transferred to Sunny Delight, Kraft officials said.

“For Kraft, we believe we will create greater long-term shareholder value by selling, rather than investing, in these brands,” said Rick Searer, president of Kraft’s North America division.

Kraft said it expects to record a one-time impairment charge of $55 million, or three cents a share, after taxes during the third quarter.