10 Mar 2016 Kraft very quietly changed its Mac & Cheese recipe months ago — and nobody noticed

Kraft Heinz has pulled off a rare food industry coup: Almost no one noticed the quiet rollout of the company’s reformulated recipe for its iconic Macaroni & Cheese.

Kraft says it sold over 50 million boxes of the new recipe, which began to hit retail shelves in December, with very few people noticing the change.

The new formula replaced artificial dyes with ingredients like paprika and turmeric to maintain the bright yellow colour that the mac & cheese is known for. There are also no artificial flavours or preservatives in the new recipe.

“We knew the new product tasted just as good as the old, exactly in line with what fans had expected,” Greg Guidotti, vice president of meals at Kraft Heinz told Fortune. “We wanted fans to experience that new recipe for themselves without being prompted.”

Unlike other reformulations that have been widely touted by food and beverage executives, Kraft Heinz opted for a more subtle unveiling. Though it signalled last year that Kraft Mac & Cheese’s formula would change, it didn’t unveil the ad campaign or new labelling on boxes until after the change occurred.

Comment by Bob Messenger, foremost US food industry commentator:

‘Sneaky’, under-the-radar launch of Kraft Mac & Cheese new recipe was brilliant
“Gee whiz, I’m one of those consumers who bought the re-jiggered Kraft Mac & Cheese and never even noticed the difference in colour (moving from synthetic colouring to natural). That’s because I was more focused on the taste. And the taste was same-old, same-old — delicious! …..

“What I really like is the quiet, almost ‘sneaky’ way in which Kraft Heinz slipped the product into the pipeline. The only folks who knew the ‘new’ Kraft Mac & Cheese recipe was out there was… the folks at Kraft Heinz. I mean, why shout it out? All that would do is bring out the swarms of bloggers and mainstream media to swear they could tell the difference in the new recipe. In colour maybe, but not taste! I think the under-the-radar launch was brilliant strategy.”