Kraft Foods, which is set to split in two later this year, said today (21 March) the global snacks company to be formed is set to be called Mondelez International.

The US food giant said Mondelez (“pronounced mohn-dah-LEEZ”) is a newly-coined word that “evokes the idea of delicious world”. 

“‘Monde’ derives from the Latin word for world, and ‘delez’ is a fanciful expression of delicious. In addition, ‘international’ captures the global nature of the business,” Kraft explained.

The North American grocery company will become Kraft Foods Group, retaining the Kraft brand for its corporate identity and as the brand for many of its consumer products.  

“The Kraft brand is a perfect fit for the North American grocery business and gives it a wonderful platform on which to build an exciting future,” said chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld.  

“For the new global snacks company, we wanted to find a new name that could serve as an umbrella for our iconic brands, reinforce the truly global nature of this business and build on our higher purpose – to ‘make today delicious.’ Mondelez perfectly captures the idea of a ‘delicious world’ and will serve as a solid foundation for the strong relationships we want to create with our consumers, customers, employees and shareholders.”

The new corporate name will now be put to a shareholder vote at the company’s AGM in May. If shareholders approve the amendment, the company expects the new name to become effective when the global snacks company launches before the end of 2012.