Kraft, the foods group, revealed plans to cut portion sizes yesterday as it struggles to keep prices down in the face of the surging costs of ingredients such as corn and rice.

In the week after McDonald’s rattled investors with its first monthly decline in US like-for-like sales in five years, the maker of Kraft cheese and Kool-Aid drinks reported a 13 per cent fall in its first-quarter profit, to $608 million (£308 million).

The company put much of the blame on rising prices, pointing out that the price of wheat, used in its Triscuit and Wheat Thins crackers, more than doubled in the first quarter.

Kraft said it would respond by introducing a range of smaller products and repackaging Oscar Mayer deli meats in single-serve portions.

Irene Rosenfeld, chief executive, said: “Without a doubt, we are focused on the opportunities to lower the dollar outlay, particularly in developing markets but also in developed markets.”

Kraft is the latest company in the food and drink industry to modify packaging to maintain sales as consumers curb their spending in the face of the soaring prices of oil, petrol and basic food ingredients, which have combined with falling house prices and the difficulty of obtaining credit.

Starbucks yesterday said for the first time that sales in the UK were under pressure, as the group announced plans to cut the number of new US outlets it was to open this year by 150 to 1,020. Starbucks reported a 28 per cent fall in profit to $108.7 million for its second quarter.

Burger King yesterday emerged as a beneficiary of consumers’ shallow pockets. The group announced a better than expected 21 per cent rise in net income for its third quarter, to $41 million.

Last week Wal-Mart’s wholesale operation decided to restrict purchases by retailers, a move that analysts said confirmed fears that the basic landscape of the food industry was being transformed.

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