Food for Thought

In May, the $34 billion food and beverage giant launched its Innovate With Kraft program, offering for the first time a standardized process for the public to submit ideas for tasty new products, unique packaging ideas or innovative business processes or systems.

"We've always been open to receiving ideas from people --we just haven't had a user-friendly system to get there," says Todd Abraham, vice president of global research and technology strategy for Kraft Foods. "So this really enables people to get their ideas in front of us."

Though hundreds of ideas have already poured in via Kraft'swebsite, you have an edge as an entrepreneur because you have lots of experience pitching ideas and you already know the most effective methods to communicate them. Ideas that are patented, have the intellectual property in place and are ready to be brought to market are especially eye-catching, says Abraham. But it all boils down to being proactive and taking that first step. So don't hesitate to cash in on your burning idea--it just might sizzle.

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