Kraft Heinz Is Spending Big. But On What, Exactly?

Kraft Heinz just raised its marketing spend by 37%, and the rollout behind that number is starting to look more substantive than a typical ad budget headline. Between a protein-fortified Mac and Cheese, a new dye-free Kool-Aid Hydration line, and a broader pledge to phase out synthetic colors by the end of 2027, there’s a real reformulation story taking shape alongside the brand spend.

TLDR

• Kraft Heinz lifted marketing investment by 37% as part of a wider turnaround push.
• Protein-fortified Kraft Mac and Cheese anchors the innovation pipeline.
• A new Kool-Aid Hydration line launches with no artificial dyes and no sugar.
• The company has pledged to phase out synthetic dyes across its portfolio by the end of 2027.
• A five-year NFL sponsorship deal extends reach while reformulation work scales.

Kraft Heinz Marketing Spend Jumps 37%

Food Dive reports the CPG giant confirmed the 37% marketing increase as part of its broader turnaround strategy, with two headline plays up front: a protein-enhanced version of its iconic Kraft Mac and Cheese and a five-year NFL sponsorship deal.

Protein is the right instinct. Consumers are actively seeking higher-protein options across every aisle, and reformulating a legacy product to meet that demand shows real category awareness. Credit where it’s due.

Encouragingly, protein fortification isn’t the only lever Kraft Heinz is pulling. Ingredient simplification, artificial dye removal, and sugar reduction are showing up across the portfolio too, with Kool-Aid Hydration, Capri Sun Hydrate, and Kraft PowerMac each signaling a more deliberate clean-label posture than the company has shown in years.

The Dye-Free Kool-Aid Pivot

CNBC reports that Kool-Aid is launching a single-serve electrolyte line, Kool-Aid Hydration, made without artificial dyes and without sugar, priced several dollars below comparable packs from Gatorade and Liquid I.V. Investment in the Kool-Aid brand is set to rise 70% this year, and the launch sits inside Kraft Heinz’s broader pledge to phase out petroleum-based synthetic colors across its portfolio by the end of 2027.

That matters. A nearly century-old brand voluntarily moving to dye-free, sugar-free formulations at an accessible price point is exactly the kind of step clean label advocates have been asking legacy CPG to take. It’s also a smart commercial read: the U.S. powder concentrate category has tripled in five years to more than $4.6 billion, and Kool-Aid is positioned to bring an “everyday hydration” option to consumers who find premium electrolyte brands too salty, too intense, or too expensive.

What the NFL Deal Reveals

The NFL sponsorship is, on its face, a reach play, but paired with a credible reformulation pipeline, mass-market visibility starts to look less like a distraction and more like a megaphone for the new product story. Brands like Annie’s, which Kraft Heinz owns, have already shown that cleaner formulations can coexist with strong sales, and that proof point is now being applied to bigger, more iconic SKUs.

The interesting development here is that Kraft Heinz appears to be spending more and changing what it makes, not just how loudly it promotes it. The harder question now is one of pace: how quickly the dye phase-out, sugar reduction, and ingredient simplification will spread from the new launches into the rest of the catalog.

Sources: Food Dive — https://www.fooddive.com/news/kraft-heinz-hikes-marketing-spend-37-as-turnaround-takes-shape/819982/
CNBC — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/13/kool-aid-kraft-heinz-electrolytes-artificial-dyes.html