Factbox: Kraft Foods vital statistics and history

(Reuters) - Kraft Foods ramped up its bid for Cadbury Plc on Tuesday, securing the backing of the British confectioner's board after a four-month stand-off between the two companies.

Following are facts about Kraft:

* Kraft is the world's second-largest food group, after Nestle.

* The company's origins date to 1903, when James L. Kraft began a business selling cheese from the back of a wagon in Chicago, Illinois. In 1914 the company started making its own cheese.

* Kraft was acquired by tobacco corporation Philip Morris in 1988 for $12.9 billion.

* In 2000, Philip Morris bought Nabisco, the maker of Oreo cookies, for $19.2 billion, and merged it with Kraft.

* Kraft Foods Inc was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001, with the spin-off completed in 2007.

* In 2007, Kraft bought the cookie business of Danone -- which includes well-known French brand LU -- for $7.2 billion. When the bid was announced, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde is reported to have said: "We are not yet ready to put ketchup on our petits LU."

* Kraft still sells cheese singles under the Kraft brand in some countries, including Britain, while in North America the Kraft brand adorns packets of macaroni and cheese.

* Kraft's other major brands include Oscar Mayer hot dogs, Maxwell House instant coffee, Philadelphia cream cheese and chocolate brands Milka and Toblerone, acquired when it bought Jacobs Suchard in 1990.

* Kraft has 98,000 employees and 168 plants.

* Kraft had revenue of $42 billion in 2008.

(Editing by Paul Hoskins and Louise Heavens)