Michael Mitchell, a Kraft spokesman, said executives took all the joking in stride, and he’s quick to point out why the Crain’s observation didn’t alarm the company: “The name has to be mispronounced to get that unfortunate meaning.”

The made-up moniker, pronounced “mon-dah-LEEZ,” became a punch line after it was unveiled in March. On Wednesday, Kraft shareholders will decide whether to approve the name for the company’s business that sells global snack brands such as Oreos, Fig Newton and Cadbury.

The four-month odyssey of how “Mondelez” was picked — and how it was received — illustrates the great pains companies take to come up with powerful names for their businesses, products and services. For them, it’s akin to parents obsessing over a name for their newborn: it’s a moniker that sticks for better or worse, so it better be good.

“You have to generate thousands of ideas, even if it’s just for a cookie,” said Nik Contis, the global director of naming at branding company Siegel+Gale.

That’s just what Kraft did after it decided to split into two publicly-traded companies — one for its North American grocery business that makes products like Oscar Mayer and Miracle Whip and the other a bigger company to focus on selling snacks worldwide.

It was clear to executives at Kraft’s Northfield, Ill., headquarters that the name of the snack business would have to appeal to a global audience. So the company started the arduous process of picking a name in November by soliciting suggestions from its 126,000 employees.

On its internal website, Kraft proclaimed that it would host a naming contest. The announcement included a “mood video” set to music and showing images of life milestones, such as a wedding and a baby’s birth. Employees were encouraged to make suggestions through an “Idea Kitchen” page, where they could see and build off of the suggestions of their peers.

More than 1,000 employees submitted more than 1,700 entries.

Discarded name candidates ranged from the cultivated (“Panvoro,” Latin for eating) to the not-so-cultivated (“tfark,” which is Kraft spelled backward) to the outright cryptic (“Arrtx” — the employee who suggested it provided no explanation on what the letters signified).

Once the suggestions started rolling in, Kraft’s global marketing team took the reins of the naming process. An outside branding firm from London was hired and a handful of top contenders were picked. (Kraft declined to reveal the finalists, noting that “there may be some value in those names” for other purposes down the road.)

The names went through two rounds of testing with native speakers in 28 different languages. Consumers in small focus groups were asked again and again if any of the names conjured up negative associations. “Mondelez,” a favorite among Kraft executives from the get-go, didn’t raise any big red flags.

Still, the company discovered that there might be a problem. Consumer testers flagged the possible misinterpretation of “Mondelez” for a Russian term meaning “oral sex.” But the issue was referred to Kraft’s Russian business unit, which in turn deemed it to be “low risk.” So the name was given the thumbs up.

It’s not unusual for companies to take a calculated risk with names. Even though they’re aware that the names they introduce could elicit negative reactions at first, experts say the snide remarks often subside as the brand strengthens.

After all, there were plenty of snickers when Apple Inc. unveiled the iPad, which critics said sounded like a high-tech feminine hygiene product. Now, the iPad is by far the No. 1 selling tablet worldwide. Then there’s the classic example in the 1970s of the Chevrolet car called Nova, which means “no go” in Spanish. Despite urban legend, a Chevy spokesman said the model sold well in Latin America because the term is pronounced differently there.

That’s what Conti, the branding expert, is guessing would happened if shareholders decide to vote in favor of naming Kraft’s global snacking business “Mondelez.”

“The sound and structure rolls off the tongue like a delicious treat,” he said. “The romance language is great because you want to eat the language itself because it’s so beautiful.”

If shareholders reject the name, the company will continue to be called “Kraft Foods Inc.” while the North American grocery business will be called “Kraft Foods Group Inc.”

But it appears that Kraft is confident that Mondelez will pass muster; the company already reserved the ticker symbol “MDLZ” and website www.mondelez.com.

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Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi.

“The original formulas of iconic beverages and the lore that surrounds their genesis and provenance are of great interest to the public,” the suit states.

In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, Joan Ritchie Silleck and Robert Ritchie also seek unspecified damages for “unjustified and improper acts that have interfered” with their rights regarding their father’s documents.

A representative for PepsiCo said the Purchase, N.Y., company does not comment on pending litigation. Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not immediately return calls for comment.

According to PepsiCo’s website, the company’s namesake cola was created in the late 1890s by Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist from North Carolina. The beverage was named it for its ingredients of pepsin and cola nuts; Bradham lost the company in bankruptcy after World War I.

The suit filed on Friday says that the soda became a commercial success after Ritchie reformulated it in 1931. It states that Ritchie was working on candy formulas at a company called Loft Inc. at the time when the company president, Charles Guth, bought the bankrupt Pepsi-Cola Co.

Guth wasn’t satisfied with the Pepsi flavor and asked Ritchie to come up with a better tasting formula, which became a commercial hit by 1934, according to the lawsuit.

In 1941, the suit says Ritchie provided the then-president of Pepsi with a copy of his “invention”; that duplicate was kept in a bank vault by the company. Pepsi was aware that Ritchie kept the original document for himself, according to the suit.

Ritchie died in 1985; the documents weren’t discovered in his boxes by his heirs until 2008. After a family member notified a PepsiCo historian of the documents, a company representative visited the home to view the materials. The company subsequently demanded the return of the documents and said any disclosure of them would be a misappropriation of a Pepsi trade secret, according to the suit.

The suit claims that PepsiCo has asserted that the documents are company property and deserve trade secret protection and that they “never be made public.”

Food makers long have tinkered with their products to appeal to regional tastes, but getting the recipe just right is becoming more important than ever. That’s partly because people in developing nations such as China and India are gaining more of an appetite for American-style “on-the-go” foods as they work longer hours and have less time to cook. But it’s mostly because snack makers increasingly are looking for growth in other parts of the world as sales slow at home.

Growth in the snack food industry has been virtually flat in the U.S. for the past two years, according to market research firm Euromonitor. Meanwhile, combined sales in China, Brazil and Russia — three major developing markets — rose 15 percent in 2010 and 11 percent last year to $17 billion. That’s half the size of the U.S. market but it’s growing.

SNACKS IN A DIFFERENT LAND

The challenge for snack makers is that people in other countries have different tastes. Consider the Oreo, which Kraft Food Inc. introduced in China in 1996. Sales of the vanilla cream-filled chocolate cookie sandwich were respectable there, but the Chinese didn’t completely take to it.

So Kraft decided to tweak the Oreo. But executives of the Northfield, Ill.-based company knew that they had to proceed with caution. “When you have a brand that’s 100 years old, you don’t mess with the recipe thoughtlessly,” says Lorna Davis, head of the company’s global biscuit and cookies business.

In 2006, Kraft began offering the Oreo as a wafer, a popular cookie throughout Asia. It is made up of cream sandwiched between crispy wafers. The plan was to help familiarize more Chinese customers with the brand. Three years later, the company decided to go a step further.

Kraft worked with a panel of consumer taste experts from around the world to identify the characteristics of the Oreo — including color, crunchiness, bitterness, color — that were likely to appeal to Chinese tastes. Executives learned through research that the Chinese don’t like their treats as big or as sweet as Americans do. So the company rejiggered the recipe to create a cookie that was a tad smaller and a touch less sweet.

To test the new recipe, hundreds of Chinese consumers tasted the new Oreo. It was a hit. “It made us realize the smallest of details make a big difference,” Davis says.

But the company wasn’t finished. After noticing sales of Oreos were lagging in China during the summer, Kraft added a green tea ice cream flavor. The cookie combined a popular local flavor with the cooling imagery of ice cream. The green tea version sold well, and a year later, Kraft rolled out Oreos in flavors that are popular in Asians desserts — raspberry-and-blueberry and mango-and-orange.

The result? Over the past five years, Kraft said sales have grown an average of 60 percent a year, although it declined to give revenue amounts. The Oreo now is the top-selling cookie in China with a market share of 13 percent. The previous top cookie was a biscuit by a Chinese company.

Kraft, which operates in more than 80 countries, is taking a similar approach with other snacks. In Saudi Arabia, Kraft offers its Tang powder drink in a lemon-pepper flavor. In Mexico, it comes in tropical fruit flavors like tamarind and mandarin, and a hibiscus version fashioned after the flower. Sales have nearly doubled to $1 billion worldwide since Kraft rolled out the localized versions in 2006.

Kraft’s ability to adapt to local tastes is increasingly important as it looks for growth overseas. The rise in international revenue at Kraft was more than double the increase in North America last year.

Kraft also plans to split into two separate units by the end of the year. The largest will be a global snacks company called Mondelez International, pronounced “mohn-dah-leez,” to sell its Trident gum and Cadbury chocolates in fast-growing countries worldwide.

CAFFEINE WITH YOUR CEREAL?

Kellogg Co., the world’s largest cereal maker, also has intensified its focus on catering to local tastes as it attempts to grow its snack business overseas.

Last year, the company’s revenue in Latin America topped $1 billion for the first time. And in February, Kellogg said it agreed to buy Pringles chip brand from Procter & Gamble for $2.7 billion. The deal will nearly triple its international snack business, making it the world’s second-largest snack maker behind Pepsi.

The company, based in Battle Creek, Mich., already sells products in more than 180 countries. It’s learning that on-the-ground insights can pay off. In Europe, for instance, Kellogg for many years had marketed its cereals there just as it did in the U.S. But it failed to take into account that many in the region don’t drink cold milk in the morning.

Now, an American traveling in Spain might find it surreal to see TV ads showing All-Bran cereal floating in a steaming cup of coffee. Kellogg, which makes Keebler, Cheez-It and Kashi bars, declined to give details on how well the cereal is selling there, but it said the marketing has resulted in “great results.”

A similar story played out for PepsiCo. Inc. For the first time last year, revenue from the company’s international food division surpassed revenue in North America. To achieve that, Pepsi has had to adjust its recipes.

In 2005, Pepsi’s food division began a quest to make its Lay’s potato chips more appealing to local tastes in Russia. It wasn’t easy. Russians still like packaged versions of a Soviet-era snack — stale bread slathered in oil and baked to a crisp.

“Potato chips were not big in the Communist time, so it’s something we’re gradually building,” says Marc Schroeder, who heads Pepsi’s food division in Russia.

To get a better sense of what Russians like, employees traveled around the country to visit people in their homes and talk about what they eat day-to-day. That was a big task. Russia has nine time zones and spans 7,000 miles, with eating habits that vary by region.

The findings were invaluable for executives at the company’s Purchase, N.Y. headquarters. In the eastern part of the country, Pepsi found that fish is a big part of the diet. So it introduced “Crab” chips in 2006. It’s now the third most popular flavor in the country.

A “Red Caviar” flavor does best in Moscow, where caviar is particularly popular. “Pickled Cucumber,” which piggybacks off of a traditional appetizer throughout Russia, was introduced last year and is already the fourth most popular flavor. Other favorites include onion, bacon and “sour cream and herbs,” which is a bit sweeter than the American version.

The chip translations are paying off; sales of Lay’s have more than doubled in the past five years. As for the classic Lay’s — an American favorite — Russians still aren’t biting.

“They find it a very boring flavor,” Schroeder said.

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Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi

Its net revenue for the quarter rose 4 percent to $13.1 billion, from $12.57 billion a year ago. Organic revenue, which excludes the impact of currency fluctuations and divestitures, rose 6.5 percent; of that increase, 5.5 percent came from higher prices and 1 percent from improved volume and mix of products.

Rising costs for ingredients dragged down Kraft’s gross profit margin to 35.6 percent, from 36.9 percent. But selling, general and administrative expenses declined, by 4 percent to $2.82 billion for the quarter.

Kraft Foods is preparing to split into two publicly traded companies this year. One will be called Mondelez and focus on its international snack brands such as Cadbury. The other will retain the Kraft name and concentrate on its North American grocery business, which includes Oscar Mayer meats.

The company said it’s on track to complete the split by the end of the year.

In North America, the company said its net revenue rose 1.3 percent with help from price increases and the timing of Easter. Net revenue from Europe rose 4.5 percent, while net revenue from developing markets rose 8.5 percent as a result of both higher pricing and increased volume.

In its international snacks business, the company said its global chocolate revenue was up 10 percent, while global biscuits revenue was up 8 percent, helped by the rapidly growing popularity of Oreo cookies in China.

One disappointment was the global gum and candy unit that includes Trident, where revenue rose only 1 percent. CEO Irene Rosenfeld cited broader economic conditions in Europe.

“We remain confident that gum will remain a significant contributor to our long-term growth,” she said.

Kraft, which is based in Northfield, Ill., stood by its forecast for at least a 9 percent rise in operating earnings per share for the full year.

Shares of Kraft slipped 43 cents to $39.16 after hours. The stock had lost 11 cents in regular trading but remained close to its 52-week high of $39.99. The shares have traded as low as $31.88 the past year.

The Oak Brook, Ill.-based fast food company began its focus on limited-time offers on a national scale last year after research showed that variety was a top priority for consumers, said Wendy Cook, vice president of U.S. marketing at McDonald’s. Previously, the chain’s limited-time offers were mostly at the regional level. Seasonal items give loyal customers something new to try, but also bring in new customers who otherwise might go elsewhere, she said.

“Obviously customers are out there and they’re frequenting different places,” Cook said. “They’re starved for variety.”

The new focus on limited-time offers comes as McDonald’s looks to extend its dominance in a rapidly changing fast food industry. In 2006, the top three fast food chains in the U.S. in terms of sales were all hamburger chains — McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s. Now Subway is No. 2 and Starbucks is in the No. 3 spot, with sales at both companies growing at a much faster clip, according to the food industry researcher Technomic Inc.

For McDonald’s, the limited-time offer also lets the company adapt more easily to evolving consumer tastes that are leaning more toward fresh, seasonal ingredients. Since McDonald’s operates on such a vast scale — it has 14,000 restaurants nationwide — sourcing the fruits for offerings such as the new the Cherry Berry Chiller can be difficult.

Last year, McDonald’s had a total of eight limited-time offers that spanned menu categories (including Frozen Strawberry Lemonade, Asian Chicken Salad, Angus Chipotle BBQ Burger); the company is planning to increase that figure this year. It offered Chicken McBites earlier this year.

The blueberry banana nut oatmeal (290 calories) and Cherry Berry Chiller (200 to 330 calories, depending on size) will be available until August.

McDonald’s declined to say what other limited-time offers are in the pipeline in the months ahead. But in a conference call with investors last month, executives noted that the Chicken McBites originated in Australia.

Executive said they plan to continue scouring its regional offerings from around the world for items that might have crossover appeal. That’s important because developing a new menu item — even if it’s only temporary — can take as long as two years.

The development time is shorter for items such as the blueberry banana nut oatmeal since the company already had a template with its fruit and maple oatmeal, said Anne Kohlenberger, manager of U.S. marketing for the company’s breakfast category.

Of course, there are instances when a limited-time offer is so popular that it earns a place in the starting lineup. That’s what happened with the Angus Third Pounders, which started as limited time offers in the late summer of 2009.