Kraft Natural Cheese drew more than 3,000 attendees to its first back-to-school pop-up at Oakbrook Center, and the Lactalis Heritage Dairy brand is pressing forward with a second activation at Westfield Old Orchard in Skokie, Illinois, running Aug. 21–22 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The experiential push is notable for a packaged-cheese brand more often associated with shelf space than street-level engagement. By staging multi-day activations inside major suburban malls, Kraft Natural Cheese is competing for family mindshare in a format that foodservice and hospitality marketers know well — immersive, tactile brand moments that translate into longer-term purchase loyalty.
What the Activation Includes
At both locations, attendees can take complimentary professional photos with Stringy, the brand's oversized string-cheese mascot, in front of a back-to-school set featuring giant lockers and a larger-than-life backpack. Hands-on activities include personalized lunchbox notes and coloring sheets. Product sampling centers on Kraft Natural Cheese String Cheese, and families leave with branded giveaways such as keychains and sticker sheets.
"Back-to-school is one of those special times of year, and we were excited to celebrate the season with activities, photo opportunities and snacks that helped make the occasion even more memorable," said Dhriti Batra, Director of Kraft Natural Cheese at Lactalis Heritage Dairy.
Operator and Retail Implications
For foodservice operators and grocery buyers, the campaign illustrates a broader shift in how dairy manufacturers are investing in occasions-based marketing. Rather than relying solely on in-store promotions, brands like Kraft Natural Cheese are building seasonal narratives — back-to-school, after-school snacking, family meals — that align with the same meal-occasion frameworks operators use to drive check growth and menu relevance.
The brand's portfolio spans String Cheese, shredded cheese, slices, blocks, and recently introduced Lactose-Free varieties, giving foodservice and retail partners a broad range of SKUs to merchandise against seasonal eating occasions. That kind of portfolio depth is increasingly important as operators look for dairy and ingredient partners that can serve multiple dayparts and dietary needs from a single supplier relationship.
The Chicagoland tour also reflects Lactalis Heritage Dairy's scale: the parent company, Lactalis USA, operates approximately 5,000 employees across 13 U.S. manufacturing facilities in nine states. That infrastructure gives Kraft Natural Cheese the supply reliability that large-format retail and foodservice accounts require — a point worth noting for buyers evaluating vendor partnerships heading into fall seasonal planning. Brands investing in consumer-facing experiential campaigns at this level are typically signaling category confidence backed by production capacity.
For more on how dairy brands and ingredient suppliers are shaping restaurant and hospitality menus, the experiential marketing trend is one to watch as manufacturers compete for both consumer recall and operator shelf space simultaneously.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
