Kraft Foods Inc., the world's second- largest food company, has boosted spending in India by more than half, targeting annual sales growth of 30 percent for chocolate, a market it expects to resist any consumption slump.

The nation's biggest chocolate maker has increased its annual investment in advertising, capital expenditure, sales and marketing by more than 70 percent since acquiring Cadbury Plc last year, said Anand Kripalu, Kraft president, South Asia and Indo-China.

The foodmaker has invested more to fend off rivals including Nestle SA in India, where the Cadbury unit controls 70 percent of the chocolate market, and as the Northfield, Illinois company boosts its reliance on growth in developing countries.

Kraft revenue from emerging markets has almost quadrupled since 2004, propelling sales at the international business past North America's last year for the first time.

"There are some categories in the world that people consume in good times and bad times, and chocolate is one of them," Kripalu said in an interview in Hong Kong on Nov. 30. He declined to say how much Kraft was investing in India or to say what the company's profit margins are.

India's economy grew 6.9 percent last quarter, the slowest pace in more than two years, after the central bank raised interest rates by a record to try to tame inflation.

Eoin Treacy's view Coca Cola and Kraft both qualify as autonomies. Their respective brands are recognised all over the world, they dominate their respective niches, their emerging market divisions are their fastest growing and they are among the companies best prepared for the growth of the global middle class.

Coca Cola is a dividend aristocrat and yields 2.82%. The share has been consolidating above the 2008 peak since July in a gradual reversion towards the mean. A sustained move below $63.50 would be required to question the consistency of the medium-term uptrend.

Kraft used to be a dividend aristocrat but stopped increasing its payout in 2009 which coincided with its purchase of Cadbury. The share currently yields 3.18% and posted a new closing 8-year high last week. A sustained move below $33.50 would be required to begin to question medium-term scope for additional upside.