FILE PHOTO: A Heinz Ketchup bottle sits between a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese and a bottle of Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce on a grocery store shelf in New York March 25, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

(Reuters) - U.S. food and beverage company Kraft Heinz Co KHC.O had achieved the target of cutting $1.7 billion in costs by the end of 2017, the company said in a presentation on Thursday.

The fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world, which would announce its quarterly results on Friday, said it slashed its operating costs by over 5 percent since it acquired Kraft Foods Group in 2015. (bit.ly/2F6csIx)

Shares of the company, which owns brands such as Velveeta cheese and Heinz ketchup, closed up 1 percent on Thursday ahead of the presentation that it had announced earlier this week.