What are the top food brands?

The industry newsletter, FoodNavigator, reports the top  international Big Food companies.

The full list is here.

Nestlé (no relation) is the clear winner.

Among the top 10, only Danone and Tyson report lower sales in 2026 than in 2025. I can only speculate about the reasons, but am guessing problems in the beef supply and reduced consumer demand as factors for Tyson, and maybe the infant formula recalls affected Danone?

It’s interesting that only four of these brands are in the U.S.  Actually, only three U.S. companies are involved since both Lay’s and Doritos are owned by PepsiCo.  Two companies are Swiss and two are Chinese.

Of special interest: Both Yili and Mengniu sell dairy products: milk, yogurt, ice cream, and cheese.  But almost all Chinese people have problems digesting lactose.

When I was in Beijing in 2019, I was told that the Chinese government wants its people to consume these foods in the belief that dairy products promote growth in children’s height.

If this list just looked at the U.S., Walmart would head the list.