10 largest Food and Beverage Companies in the World

The food and beverage companies make a noteworthy contribution to the world economy. The F&B industry grew from a valuation of $657.96 billion in 2023 to $7000.88 billion in 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4%. It is also expected to see strong growth in the coming years, attaining a global valuation of $8817.63 billion, growing at a CAGR of 5.9%. These forecast shows that the industry is an economic powerhouse that generates massive yearly profits.

The largest food and beverage companies play an integral role in the industry’s growth. These organizations are responsible for creating a wide range of products, from essential goods to premium commodities. In this article, we will review the 10 largest food and beverage companies in the world. We mention crucial details about the organization, which you can use in the future for collaborating with the largest food and beverage organizations all across the globe.

List of Top Largest Food and Beverage Companies in the World:

It’s quite understandable that the food and beverage companies attains astronomical success, as it directly addresses one of the most basic human requirements. So, let’s take a closer look at the largest food and beverage companies in the world.

1. Nestlé:

Nestlé is a Swiss multinational F&B company known for manufacturing and selling beverage products and processed food such as baby food, snacks, bottled water, dairy products, frozen food, etc. Nestlé is able to maintain the lead amongst its competitors, as its sales of frozen staples, Stouffer’s, Hot Pockets, and DiGiorno increase along with the sales of its coffee brand, Nespresso. The Swiss-based conglomerate brings in 30% of its sales from the United States. Almost 70 US factories have overtime shifts to meet the high demand.

Nestlé holds a promising market share in categories such as coffee, tea, powdered drinks, water, milk products, ice cream, and pet food. It also has 23% of the stock in the renowned French cosmetic company L’Oreal. Net revenue has increased to $95.3 billion, out of which $63.8 billion is contributed by the food business, including ice-cream and milk, health science and nutrition, cooking aids, and prepared dishes, confectionary, and more.

There also have been a paradigm shift in Nestlé’s pizza and ice cream businesses in United States. It went from direct store delivery network to ware house distribution model.

2. PepsiCo:

PepsiCo is an American multinational snack, food, and Beverage Corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York. Founded by pharmacist Caleb D.Bradham in 1898, the company was named PepsiCo when Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay. Inc. amalgamated in the year 1965. It is one of the largest food and Beverage Companies, with its products being sold in 200 countries.

PepsiCo eponymous product, Pepsi, is enormously popular, but the organization launched many other famous products, Tropicana, Quaker Oats, and Gatorade, to name a few. In the year 2019 PepsiCo generated a revenue of $67.16 billion, of which $36.26 billion accounted for food revenue. The particular food revenue was driven by Frito-Lay North American sales (FLNA). For Latin America, 90% of the region’s total income is generated by the snacks and food division.

3. Coca-Cola:

Founded in the year 1892 in America with a Flagship product of Coca-Cola. Besides this famous beverage company, it owns renowned brands like Sprite, Dasani, Fanta, Simply Beverages, and Schweppes. Even though the organization has gathered quantifiable success all around the globe, the highest sales of the primary product still come from the North American region. (It accounted for 37% of the total global sales in 2020).

More on it: amongst these North American sales, 44% of revenue is generated from Coca-Cola products, 20% is generated from all the other forms of carbonated drinks, 23% is generated from sodas , and the milk and plant-based beverages generate the remaining 13%.

4. Unilever:

Unilever PLC is a fast-moving consumer goods company, headquartered in London. It is was established in 2 September 1929 when the merger of Dutch margarine producer and British soap maker lever brother.

It has products range that includes beauty products, baby food, breakfast cereals, condiment, cleaning agents, healthcare and hygiene products, ice cream and instant coffee. Presently it is amongst the largest producer of the soap amongst and their product is sold over 190 countries.

Unilever have few of the largest brands in the world which include, Ben & Jerry’s, Dove, Hellmann’s, Lifebuoy, Lux, Magnum and Sunlight. Another interesting fact about the company is that it is organized into five different groups they are as follows:

• Beauty and Wellbeing
• Personal Care
• Home Care
• Nutrition
• Ice cream

Lastly this organization have their research center across several countries India, China, United Kingdom, United States and Netherlands.

5. Tyson Foods:

It is an American Multinational company that operates in the food industry. The company is the world’s second-largest food processor and beef, chicken and pork marketer. Every year, it exports substantial amounts of beef outside of the United States.

Along with its subsidiaries, it operates major brands such as Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean, Ball Park, Wright Brand, State Fair, and Aidells. In 2020, the organization ranked 79th on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. The organization started out in the year 1935 established by John W. Tyson. It began to expand during World War II. In 2019, the organization’s employee size was 141,000, out of which 122,000 were from the United States alone. It supplies its finished products to Yum! Brands, KFC, Taco Bell, Burger King, Wendy’s, Walmart, Kroger, BeefO’Brandy’s and more.

The company makes a variety of prepared food, animal-based, and plant-based products in its 123 food processing plants. They even extended their business to the plant protein category with their Raised & Rooted Brand. In the year 2021, Tyson Foods launched two vegetarian patty breakfast sandwiches with their Jimmy Dean Brand.

6. Kraft Heinz:

Kraft Heinz Company is another multinational company formed by the merger between the H.J.Heinz and Kraft foods. The organization is co-headquartered in Pittsburgh and Chicago. It is the fifth largest food and beverage in the world and the third largest food and Beverage Company in North America

There are 20 other brand that is part of the company’s profile which includes Gevalia, Boca Burger, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia cream cheese, Wattie’s, Primal Kitchen and these products have a total individual sales of $1 billion in a year.

The company is renowned for globally trusted producer of great tasting, high quality, nutritious food and beverages. In the year 2022, the organization was operating 78 processing and manufacturing facilities. The food production facilities approximately required 5,500 ingredient, partnered approximately 210 external manufactures and have employed 37,000 employees all around the globe.

7. Mars:

Founded in the year 1911, it is an American company, produces food items, pet foods, and confectionery products. The most famous brands of this organization include Uncle Ben’s, Royal Canin, Snickers, and MM’s. In the year 2022, Forbes the ranked the company as the fourth largest privately held company in USA. The company is entirely operated by the Mars family.

The organization works in four business sectors across the world.

1. Mars Wrigley Confectionery (headquartered in Chicago, Hackettstown, New Jersey and Newark)
2. Mars Petcare ( Zaventem, Poncitlan, Mexico, Jalisco, Queretaro,)
3. Mars Food ( Rancho Dominguez, California)
4. Mars Edge ( Germantown, Maryland) – it is the life science division of the organization.

Although the organization produces non-confectionery snacks, it is most famous for its confectionary items, such as Milky Way bars, 3 Musketeers, M&Ms, Skittles, Twix, and Bounty.

Out of many noticeable parameters about the organization, Orbit Gum is among the popular brands managed by Mars subsidiary brand Wrigley.

8. Walmart:

Walmart is the largest retailer in the USA, and its food and beverage segment makes up a major portion of its revenue. The company has 11,000 stores worldwide and a vast product portfolio that includes bakery, snacks, beverages, and deli. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The organization was founded by James “Bud” Walton in 1962 and was integrated under the Delaware General Corporation Law on October 31, 1969.

As per statistics till 2022, Walmart has 10,586 stores and clubs across 24 countries, and 46 different names under which it operates. The organization is known as Walmart in the United States, and Canada; in Mexico and Central America, it is referred as Walmart de México y Centroamérica, and in India, it is known as Flipkart Wholesale India.

According to Fortune global 500 list in October 2022, Walmart is the largest organization by revenue. It is also the largest private employer in the world with employee of 2.2 million. It is a publically traded family owned business, as the company is controlled by Walton family.

9. Mondelez International:

Mondelez International is one of largest food and beverage companies on our list. It is an American multinational company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Operative over 160 countries with their major products such as confectionary, holding, food, beverage and snack.

The organization started as Kraft food Inc. in the year 1923. Mondelez International was established in 2012, and it retained the snack food business of Kraft foods Inc. The grocery business of Kraft Food got converted into a company Kraft Food Group.

The Mondelez Canada has the rights to Christie Brown and Company, consisting of brands such as Triscuits, Mr.Chirstie and Dad’s cookies. It’s headquartered in Toronto, Ontario and operates in Brampton, Hamilton, Montreal and Quebec.

10. Dadone:

Dadone is named after Isaac Carasso’s son. Isaac Carasso was the inventor of industrial yogurt around the early 1900s as a researcher at the French Pasture institute. The company was named after his son, Daniel Carasso, as he was heavily involved in product development. The organization with brands such as Evian and Silk has become a global powerhouse.

It is based in France, and Dadone S.A. is a multinational food corporation. The venture’s offerings have been categorized into four divisions: Early Life Nutrition, Medical Nutrition, Fresh Dairy Products, Medical Nutrition, and Waters. Their organization’s product portfolio includes both local and international brands. Danette, Dannon, Dononino, Evian, Nutricia, Nutrilon, Actimel, Alpro, and Volvic are amongst some of the international brands. All of these product are sold across 120 markets.

Conclusion:

The above-mentioned food and beverage companies continue to dominate the world. All these organizations have their own sets of strengths and weaknesses, but at the core, their commitment is towards quality, innovations, and sustainability. Their continued success is a generous reminder for B2B organizations to get creative, innovative, and collaborate with the food and beverage industry. Companies involved in the distribution and marketing of food and drink, or involved in converting agricultural outputs into consumable outcomes should reach out to above-mentioned key-players in the F&B industry. It will undoubtedly double your business growth.