Where is The Top U.S.-Based Snack Food Made?
As of 2020, the United States snack food industry was pulling in an estimated $40+ billion in sales, which is a massive number. Can you imagine if all of that snack food was piled up together in one spot? I bet you could see if from space!
Do you know where some of the most popular snack foods are manufactured? Let’s take a quick look.
Frito-Lay
Location: Plano, Texas
Frito-Lay, founded in 1961, is actually owned by PepsiCo, who collectively owns many well-known food brands like Doritos, Lays, Tostitos, Fritos, Ruffles, Cheetos, Sun Chips, and Rold Gold.
The headquarters for PepsiCo is in Purchase, New York, which is just north of New York City.
Frito-Lay’s headquarters is based in Plano, Texas, which is just north of Dallas, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Frito-Lay, Inc. produces all of the snacks mentioned above.
PepsiCo is a global giant in the food and snack business. According to Zippia, PepsiCo is the second-largest salty snack distributor in the world with its products marketed in over 200 countries.
Utz Brands
Location: Hanover, Pennsylvania
Utz began selling chips in a small town called Hanover, Pennsylvania back in 1921, where it is still headquartered today. One impressive fact about Utz is that for 99 years it was privately owned and operated until they decided to go public in 2020.
Utz Brands produces a variety of snacks like pretzels, chips, cheese curls, tortilla chips and popcorn among other things, under brands such as Utz, Good Health, Golden Flake, On The Border, Zapps, Dirty’s, and Boulder Canyon.
General Mills
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
The cereal company? Yes, that General Mills! Most people don’t realize it, but General Mills owns many popular food brands such as Cheerios, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Cascadian Farms, and even Haagen-Dazs.
Since we are talking about salty snacks, then I will tell you General Mills also owns Bugles, Chex, Gardetto’s, and Annie’s, among other brands. You may remember wearing bugles on your fingers as a child, or your parents or grandparents will tell you stories of them. Personally, my mother used to eat the traditional flavor Chex Mix all the time, and I would eat the leftover pretzels in the bag!
General Mills as a whole parent company has been around since 1856, with its headquarters in Minneapolis through its entire existence. It has grown into a massive food business.
Kellogg’s
Location: Battle Creek, Michigan
Wait, another cereal company? Once again, we have another enormous parent company that owns a lot of famous food brands. This has become a common theme among older, established food manufacturers. Kellogg’s has been around since 1906 and was originally founded as Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company.
Kellogg’s owns two of the most beloved snack food brands including Cheez-It Crackers and Pringles. Other well-known snack brands under the Kellogg’s umbrella include Club Crackers, Austin Sandwich Cookies, and Town House, another prominent cracker brand.
Conagra Brands
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Another major player in the United States snack food business is Conagra, with its headquarters in Chicago. This company was founded in 1919 as Nebraska Consolidated Mills. Never heard of Conagra? It’s well known as being the parent company of many food brands like Slim Jim, Hunt’s (tomatoes), Chef Boyardee, Duke’s (mayo), Earth Balance (butter), Healthy Choice, and many more!
From a snack food perspective, Conagra owns some of the more well-known popcorn brands like Orville Redenbacher, Act II, and Boom Chicka Pop.
I understand this list does not include all snack food companies based in the United States. If I missed one, and you believe that I should update this article to include them, feel free to leave a comment and make a suggestion!
