12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (2023)

Hostess, Annie's Homegrown, and Ben & Jerry's are just some of the names you'll see on supermarket aisles today, but those brands are babies compared to old mainstays such as Heinz, The Campbell Soup Company, and The Keebler Company, which have all been stocked in people's pantries for well over a century.

In this time of constant flux it might be hard to believe that a brand can manage to be around for 100 (or more) years, but with smart business decisions, a series of mergers and acquisitions, and the ability to evolve with the ever-changing market, these companies have stood the test of time and continue to thrive to this day. Scroll down for more famous food brands that have been filling our bellies for at least 100 years, and then learn how to flatten your tummy with this list of The 55 Best Ways to Boost Your MetabolismThe 55 Best Ways to Boost Your Metabolism!

1

Kraft

12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (1)

Today, Kraft is the parent organization of food brands such as Jell-O, Cool Whip, Lunchables, Planters, and more, but when the company was originally founded in Chicago in the early 1900s as J.L. Kraft and Bros. Company, they sold only cheese. Kraft succeeded in part because in 1915 the company invented pasteurized processed cheese that didn't need refrigeration, thus giving it a longer shelf life than conventional cheese. After a series of acquisitions Kraft was able to expand its offerings and sell additional items such as salad dressings, mayonnaise, and cream cheese, and following an intense period of product development around the 1960s Kraft launched fruit jellies, fruit preserves, marshmallows, barbecue sauces and Kraft Singles—a brand of individually wrapped cheese slices that still exists today.

Several more mergers and acquisitions followed, (including many that involved other brands also on this list) and in 2015 Kraft Foods Group merged with condiment producer Heinz—itself a company that dates back to 1869—to form Kraft Heinz.

2

Oscar Mayer

12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (2)

German immigrant Oscar Mayer founded his namesake company in 1883 in Chicago, Illinois, and with his brother began selling bratwurst, liverwurst, and other meat products that were popular in the predominantly German neighborhoods in the area. Success meant more "Americanized" products such as sausages, hams, bacon, hot dogs, and that jingle-worthy b-o-l-o-g-n-a eventually followed. Though Oscar Mayer remained an independent company (owned primarily by descendants of the Mayer brothers who started it) for nearly a century, it was sold to General Foods in 1981. Since General Foods merged with Kraft in 1989, Oscar Mayer is now one of Kraft Heinz's many subsidiaries.

12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (3)

Though Nabisco can trace its roots back to 1798, it wasn't formally established until 1898 when the New York Biscuit Company and the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company merged over 100 bakeries to form the National Biscuit Company, which later became known as Nabisco. Today, the cookie and cracker producer is known for products such as Chips Ahoy!, Ritz Crackers, Oreos, and more. Philip Morris acquired Nabisco and merged it with Kraft Foods in 2000, but when Kraft split into snack foods and grocery items in 2012, Nabisco fell under the snack umbrella and became a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.

4

Cadbury

12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (4)

Today, Cadbury is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, but when it was founded in Birmingham, England in 1824 by John Cadbury, the brand consisted of nothing more than tea, coffee, and drinking chocolate. After some turbulent early years, the company switched its focus to chocolate and made its mark on the sweets industry in 1861 with Fancy Boxes—a decorated box of chocolates. Seven years later the boxes were sold in the shape of a heart for Valentine's Day, which is how chocolate eventually became associated with the holiday. In 1923, Cadbury first released the Creme egg, which still remains one of its most popular and beloved products. After a series of mergers and acquisitions, Cadbury was purchased by Kraft Foods (them again!) in 2010 and, like Nabisco, soon became a subsidiary of Mondelēz International.

5

The Campbell Soup Company

12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (5)

Campbell's was started in 1869 by Joseph A. Campbell, a fruit merchant from Bridgeton, New Jersey, and Abraham Anderson, an icebox manufacturer from South Jersey. The duo got their start by producing canned tomatoes, vegetables, jellies, soups, condiments, and minced meats. Thanks to an MIT chemist named John Dorrance, Campbell's was one of the first companies to develop a commercially viable method for condensing soup, which put them on a path to success. In fact, Campbell's was so successful its brand portfolio eventually included Pepperidge Farm's breads, cookies, and crackers, Franco-American's gravies and pastas, V8 vegetable juices, Swanson broths, and Godiva's chocolates. Talk about "mmm mmm good!"

6

Aunt Jemima

12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (6)

Though the character of Aunt Jemima originally came from a vaudeville song dating back to 1875, Aunt Jemima's eponymous pancake mix first debuted in 1889 and was trademarked four years later. At one point the character was played by a former slave named Nancy Green, and even after Quaker Oats bought the brand in 1926 it was still important for people to put a face to the name. Over the years Aunt Jemima has been portrayed by several different African American women. Given the success of the Aunt Jemima pancake mix, Quaker Oats introduced Aunt Jemima syrup in 1966.

7

Quaker Oats Company

12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (7)

Speaking of Quaker Oats, the company that later acquired Aunt Jemima has a storied history of its own. It was founded in 1901 after the merger of four oat mills in Ohio and Iowa, one of which actually dates back to 1877. After some success, the company expanded into numerous areas including other breakfast cereals and food and drink products. In the 1970s, the company even financed the making of the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory obtaining a license to use a number of the product names mentioned in the movie for candy bars in return. In August 2001, Quaker was bought out by PepsiCo because Pepsi wanted to add Gatorade (which Quaker owned) to its arsenal of beverages. Today, Quaker sells fiber-rich oatmeal and an array of related products, and breakfast cereals such as Life and sugar-packed Cap'n Crunch.

8

Entenmann's

12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (8)

If you're taking a stroll down the baked goods aisle at your local supermarket, chances are you won't make it two steps without seeing a blue and white box filled with Entenmann's cookies, cakes, donuts, or other pastries. As it turns out, the company has been in existence since 1898, when it was founded by William Entenmann as a standalone bakery in New York. Though the bakery once thrived on home-delivery, it soon started supplying grocery stores instead, which allowed it to expand and open new bakeries and factories along the east coast. National expansion soon followed, and in 1972 Entenmann's started to market the chocolate chip cookies it still sells today. To date, the brand has sold more than 620 million cookies. In the past few decades, Entenmann's has changed hands several times and has been owned by Mexican conglomerate Grupo Bimbo since 2008.

9

The Keebler Company

12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (9)

Sure, the fact that Entenmann's has been around for 120 years is impressive, but it pales in comparison when you realize The Keebler Company (yes, the one with the elves) is 165 years old. The Keebler Company got its start when Godfrey Keebler opened a bakery in Philadelphia in 1853. In 1927, this bakery and others formed the United Biscuit Company of America. By 1936 the Keebler-Weyl Bakery became the official baker of Girl Scout Cookies, and a division of Keebler is still licensed to produce them to this day. Those famous elves were created by an ad agency in 1968 after the bakery was referred to as "The Hollow Tree Factory." After operating under a few different owners, The Keebler Company was acquired by the Kellogg Company in 2001, where it remains.

10

Kellogg's

12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (10)

Speaking of Kellogg's, the company responsible for sugary sweet cereal creations such as Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, and Cocoa Krispies is also more than a century old. Kellogg's was founded as the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company on February 19, 1906, by Will Keith Kellogg, and was responsible for producing and marketing the hugely successful Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes. The business was renamed the Kellogg Company in 1922. In addition to acquiring The Keebler Company in 2001, Kellogg's has gone on to purchase brands such as Cheez-It, Morningstar Farms, and Kashi. In 2012, Kellogg's became the world's second-largest snack food company (after PepsiCo) when the company acquired Pringles from Procter & Gamble for $2.7 billion in a cash deal.

11

Pepsi

12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (11)

If you thought Kellogg's had a massive and diverse portfolio of brands, wait until you hear what falls under the PepsiCo umbrella. The company began with a simple soft drink recipe for "Pepsi-Cola" in 1898, and as the cola gained popularity, its creator—pharmacist and industrialist Caleb Bradham—created the Pepsi-Cola Company in 1902. When the company went bankrupt in 1931, the trademark and syrup recipe were purchased by Charles Guth—owner of a syrup manufacturing business and president of Loft, Incorporated, a leading candy manufacturer. Guth helped revive Pepsi-Cola by stocking the soda in Loft's large chain of candy shops and restaurants, which were known for their soda fountains, but after a lawsuit in the 1930s Loft won Guth's 91 percent stake of Pepsi-Cola Company. By 1941, Pepsi was formally absorbed into Loft, which was then re-branded as Pepsi-Cola Company. In 1965, the Pepsi-Cola Company merged with Frito-Lay, Inc. to become PepsiCo. After a series of divestments, PepsiCo purchased the orange juice company Tropicana Products in 1998 and merged with Quaker Oats Company in 2001, adding with it the Gatorade sports drink line and other Quaker Oats brands such as Chewy Granola Bars and Aunt Jemima, among others. Some of the largest PepsiCo brands to date include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Lay's potato chips, and Gatorade. Though PepsiCo gets a bad rap for marketing a myriad of unhealthy products, the company has made an effort to be more nutritious. For example, in 2015 PepsiCo introduced Stubborn Soda, a line of carbonated beverages without belly-bloating high-fructose corn syrup.

12

The Coca-Cola Company

12 Famous Food Brands That Are Over 100 Years Old (12)

Pepsi's main competitor is Coca-Cola, so it should come as no surprise that the companies behind both drinks actually have similar histories. The Coca-Cola Company technically got its start in 1886 when its namesake beverage was invented by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta. The Coca-Cola formula and brand were then bought in 1889 by Asa Griggs Candler, who incorporated The Coca-Cola Company in 1892. However, one of the major differences between PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company is that the latter has operated a franchised distribution system since 1889. In other words, The Coca-Cola Company only produces syrup concentrate, which is then sold to various bottlers throughout the world who hold exclusive territories. However, the company does own its anchor bottler in North America, which is called Coca-Cola Refreshments. Among the brands The Coca-Cola Company owns are Minute Maid, Odwalla, the coconut water company ZICO, and Honest Tea, and it produces additional soft drinks such as Fanta and Sprite. With a portfolio like that, it's no surprise The Coca-Cola Company made an estimated $35.4 billion in 2017. That said, if you're looking to get in shape sugary soda is not the way to go. Instead, try hydrating yourself with a beverage from this list of the50 Best Detox Waters for Fat Burning and Weight Loss!

FAQs

What is the oldest brand of food? ›

1. Baker's Chocolate, 1764. In 1764, two men by the name of John Hannon and Dr.

What are the most famous food brands? ›

  • Mondelez International. Maker of Oreo, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Toblerone chocolate and Trident gum, among other well-known brands, Mondelez International sells its goods in more than 150 countries around the world and is headquartered in Chicago, US. ...
  • PepsiCo. ...
  • Nestlé ...
  • Mars. ...
  • Unilever. ...
  • Danone Group. ...
  • General Mills. ...
  • Grupo Bimbo.
Aug 8, 2022

What is the oldest canned food brand? ›

Underwood started producing deviled ham in 1868. In 1870 the company trademarked the devil logo used on the can, and it is now the oldest trademark for a food product still in use in the United States. The design of the devil has undergone significant change since the cans pictured above were made.

What is the oldest cracker brand? ›

Cracker Jack: 1896

But after the snack was introduced at Chicago's World's Fair in 1893 it became a sensation.

What are the 10 biggest food companies in the world? ›

World's largest food and beverage companies
  1. Nestle. ...
  2. Archer Daniels Midland Company. ...
  3. Cargill. ...
  4. Sysco Corporation. ...
  5. JBS. ...
  6. George Weston. ...
  7. Tyson Foods. ...
  8. Danone.

Who are the top 10 major food companies in the world? ›

Nestle SA, Mondelez International Inc, General Mills Inc, The Hershey Co, and The Kraft Heinz Co are the top 5 food companies in the world by market capitalization (as of Sept 30, 2022).

What are the 10 top food companies? ›

It seems like these 10 food companies -- Kraft, Coca-Cola, Nestle, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Pepsico, General Mills inc, Kellogg's, and Mars -- are involved in almost every major food and beverage brand you see on the grocery shelves in North America.

What is the oldest cookie brand? ›

Hydrox
CountryU.S.
Introduced1908
Related brandsLeaf Brands
Previous ownersSunshine Biscuits (1908–96) Keebler (1996–2001) Kellogg Company (2001–14)
Websiteleafbrands.com
4 more rows

What are the oldest canned foods? ›

One of the oldest canned foods out there still in existence is said to be this can of kidney soup, which was donated to a food pantry. By now it probably serves better as a prop than actual lunch.

What is the oldest food store? ›

Doud's Market is the number one specialty food market in Mackinac Island, Michigan, and it also holds the title of the oldest grocery store in America. This 130-year-old food market has 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor, and one reviewer raves, "Doud's has been a staple on Mackinac Island for decades and is well-stocked."

What is the 5 most popular food in the world? ›

Italian pizza, Turkish kebab, American hamburger, and Middle eastern falafel are the most eaten food in the world.

What is the most famous fast food brand? ›

McDonald's is still the most popular fast food brand in America today—with $46 billion in systemwide sales last year. This graphic uses data from a report on America's top 50 fast food chains by Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) Magazine.

What are the top 5 best foods in the world? ›

For now, feast your eyes and control your drooling, as we reveal some of the world's best foods that can help inspire your travel plans:
  1. Massaman curry, Thailand.
  2. Neapolitan pizza, Italy. ...
  3. Chocolate, Mexico. ...
  4. Sushi, Japan. ...
  5. Peking duck, China. ...
  6. Hamburger, Germany. ...
  7. Penang assam laksa, Malaysia. ...
  8. Tom yum goong, Thailand. ...

What brands are 100 years? ›

Here's a look at 10 brands that have been around for more than 100 years.
...
100-Year-Old Companies Still in Business Today
  • Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company was founded back in 1892, several years after the beverage was invented by the pharmacist John S. ...
  • J.C. Penney. ...
  • UPS. ...
  • Boeing. ...
  • L.L. Bean. ...
  • Harley-Davidson. ...
  • Kraft Foods. ...
  • Kellogg's.

What brands have been around for over 100 years? ›

Iconic Brands That Have Prospered for Over 100 Years
  • Coca Cola (1892) Coca Cola's “Birth of a Refreshing Idea” was founded in 1886 by an Atlanta pharmacist, John. ...
  • Colgate (1806) ...
  • Crayola (1885) ...
  • Johnson & Johnson (1886) ...
  • General Electric (1892) ...
  • Target (1902) ...
  • Harley-Davidson Motorcycles (1903) ...
  • UPS (1907)
Nov 16, 2020

How many companies are 100 years old? ›

Beyond that, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that only about 12% of companies are older than 26 years. The prevailing theory, though unconfirmed, is that only about a half a percent (0.5%) of all companies have what it takes to last 100 years.

What are the oldest potato chip brands? ›

The Dayton, Ohio-based Mike-sell's Potato Chip Company, founded in 1910, identifies as the “oldest potato chip company in the United States”. New England-based Tri-Sum Potato Chips, founded in 1908 as the Leominster Potato Chip Company, in Leominster, Massachusetts claim to be America's first potato chip manufacturer.

What is the oldest known snack food? ›

Popcorn is perhaps the oldest of all. Archaeological sites in Peru and Mexico recently yielded 7,000 year old maize husks said to be evidence of popcorn preparation and consumption by ancient indigenous peoples.

What is the oldest chip company? ›

The Dayton, Ohio-based Mikesell's Potato Chip Company, founded in 1910, identifies as the "oldest potato chip company in the United States".

What are the top food brands in USA? ›

The three largest food and beverage companies for 2021 in the U.S. are PepsiCo., Tyson Foods, and Nestle. That's according to our annual reporting of the top food & beverage companies in North America.

Who are the largest snack food companies? ›

RankCompany2015 Sales
1Nestlé S.A. Learn More$88.8 billion
2PepsiCo Learn More$63.1 billion
3Mondelēz International Learn More$29.6 billion
4Kraft Heinz Co. Learn More$21.7 billion
21 more rows

Who is the biggest food in the world? ›

03/8Pumpkin. According to the Guinness World Record website, a new record was made by Stefano Cutrupi a farmer from Tuscany in March 2021, where the world's heaviest pumpkin was grown and the Atlantic Giant Pumpkin weighed at 1,226 kgs.

What is the biggest food company in North America? ›

Pepsico was the leading food and beverage company overall in North America in the 2021 financial year. The corporation had sales of over 47.6 billion U.S. dollars from food and beverages that were processed on the continent.

How many food brands are there in the US? ›

There are many food and beverage processing establishments (plants) in the United States—36,486, owned by about 31,401 companies in 2017, according to the most recent comprehensive data in the Census Bureau's 2017 Economic Census.

What food brands are made in the USA? ›

Companies that manufacture/package/process food products in the United States; some of these companies also sell retail in stores or online.
...
K
  • K&N's Foods USA.
  • Kansas City Steak Company.
  • Kashi (company)
  • Kettle Foods.
  • Koch Foods.
  • Koda Farms.
  • Kodiak Cakes.
  • Kraft Foods.

Who makes the best food? ›

  • Italy. #1 in Has great food. #14 in Best Countries Overall. ...
  • Mexico. #2 in Has great food. #33 in Best Countries Overall. ...
  • Spain. #3 in Has great food. #16 in Best Countries Overall. ...
  • Greece. #4 in Has great food. ...
  • Thailand. #5 in Has great food. ...
  • France. #6 in Has great food. ...
  • Turkey. #7 in Has great food. ...
  • India. #8 in Has great food.

What is the oldest food known to man? ›

Cheese seems to be the oldest man made food, showing up in early Mesopotamia and Egypt. Ancient cheese strainers were recently excavated in Poland, dating back 7,500 years.

What is the oldest meal ever? ›

One of the oldest meals ever eaten may have been discovered in a fossil over half a billion years old. A mollusc-like animal known as Kimberella appears to have enjoyed a meal of green algae and bacteria shortly before its death 558 million years ago.

What is one of the oldest prepared foods? ›

History. Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods. Evidence from 30,000 years ago in Europe and Australia revealed starch residue on rocks used for pounding plants.

What is the oldest bread? ›

At 14,400 years old, the Oldest bread was discovered by University of Copenhagen Archaeological Research Group in the Black Desert, Jordan, before its age was reviewed on 12 June. Archaeologists found evidence of crumbs dating back more than 14 millennia in a stone fireplace at a site in north-eastern Jordan.

What is the oldest food chain? ›

A&W (1919)

That's right—the root beer kings founded the first-ever chain restaurant in America. By the 1970s, A&W even had more locations open than McDonald's.

What's the oldest vegetable? ›

The oldest known vegetable {The Pea} is the one found in Stone Age settlements dating to 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. This historic vegetable, the Pea. Humans have cultivated vegetables heavily over the millennia, but the vegetables eaten in prehistoric times differed from those we heartily consume today.

What is the oldest cracker in the US? ›

Triscuits

Nabisco invented its tasty shredded wheat cracker in 1900 in Niagara Falls, New York.

What did cracker jacks used to be called? ›

In 1896 the name Cracker Jack was officially registered (before then the snack had been called candied popcorn and peanuts) and the familiarly sticky and sweet candy we know today was born.

What were popular foods 100 years ago? ›

Bread, potatoes, cabbage, beans, and various kinds of cereal were the base of local cuisine. There was usually only one dish per meal on the table on regular days. On holidays, there could be several dishes served during the same meal, but they were the same as those cooked on regular days, as a rule.

Who did 30 Minute Meals first? ›

Rachael Ray

What is the oldest cheese ever found? ›

Archaeologists have identified a substance found inside an ancient Egyptian tomb: 3,200-year-old cheese. Several years ago, a research team found a “solidified whitish mass” on a collection of jars in the tomb of Ptahmes, a high-ranking Egyptian official in the 13th century B.C., the BBC reports.

What are Old World foods? ›

Foods that originated in Europe, Africa, or Asia are Old World foods. For example, mountainous Central Asia is the center of origin of apples, making them an Old World food. Central Asia is where the first wild apples grew and where apples were first domesticated by people.

Who made bread first? ›

According to history, the earliest bread was made in or around 8000 BC in the Middle East, specifically Egypt. The quern was the first known grinding tool. Grain was crushed and the bakers produced what we now commonly recognize in its closest form as chapatis (India) or tortillas (Mexico).

What are the oldest recipes in the world? ›

The oldest sequenced recipe ever found was on the walls of the ancient Egyptian tomb of Senet. Back in 19th century BC, it taught the people how to make flatbreads. The second oldest (14th century BC) described the making of Sumerian beer, locally referred to as “liquid bread".

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