Top 50 Food Packaging Companies

A look back and a look forward at the top consumer packaged goods food companies.

Read the 2015 Top 50 Food Packaging Companies report for a more recent look at how the top 50 are doing.

Welcome to our annual top 50 food packaging companies cover story. As explained further in the methodology box that correlates with the Top 50 Food Packagers chart on page 22, Food and Beverage Packaging has ranked the top food companies based on 2012 total revenues. As in the past, we organize the top 50 in ranking order by revenue (billions) and include chief packaging officer and key brands. We have broken out revenue from beverage and other non-food product sales, when possible, so that we only include revenue from packaged food sales.

To view the rankings, click here.

It should come as no surprise that Nestlé has remained on top with $56.60 billion in revenue for 2012. PepsiCo is now in the number two spot with $33.4 billion in revenue, followed by Tyson Foods at $33.3 and Mars at an estimated $30 billion. What’s new this year is the arrival of newly created company, Mondeléz International, formerly Kraft Foods Inc. (as of October 2012). Mondeléz brands include household names like Nabisco, Ritz and Cadbury. Not surprisingly, Mondeléz International took the fifth spot with $29 billion in revenue for 2012.

Brand owners reveal positive outlook

It was a good year to be a brand owner in 2012. Packaging Strategies’ annual snapshot of top publicly held consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs) that do much of their business in the United States showed some fairly surprising results.

Click here to view this snapshot in .pdf form.

While results in 2011 still showed the lingering effects of the global recession and the hesitation of consumers to spend much money, 2012 offered a different perspective for many of these companies. There was still some struggle on the part of a few of these giants but they overall had a better year than previously.

A major question to ask is whether that will translate into innovation, an area that could more deeply affect packaging companies, or into more cost savings in an effort to spike profits even higher. A few of these companies were talking about investments in innovative processes but it is difficult to determine where that will lead.

But on an even stronger note, many of these companies have already upwardly adjusted their sales and earnings forecasts for this year. That brings the expectations of even greater investment. And stock prices continue to rise sharply, reflecting that of the overall stock market. Let’s hope the good economic returns continue this year and lead to a more robust economy in general.

Read the latest information on the top food packaging companies.