The World's Most Valuable Food Brand May Come As No Surprise

Walking down the aisle of any grocery store and seeing the seemingly endless choices available, you would think there were a multitude of food brands in the world. The truth, however, is very different. In fact, while looking into the monopolies of the food industry, The Guardian found that the majority of grocery items were produced by just a handful of companies. And when Brand Finance composed a list of the most valuable food brands in 2022, it became a parade of the usual suspects. 

According to Brand Finance, Hershey's proved itself as the strongest brand in 2022 — but despite its consistency, it is not the most valuable brand. And while Coca-Cola was named the most valuable non-alcoholic drink brand, it did not take the top spot overall. Even fast movers like Belvita and Monster and stalwarts like Kellogg's and PepsiCo did not rank highest in value.

So, which food brand was named the most valuable of all? 

The answer is the Swiss-based food and drink giant Nestlé, which has a valuation of $20.8 billion, according to Brand Finance. This is up by over a billion since 2021's valuation of $19.4 billion. Nestlé's brands cover the gamut — baby food, water, cereal, candy, coffee, frozen foods, dairy, drinks, pet food, and more — but other brands have similar diversification. Why, then, has Nestle surpassed other companies in the food world?

Brand Finance explains that while Nestlé faced all the COVID- and supply chain-related difficulties other companies did in the last two years, its strategy of developing new products and focusing on the future has allowed it to flourish. Nestlé credits its decentralized structure — a business model that empowers employees of all levels to have input, explains Indeed — for its success. All this has kept Nestlé's value more than double its closest competitor, Chinese dairy brand Yili, which was valued at $10.6 billion, according to Food Business.