10 Popular Food Brands Owned By Chinese Companies

When we go to the grocery store, we rarely think of where the food came from or how it got there. After all, we are there on a mission, not for an education. That's not even covering how little we think of the journey of the prepackaged food we have tucked into our cabinets or refrigerators. But foregoing that inquisitiveness can be quite a loss, especially since some of the foods we love the most come from unlikely places.

Take China for example. While most of our fresh grown produce doesn't come from Asia — that comes from countries like Mexico, Canada, and Costa Rica, to name a few — a handful of food and beverage brands actually do. At least, they're owned by Chinese companies. Are you ready to be surprised? Join us in exploring popular food and beverage brands owned by Chinese companies that fill United States grocery store aisles.

Where there's ham, there's a way. Or so the saying (probably) goes. At Smithfield, pork is king with products ranging from bacon — there is a best way to cook bacon, by the way — hot dogs, ham, and breakfast sausage. And truth be told, the brand has always been like this. It was founded in 1936 under what would become the Smithfield Packing Company name by a father and son duo, both named Joseph W. Luter, in the namesake town of Smithfield, Virginia. Over time, the pork brand expanded with acquisitions and today, Smithfield is a sub-brand of the larger Smithfield Foods.

So it may be surprising that a quintessentially American brand, one that is known for its deep roots to Virginia and unwavering support of American service members and veterans, is actually owned by a Chinese company. Back in 2013, WH Group (then known as Shuanghui International), shared its intention to buy Smithfield Foods. Approved by the United States Committee on Foreign Investment, the deal was sealed and WH Group bought Smithfield Foods for a whopping $4.7 billion dollars, per Reuters.

Calling all breakfast cereal fanatics! We're sure you've heard of this treasure, whether you've eaten it or not, but did you know that Weetabix was once owned by the Bright Food Group out of China? Weetabix was born in 1932 from the dreams of an Australian entrepreneur in the United Kingdom and his partner. Bennison Osbourne and Malcolm MacFarlane took an abandoned flour mill and transformed it into the production hub of what is today England's most popular cereal. It's now one of the top selling cereals in the United States, too, and while the taste isn't for everyone, for those willing to try, there are certainly sweet ways to elevate this breakfast cereal.

Weetabix jumped the proverbial pond and landed on United States store shelves in 1968, and several decades later, after some ownership shifts, it was acquired by Bright Food in 2012. Bright Food is a state-owned food company, meaning the Chinese government controls it. At the time, it had a 60% stake in Weetabix for around $1.94 billion dollars, notes Reuters, and was the "biggest foreign acquisition by a Chinese food group." In 2017, ownership changed hands again with American company Post Holdings agreeing to buy Weetabix from Bright Foods.

Filippo Berio wasn't always an olive oil brand. Once, he was a young man born in Italy and raised among the rolling hills of olive oil trees. Following 15 years of olive oil craftsmanship, Filippo Berio registered his namesake brand in 1867. And a mere three years later, Filippo Berio olive oils were being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to North America. Despite Filippo Berio's passing in 1894, the brand continued to grow, and the company earned its United States trademark two years later.

Today, Filippo Berio still sells award winning olive oil, but its offerings have expanded to include sauces and specialty vinegars, as well. And sometimes growth necessitates change, including acquisitions, which is what happened in 2014 when Bright Food Group (remember them?) acquired a majority stake in the firm that owned Filippo Berio — Salov. But that hasn't stopped Filippo Berio from continuing to produce award winning products like its recent win for its line of pasta sauces. If you're a jarred pasta sauce kind of person, like what Filippo Berio sells, there are ways to tell which store-bought marinara sauces are the best without buying a dozen jars to taste test yourself.

Listen, there simply isn't anything better than crushing a cold Capri-Sun on a warm, summer day, and we have Rudolf Wild to thank for that. In 1931, Wild founded what would become Capri-Sun's parent company based on the principles of "natural food products and no chemicals." Some 30 or so years later, what would one day become Capri-Sun is born. In 1969, the first flavors of Capri-Sun sold in stores were lemon and orange. Over time, the drink grew in popularity, and when the drink "made it in America" in the late 1970s, boxing legend Muhammad Ali began operating as an ambassador for the drink.

By 2005, Capri-Sun had expanded into China, but it wasn't until 2015 that the brand took off with Chinese consumers. Why? That was the year that Capri-Sun partnered with Reignwood Group to expand production and distribution in the market. While this isn't exactly the case of a Chinese company owning Capri-Sun, the partnership does give Reignwood Group the responsibility of production and sales within the country.

It isn't summertime (or a good time) without a hot dog and while there are a ton of options on the market, there is in fact a best and worst kind to buy at the grocery store. One of the best to buy is a Nathan's Famous hot dog. Just ask the contestants of the Nathan's hot dog contest, like Joey Chestnut (who does, in fact, have a preferred way to eat a hot dog when he isn't competing). The recipe was concocted by founder Nathan Handwerker's wife, Ida, in 1916. The original Nathan's stand sold hot dogs for $0.05 on New York's famous Coney Island, and became so popular that, by 1939, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt brought Nathan's hot dogs to the King and Queen of England.

In 2014, Smithfield Foods signed a licensing and manufacturing agreement with Nathan's to produce and distribute the company's hot dogs and other products. A year prior to that, in 2013, Smithfield Foods had been acquired by WH Group, meaning that Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs also became owned by a Chinese company.

Smoked sausage fans unite because Eckrich has the meats. Or is that part of the Arby's backstory? Either way, Eckrich has been producing high quality meats for over 130 years. It all started with a German immigrant named Peter Eckrich who landed in Fort Wayne, Indiana and opened a meat market. This was in 1894, and by the time 1932 rolled around, the Eckrich name was synonymous with quality and flavor around the country.

Serving up sausage links, rope, links, and cocktail sausage, Eckrich was purchased by Beatrice Foods in 1972. Come 1990, ConAgra Foods acquired Beatrice and thus, Eckrich. By 2006, ConAgra sold its entire refrigerated meats business to Smithfield Foods. But the changing hands didn't stop there. In 2013, China's WH Group bought Smithfield Foods and subsequently, Eckrich. The shift in ownership seemingly hasn't changed Eckrich or the 130 years of tradition propping it up. A recent marketing campaign even focused on the hometown, heart warming idea that Eckrich is the "sausage that takes you home."

As all great stories do, the story of Farmer John begins with family. Irish-American brothers Francis and Bernard Clougherty took 1931 by storm by selling fresh and smoked meats to local grocers. Originally called Clougherty Brothers Packing Co., the company grew to include pork, beef, and mutton, and when World War II hit the country, the Clougherty brothers were a part of the war effort, supplying military bases with meat. By 1953, the company shifted branding to Farmer John, which was said to be easier to pronounce than the Clougherty name.

While Farmer John kept expanding — it was even the official hot dog of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team in the 1950s — the opportunity arose in 2014 to become a part of Hormel for $186 million. Several years later, in 2017, Farmer John became a Smithfield Foods brand following its sale by Hormel. As with Eckrich and Smithfield, that meant that Farmer John became a majority Chinese owned brand.

Another American titan of meat, Armour Meats got its start in 1867. Two brothers founded the company in Chicago, Illinois, and, while still successful today, the company isn't without its controversy. That takes us back to the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. Decades prior, American chemist Harvey W. Wiley brought about concerns of health hazards that poor processing of foods could have. In 1898, Armour & Co. (as it had been known then), had been blasted in the press for unsafe meatpacking practices. Namely, disguising rancid, rotten meat supplied to the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American war. During this era, meatpackers would use things like borax, salicylic acid, and formaldehyde to preserve meat. Today, those chemicals are considered toxic when consumed.

But despite any unsavoriness that led to it, the concerns wound up in the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, which was a huge step in securing food safety for consumers. As with Eckrich, Armour Meats changed hands a few times over the decades before landing with Smithfield Foods in 2006 when it was sold by ConAgra, where it has since stayed.

You wouldn't think it, but there is in fact a ranking of bottled water. A Cadillac of water, Voss Water has solidified itself over the years as a "go to" water option. After all, the product is called "artesian water" and its sourcing from Norway does give it a distinctly fancy vibe. The company is name dropped (or product placed) in dozens of films and television shows from the Oscar-winning "Parasite" to the Emmy-winning show "Succession." Celebrities themselves have even been brand ambassadors like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

But beyond the glamor and exclusivity that the brand is exemplified by, it's actually no longer owned solely by Voss of Norway, the Oslo based company that bottled Voss Water. As of 2016, Voss of Norway was acquired by Reignwood Group for $105 million. Reignwood is the same company that partnered with Capri-Sun, and the company also licenses and produces Red Bull China, among others.

If there's one thing people love, it's coconut water. It can be added to iced coffee for a refreshing upgrade, can make tea lighter and sweeter, and can even be the perfect mixer for tequila. And while we imagine there are detractors who are decidedly not fans, the coconut water market is booming. One study puts the global coconut water market at over $8 billion dollars and the demand is continuing to grow and Vita Coco is a massive part of that.

As with Voss Water, Vita Coco is a big player in the celebrity and wellness drink space. In fact, early celebrity investors included Madonna, Demi Moore, and Matthew McConaughey. Today, singer Becky G is one of the brand's global ambassadors. And it seemed that Reignwood Group wanted in on the market share. In 2014, the company acquired a 25% stake in the parent company of Vita Coco for $665 million dollars.