One Fan-Favorite Hot Dog Brand Is Quietly Made By A Chinese Company

Hot dogs may trace their roots back to European sausages, but they're inarguably American in nature. From the quintessential all-beef NYC hot dog with spicy mustard and onion relish to cream cheese-slathered Seattle dogs, hot dogs have grown to be a cultural hallmark of the United States. Perhaps no American hot dogs are better known, though, than Nathan's Famous, a New York-born fast food chain and brand known for its packaged hot dogs in grocery stores nationwide and its annual hot dog eating contest at Coney Island on, of all days, the Fourth of July. But for all its American-ness, Nathan's isn't entirely domestic — the famous hot dogs are made by a Chinese pork producer.

If you didn't know, that's because the partnership is relatively recent. Pork producer and food-processing company Smithfield Foods has only been in a licensing partnership with the company for just over 10 years of its 100-plus-year history. Under this agreement, Smithfield uses its enormous scale to manufacture and distribute the hot dog across the U.S., Canada, and Sam's Clubs in Mexico. That may leave you wondering what that has to do with China.

It turns out that although Smithfield was founded in the U.S. and describes itself as an American company, it's actually owned by Chinese company WH Group. Formerly known as Shuanghui International Holdings, WH Group is headquartered in Hong Kong and oversees businesses around the globe. At the time the company acquired Smithfield for $4.72 billion in 2013, Bloomberg described it as the "largest for a meat producer and the biggest takeover of a U.S. company."  And Nathan's international saga isn't over yet.

On January 21, 2026, Smithfield Foods announced its acquisition of Nathan's Famous, Inc. As soon as that deal closes, it will assume all brand rights too. But this isn't the first time the brand has had new owners.

Nathan's Famous was launched in 1916 by Nathan Handwerker in Coney Island, Brooklyn, where its flagship store still stands. The Handwerker family maintained ownership for the next 70 years, during which time Nathan's Famous officially started its hot dog eating contest in 1972. But that changed in 1987, when they sold the business to private investors. According to the Food Institute, franchisees ran the vast majority of Nathan's restaurant locations by the early 1990s, though the company itself still had full ownership over its flagship location. And now, Smithfield's is purchasing it all.

Of course, there's nothing unusual about a foreign company owning a brand primarily known and beloved in the United States. Plenty of popular food brands are actually owned by companies based abroad. Burger King and Popeyes are owned by the Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International, for instance. If anything, Nathan's Famous being acquired by a Chinese-owned company is just another common occurrence in the food business world. And much like KFC, which is hugely popular in China, its Chinese ties have helped make it one of the most profitable fast food chains of 2026. It's really just a sign that human taste preferences and cultural cuisine are becoming more global and less divisive. Who knows? Maybe we'll see Nathan's Famous hot dog eating competitions across the world one day.

In the meantime, Nathan's menu still revolves around its staple hot dogs and other beloved menu items. In 2026, the chain's crinkle-cut fries even won USA Today's runner-up accolade for best fast-food fries for the fourth year in a row. So don't expect any big changes anytime soon.