edgepedia

Snack, confectionery, and packaged-food manufacturers

173 articles

99 Flake

99 Flake: the half-length Cadbury Flake bar made since 1930 for soft-serve ice cream cones, and the British "99" cone itself; name origin unknown despite Cadbury's Italian guard story.

After Eight

After Eight is a British thin mint chocolate launched by Rowntree in 1962 and made by Nestlé since 1988: peppermint fondant in dark chocolate, invertase-liquefied filling, first mint-free flavors in 2026.

Altoids

Altoids: British strong breath mints created in the 1780s by Smith Kendon, sold in iconic rectangular tins under the 'Curiously Strong' tagline; now Mars Wrigley-owned and US-made in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Aunt Jemima

Aunt Jemima was an American pancake-mix and syrup brand created in 1889 by the Pearl Milling Company of St. Joseph, Missouri, sold by Quaker Oats and PepsiCo, and rebranded Pearl Milling Company in 2021 after criticism of its minstrel-derived mammy imagery.

Baby Ruth

Baby Ruth: American candy bar of peanuts, caramel, and nougat, created by Curtiss Candy Company, Chicago, circa 1920-1921 from the Kandy Kake bar; officially named for Ruth Cleveland but widely linked to Babe Ruth, who lost a 1931 trademark case; now Ferrero-owned.

Babybel

Babybel is a Bel Group brand of individual portion snack cheese in red wax, created 1931; Mini Babybel, an edam-style four-ingredient cheese, launched mid-1970s and sells over 2 billion portions yearly in 50 countries.

Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's, founded 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in Burlington, Vermont, is an ice cream brand with an embedded social mission. Sold to Unilever in 2000 for $326 million with an independent board; now owned by The Magnum Ice Cream Company amid governance disputes.

Beyond Meat

Beyond Meat, Inc. is an American plant-based protein company founded in 2009 by Ethan Brown in El Segundo, California, known for the Beyond Burger and rebranded as Beyond in 2026.

Bimbo Bakeries USA

Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU) is the U.S. subsidiary of Mexico's Grupo Bimbo and the largest U.S. baking company, owning Sara Lee, Entenmann's, Thomas', Oroweat, and Arnold. It received an FDA sesame-labeling warning letter in 2024 and is moving headquarters from Horsham, PA to Dallas.

Blue Bell Creameries

Blue Bell Creameries: Brenham, Texas-based private ice cream maker founded 1907 as Brenham Creamery Company, renamed 1930; sold in 24 states via direct store delivery; Kruse family-owned with Sid Bass minority stake; 2015 listeria outbreak led to $19.35 million penalties.

Branston (brand)

Branston (brand) covers two unrelated British food brands: Branston Pickle, a sweet brown vegetable relish first made by Crosse & Blackwell in 1922, now owned by Mizkan Euro, and Branston Ltd, the Lincolnshire potato supplier founded in 1968.

Breyers

Breyers is an American ice cream brand founded in Philadelphia in 1866 by William A. Breyer, known for Natural Vanilla and black-and-white tubs and now owned by The Magnum Ice Cream Company.

Britannia Industries

Britannia Industries Limited, founded 1892 in Kolkata, is a Wadia Group Indian FMCG food company selling biscuits, bread, cakes, rusk, and dairy in over 80 countries, with over one-third of the Indian biscuit market.

Bubble gum

Bubble gum is chewing gum formulated with high-molecular-weight polymer gum base so it can be blown into bubbles. First commercialized as Dubble Bubble in 1928 by Walter Diemer at Fleer; typically pink, about 20% gum base.

Butterfinger

Butterfinger is an American candy bar with a crisp peanut-butter brittle core and chocolate-flavored coating, created in 1923 by Otto Scherning of Curtiss Candy, owned by Nestlé from 1989 and by Ferrero since its 2018 $2.8 billion acquisition.

Cadbury

Cadbury is a British chocolate brand founded in 1824 by John Cadbury in Birmingham, famous for Dairy Milk (1905), Bournville, Creme Egg, and Flake. Owned by Mondelez International since the 2010 Kraft takeover, its top markets are the UK, Australia, and India.

Cadbury Creme Egg

Cadbury Creme Egg: milk chocolate Easter candy with white-and-yellow fondant filling, launched 1971 by Cadbury (Mondelēz); over 220 million sold yearly in Britain; predecessors from 1923.

Cadbury Roses

Cadbury Roses: assorted wrapped chocolates brand launched by Cadbury in 1938 in response to Quality Street, now owned by Mondelēz; known for soft centres, twist-to-flow-wrap changes, and shrinking tub sizes.

Cheetos

Cheetos (チートス) is a cheese-flavored puffed cornmeal snack brand created in 1948 by the Frito Company's C.E. Doolin and now made by Frito-Lay, a PepsiCo division. Sold in over 40 countries; includes Crunchy, Puffs, and Flamin' Hot lines.

Cheez Whiz

Cheez Whiz is Kraft Heinz's pasteurized process cheese spread, invented for Welsh rarebit and launched 1952-1953; thick orange sauce, 410 mg sodium per serving, sold in the US, Canada, and the Philippines, distinct from Easy Cheese and Velveeta.

Cheez-It

Cheez-It, the American baked cheese cracker brand introduced in 1921 by Green & Green of Dayton, Ohio; later Sunshine Biscuits, Keebler, Kellogg, and Kellanova; owned by Mars since 2025; about 20 flavors.

Chef Boyardee

Chef Boyardee is an American canned-pasta brand founded in 1928 by Italian immigrant chef Ettore "Hector" Boiardi, whose phonetically spelled name and portrait brand the products. Sold to American Home Foods in 1946, later Conagra, and to Hometown Food Company in 2025 for $600 million.

Chiclets

Chiclets is a candy-coated chewing gum brand of small square pieces, named after chicle tree sap. Introduced by Fleer in 1904, it passed from American Chicle to Perfetti Van Melle in 2023; US production ended in 2016.

Chupa Chups

Chupa Chups is a Spanish lollipop brand founded in 1958 by Enric Bernat, famous for its Salvador Dali daisy logo and 1995 Mir space-station first; owned by Perfetti Van Melle since 2006.

Cioccolato di Modica

Cioccolato di Modica (Modica chocolate) is a Sicilian cold-processed chocolate of bitter cocoa paste and sugar, never conched, grainy and crumbly; first EU chocolate PGI, registered 2018.

Cool Whip

Cool Whip is Kraft Heinz's frozen whipped topping, invented by William A. Mitchell at General Foods' Birds Eye division and launched in 1966. Made of water, corn syrups, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and stabilizers, about 200 million tubs sell yearly.

Cracker Jack

Cracker Jack is an American snack brand of caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts, sold since 1893 and best known for the small prize packaged in every box.

Crisco

Crisco is an American brand of vegetable shortening, cooking oil, and cooking spray, introduced by Procter & Gamble in 1911 as the first shortening made entirely from vegetable oil.

Daim bar

Daim bar (formerly Dajm, once Dime Bar in the UK): Swedish thin chocolate bar of crunchy almond caramel in milk chocolate, created by Marabou in the early 1950s, inspired by the Heath Bar, renamed Daim in 1990, now a Mondelēz brand made in Upplands Väsby, Sweden.

Del Monte Foods

Del Monte Foods was an American packaged food company in Walnut Creek, California, known for canned fruits, vegetables, and tomatoes under the Del Monte brand, a name since 1886.