World's Most Popular Brand Name Food?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Thanks Zenster, you summed it up much more precisely than I did.

soccerhooligan, nice addition with the Kraft International and Pillsbury links. It looks like they have some serious coverage. Nice to know that I’ll be able to get some Oreos next time I head out to Beijing or Bangkok, and whip up some pancake mix whilst passing through Tokyo.

Celyn, I’m not sure about Nescafe. According to their website, Nescafe is mainly used in the home country of Switzerland, and is exported largely to France, Great Britain, and the US. I sent them an email asking for more specific information, but haven’t yet heard back. (why yes, I do have far too much time on my hands.)

Al Zheimers, good call on Mars candy. According to their website, Mars Bars, M&Ms, Twix, Milky Way, and Snickers are amongst the most widely available confectionary products.

occ mentioned Heinz, and the company itself has markets in the US, the UK, India, Canada, and Australasia. What specific products are sold in these locations isn’t mentioned clearly on their website though, so it’s difficult to say.

So far, the most globally prominent appear to be Kikkoman Soy Sauce, Kraft cookies, Pillsbury products, (which includes Green Giant, Haagen Dasz, and Old El Paso), various Heinz products, and Mars candy. So far, only one Non-US based country is up there, and that’s Kikkoman.

22

SNenc - Sorry, I forgot to include your contribution of Frito-Lay products. Various ones are sold in numerous companies, with Cheetos appearing to be the most widely available, with Lays Potato Chips and Doritos a little less prominent.

23

various countries, rather than companies, that is…

24

thank you for this, soccerhooligan. “international biscuit” is a truly wonderful phrase, and i now plan on making it part of my everyday life. thank you again for sharing it.

sorry for the hijack. now back to your regular scheduled programming.

25

FWIW, has anyone considered Pringles yet?
Seem to be available in all of Western Europe, Russia, the Baltics, the Balkans, and Southeast Asia, esp.the Philippines and Viet Nam. Yes , that’s a weird tour. No, I wasn’t on vacation. No, I didn’t buy Pringles in all these countries.

Also, in the same vein, what about Maggi sauces or flavoring extracts? I haven’t been anywhere that didn’t have either Maggi or Knorr. What about Lee Kum Kee sauces or any of the JFC brands? Zenster, I know you’ll back me up on this last.

(For the uninitiated, Lee Kum Kee and JFC are both excellent exporters of Asian food products/sauces. JFC is Thai, if memory serves, and is one of the most consistent brands, IMHO.)

26

I don’t think it can be Oreos, as they seem pretty careful not to claim to be world number 1, just to be be “international biscuit in 100 countries”, which seem like extremely careful phrasing, or, on this site

http://www.nabiscoworld.com/Oreo/or_info.htm

the “number one selling cookie in America”. I feel that if they though they had the world’s single leading food brand in their hands, they might make more noise about it. Ditto Pringles.

Perhaps, as suggested, some product by either Maggi or Knorr. Isn’t it a nuisance that the sources that would have the info. are all the kind that (reasonably enough) cost money to use. We need an underemployed business librarian, methinks.

27

Eek - I’ve just learned that one can send e-cards from Knorr. For Easter, for “Mamma’s Day”, for St. Patrick’s Day, for goodness sake. I hadn’t realised that St. Patrick’s Day was a major event for Knorr foods! The world is strange.

28

False_God, it looks like you have a contender with Pringles. According to Proctor & Gamble:

Knorr seems like a candidate, but the Unilever website isn’t that forthcoming with usable information.

I was able to find very little about JFC or Maggi.

Lee Kum Lee didn’t get into geographic availability, but I liked their website, and enjoyed playing the Flash applet Dragon Jigsaw Puzzle.

29

We may have a winner with Maggi sauce. It does enjoy a world wide market and is probably cheaper than Kikkoman which tends to be in the top shelf price range.

In view of the massive and enduring market penetration that Kikkoman enjoys I still stand by my candidate. Think of how long you have seen Kikkoman around compared to Maggi sauce.
I also thought that Knorr made Maggi sauce, anyone have some clarification on this? Knorr foods are widely distributed but I question whether they have a single given product that can outpace Kikkoman soy sauce.

I’m hoping that someone can track down the stats on dried milk. That is the one item that could really go the distance against Kikkoman.

I’m going to try and contact Kikkoman’s USA HQ here in California to get some answers from them.

30

Knorr is a Unilever subsidiary. Maggi is a Nestle product line, as is Carnation, which seems to be the predominant player in condensed and dried milk. Nestle doesn’t refer to how many countries they sell Carnation milk products in, but they do tout themselves as the “World’s Largest Food Company”, and also state that Nestle products are sold in almost every country. They also own Perrier and Calistoga Mineral Waters.