When you’re shopping for groceries, you probably aren’t thinking much about where your food comes from or who actually owns the brands you’re buying. I mean, most of us are just trying to get in and out of the store as quickly as possible. But it turns out that some of the most recognizable American food brands are actually owned by Chinese companies. And that might surprise you more than you’d think.
The shift happened gradually over the past decade or so, with Chinese firms acquiring major stakes in companies that have been American staples for generations. Some of these purchases were pretty massive deals worth billions of dollars. But here’s what nobody talks about – a lot of consumers have no idea this even happened.
Smithfield became Chinese-owned back in 2013
Smithfield Foods is probably the biggest name on this list, and honestly, it’s kind of shocking when you first hear about it. The company was founded in Virginia back in 1936 and grew into the largest pork producer in America. But in 2013, a Chinese company called Shuanghui International (now known as WH Group) bought Smithfield for $4.7 billion. That’s basically the entire company, all its brands, and all its operations.
The acquisition was approved by U.S. regulators despite some concerns about foreign control of American food production. And it wasn’t just Smithfield itself that changed hands. When WH Group bought Smithfield, they also got control of several other meat brands that Smithfield had acquired over the years. Pretty much overnight, a huge chunk of America’s pork supply became Chinese-owned.
Eckrich sausage isn’t American anymore either
Eckrich is another brand with deep American roots that’s now controlled by China. A German immigrant named Peter Eckrich started the company in Fort Wayne, Indiana back in 1894. For over a century, it was known for quality sausages and smoked meats. The brand changed hands a few times over the decades, going from Beatrice Foods to ConAgra. Then in 2006, ConAgra sold Eckrich to Smithfield Foods.
So when Smithfield got bought out by WH Group in 2013, Eckrich came along with it. Some people have gotten pretty upset about this. I’ve noticed that certain retailers have even stopped carrying Eckrich products because of the Chinese ownership. At least one meat shop in Ohio publicly announced they were switching to Johnsonville instead, which is still family-owned and American.
Armour meats followed the same path
Armour is yet another American meat brand that ended up under Chinese control through the Smithfield acquisition. Founded way back in 1867 in Chicago, Armour has a long history in American food production. Not all of it is good, honestly – the company was involved in some pretty nasty meatpacking scandals in the early 1900s that led to the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.
But the brand survived and kept going for decades. Like Eckrich, Armour eventually landed with ConAgra, which sold it to Smithfield in 2006. And then, you guessed it, WH Group acquired the whole thing in 2013. So now when you’re buying Armour hot dogs or canned meats, you’re buying from a Chinese-owned company. Does anyone actually check this stuff before they shop?
Nathan’s Famous hot dogs have Chinese connections too
This one kind of surprised me when I first learned about it. Nathan’s Famous is super iconic – it started on Coney Island in 1916 and has that whole Fourth of July hot dog eating contest thing going on. Feels about as American as you can get. But the Nathan’s Famous hot dogs you buy at the grocery store are actually produced under license by Smithfield Foods.
The restaurant chain itself is still owned by an American company called Equicor Group. But Smithfield holds the license to manufacture and distribute the retail hot dogs. Since Smithfield is owned by WH Group, that means the grocery store version of Nathan’s Famous is basically a Chinese product now. The last time I was at a cookout, nobody had any idea about this. It’s pretty much invisible to most consumers.
Farmer John is part of the Smithfield empire
Farmer John started in 1931 when two Irish-American brothers began selling fresh and smoked meats in California. The brand grew over the decades and became super popular on the West Coast. They were even the official hot dog of the Los Angeles Dodgers back in the 1950s, which is a pretty big deal.
Hormel bought Farmer John in 2014 for $186 million. But then just three years later, Hormel sold the brand to Smithfield Foods. So once again, we’ve got another formerly American meat brand that’s now controlled by WH Group. After trying these brands for years without knowing their ownership, it’s kind of a weird feeling to realize where they actually come from now.
Filippo Berio olive oil went to Bright Food Group
Moving away from meat for a minute, let’s talk about olive oil. Filippo Berio is an Italian brand that’s been around since 1867. It’s one of those olive oil brands you see in basically every grocery store. But in 2014, China’s Bright Food Group acquired a majority stake in Salov, the Italian company that owns Filippo Berio.
Bright Food is actually a state-owned Chinese company, which means the Chinese government basically controls it. They paid around $1.94 billion for their stake in the company. And at the time, it was described as the biggest foreign acquisition ever made by a Chinese food group. The purchase gave Bright Food control over one of the leading olive oil brands in America. Though the brand itself stayed based in Italy, the ownership shifted to China. Interestingly enough, in 2017, American company Post Holdings bought back another brand that Bright Food had acquired – Weetabix cereal.
Vita Coco has partial Chinese ownership
Vita Coco was the first natural coconut water brand in the United States when it launched over twenty years ago. The brand is still majority owned by its American founders through a company called All Market Brands. But here’s the thing – China’s Reignwood Group owns 25% of Vita Coco after purchasing that stake for $165 million back in 2014.
So it’s not totally Chinese-owned like some of the other brands on this list. But a quarter of the company belongs to a Chinese investment firm. Reignwood also licenses and produces Red Bull in China, which is a pretty massive operation. The deal helped Vita Coco expand into the Chinese market. PepsiCo actually tried to buy the whole company in 2017, but those talks didn’t go anywhere.
Voss water is majority Chinese-owned now
Voss is one of those premium water brands that comes in the fancy cylindrical glass bottles. The water itself comes from Norway, but the company is based in New York. In 2016, the Reignwood Group – the same Chinese company that bought part of Vita Coco – purchased a majority share of Voss for $105 million.
Since then, the brand hasn’t really made much news. It’s expanded in China but has actually seen some financial losses despite that growth. Voss used to be kind of a status symbol water brand, but it’s not quite as trendy as it used to be. Still, every time you see someone carrying one of those distinctive bottles, there’s a good chance they don’t know it’s mostly owned by a Chinese company now.
Why this matters more than you think
Some people argue that foreign ownership of American food brands is a national security concern. There are worries about China controlling too much of our food supply, especially when it comes to basic things like pork production. Organizations like Competitive Markets Action have been fighting against the expansion of Chinese-owned factory farming operations across American farmland.
And it’s not just about ownership of brands. WH Group, through Smithfield, has been buying up American farmland too. As of 2023, more than 80% of Chinese-owned agricultural land in the United States belonged to Smithfield Foods and one Chinese billionaire. That’s a lot of land. But most Americans had no idea this was even happening until the pandemic supply chain issues made people start asking questions about where their food actually comes from. Anyway, now you know – next time you’re shopping, you might want to check who actually owns what you’re buying.
