The Top 100 Consumer Goods Companies
When the industry’s largest public company sells off its namesake brand, it’s clear that the consumer goods marketplace is undergoing a period of dramatic transformation.
That’s exactly what happened in 2018, when Nestlè sold off its namesake U.S. confectionery business to privately held Ferrero Group. The deal was perhaps the most noteworthy out of the many that occurred over the past year or so, not necessarily because of its size (a $2.8 billion transaction) but because of the way it reflects a major company’s response to changing consumer demand.
IDC Manufacturing Insights noted that less than 3% of net industry growth over the last three years has come from traditional, large enterprises — like the ones presented in RIS sister brand Consumer Goods Technology’s list of the “Top 100 Consumer Goods Companies” for 2018. While nearly three-quarters of these companies posted revenue growth last year, the total dollar figure for the group was $1.73 trillion — $150 million less than the complete tally back in 2003, the first time that CGT compiled the list.
The Top 10
Nestlé: $89.1 Billion
Philip Morris International: $78.1 Billion
Procter & Gamble: $65.1 Billion
PepsiCo: $63.5 Billion
Unilever: $60.6 Billion
Anheuser-Busch InBev: $56.4 Billion
Christian Dior: $49.2 Billion
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton: $48.1 Billion
JBS: $43.1 Billion
Tyson Foods: $38.2 Billion
A significant portion of last year’s growth came not through organic sales increases but from mergers and acquisitions — $95.3 billion of which took place in 2017 from just 17 major deals, according to Deloitte. Traditional companies aren’t just buying up the emerging brands that have, in so many cases, beaten them online; they also continue to acquire each other to maintain shrinking market share or focus on different categories that better address the needs of today’s consumers.
All this disruption still hasn’t affected the annual ranking too much. As has been the case over the last few years, only two companies have fallen off the list: tobacco marketer Reynolds American, which now is part of British American Tobacco (No. 23), and Turkey-based appliance manufacturer Arcelik AS, which just barely missed the cut. They were replaced by France-based cheese specialist Savencia (at No. 86) and U.S. household goods manufacturer Church & Dwight (100).
The entire list of the CG companies with the greatest revenue can be found here. The sidebar on the left provides a sneak peek at the 10 mega consumer goods companies with the biggest sales numbers.
