Brandtree

Who owns Cheez-It?

Cheez-It is owned by Mars (the United States) through its subsidiary Kellanova.[1]

This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.

Evidence: Kellanova Annual Report 2025, 1 February 2026. Last checked .

Key facts

Current owner
Mars, Incorporated via Kellanova reported
Owner HQ
🇺🇸 United States, McLean, Virginia
Origin
🇺🇸 United States
Founded
1921
Category
Food › Snacks › Cookies & crackers
Last verified
· 4 sources

About Cheez-It

Cheez-It baked cheese crackers have been made since 1921 by the Green & Green Company of Dayton, Ohio, and are made with real cheese aged before baking. The brand passed through several owners before reaching Kellogg, and went to Kellanova in the 2023 split.

Ownership timeline of Cheez-It

Owners of Cheez-It over 1921 to 2026 Mars start not recorded–present Mars (start not recorded) 19401960198020002020
  1. Current owner Mars via Kellanova [1] reported

Where Cheez-It sits in Mars

Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.

Where Cheez-It sits in Mars Tree of 42 brands under Mars. Mars Kellanova Cheez-It Crunchy Nut Eggo Extra Nutri-Grain Pop-Tarts and 4 more Altoids Banfield Pet Hospital Ben's Original Bounty Celebrations Cesar and 26 more

Open the full Mars ownership tree →

See the full Mars brand portfolio (42) →

Other brands owned by Mars

Mars controls 42 brands on Brandtree, 31 of them in food.

Also in food

Founded in the 1920s

All Mars brands →

Other brands in cookies & crackers, and who owns them

The 137 brands in cookies & crackers on Brandtree belong to 55 owners. The largest is Valeo Foods, with 13.

BrandOwnerOwner based in
Andante Valeo Foods 🇮🇪 Ireland
belVita Mondelēz 🇺🇸 United States
Choco Mucho Rebisco 🇵🇭 Philippines
Eti Burçak Eti 🇹🇷 Turkey
emNAU Paradise Foods 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea
Fortaleza M. Dias Branco 🇧🇷 Brazil
Biskrem Ülker Bisküvi 🇹🇷 Turkey
Bourbon Britannia 🇮🇳 India

Every brand in cookies & crackers and its owner →

About the owner: Mars

Mars is a family-owned company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, United States, founded in 1911. Brandtree records 42 brands under its control.

Mars is one of the largest privately held companies in the world, owned by the Mars family since Frank Mars began making sweets in Tacoma in 1911. It publishes no financial statements. Its four segments are snacking, pet nutrition, food and Mars Wrigley, and it agreed to acquire Kellanova in 2024.

Mars: full profile, brands and acquisition history →

🇺🇸 Cheez-It and other American brands

Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,549 brands that began in the United States. 478 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Cheez-It is not one of them.

All American brands and who owns them →

Deals involving Cheez-It

Acquisition closed

Mars acquires Kellanova, Pringles, Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, RXBAR, Nutri-Grain, Special K and Crunchy Nut

Mars agreed in August 2024 to buy Kellanova for $83.50 a share in cash, a total enterprise value of $35.9 billion including assumed net leverage, and completed the purchase on 11 December 2025 after the last regulatory approvals arrived three days earlier. Kellanova became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mars and its shares left the New York Stock Exchange. The brands did not change hands individually: Pringles, Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, RXBAR and the international Kellogg cereals stay with Kellanova, which is now a private family-owned company's snacking arm rather than a listed business.

Value
$35.9bn
Buyer
Mars
Seller
public shareholders
Regulatory
None recorded

Frequently asked questions

Who is the parent company of Cheez-It?

The parent company of Cheez-It is Mars, a family-owned company headquartered in the United States. Cheez-It sits under Mars' subsidiary Kellanova.

Is Cheez-It American?

Yes. Cheez-It originated in the United States in 1921 and its owner, Mars, is also headquartered in the United States.

Is Cheez-It still owned by Mars?

Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Cheez-It is still owned by Mars. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.

Sources (4) & corrections

Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.

  1. [1] Kellanova Annual Report 2025 — Kellanova, Annual report, published 1 February 2026; retrieved 23 October 2026.
  2. [2] Mars Completes Acquisition of Kellanova — Mars, Incorporated, Official press release, published 11 December 2025; retrieved 16 September 2026.
  3. [3] Kellanova Form 8-K - completion of the merger with Mars, Incorporated — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 8-K, published 11 December 2025; retrieved 16 September 2026.
  4. [4] Kellanova Form 8-K Exhibit 99.4 - Mars to acquire Kellanova — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 8-K, published 14 August 2024; retrieved 16 September 2026.

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