Hellmann's is owned by Unilever (the United Kingdom, LSE: ULVR), which acquired the brand on 4 October 2000 from Bestfoods, as part of a $24.3 billion deal that also included Knorr and Maizena.[1][2] Before Unilever, Hellmann's was owned by Bestfoods to 2000.[1]
Hellmann's mayonnaise was first sold from Richard Hellmann's New York delicatessen in 1913. West of the Rocky Mountains the same product is sold as Best Foods. The brand came to Unilever through the 2000 acquisition of Bestfoods.
What Unilever's annual report says about Hellmann's
Sentences about Hellmann's from Unilever's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
Condiments delivered mid-single-digit growth, with balanced volume and price, led by Hellmann's continued momentum.
We continued to invest in the fast-growing flavour space, with our flavoured mayo range reaching 100 million across 35 markets, supported by Hellmann's launches like Ranch in the UK and Flamin' Hot in Mexico.
In the US a key market for Hellmann's the brand continues to leverage major sporting events as a repeatable model, celebrating the football season with its fifth Big Game activation, generating over 40 billion earned media impressions.
How often Unilever names Hellmann's in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named less often than it was three years earlier.
The USPTO record for the Hellmann's mark lists CONOPCO, INC. as the owner of record (serial number 71567382). A trademark is often held by a group company rather than the listed parent, so the registrant's name can differ from the owner named above.[5]
Unilever is a publicly listed company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, founded in 1929. Brandtree records 53 brands under its control, and it is listed as LSE: ULVR, NYSE: UL and AEX: UNA.
Unilever is a British consumer goods company formed in 1929 by the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie and British soap maker Lever Brothers. It reports through four business groups: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care and Foods. Its ice cream business was demerged as The Magnum Ice Cream Company in December 2025.
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, Hellmann's among them.
Unilever agreed to combine its Foods business, home of Knorr and Hellmann's, with McCormick in a Reverse Morris Trust: Unilever would receive $15.7 billion in cash, and Unilever and its shareholders would own 65 per cent of the combined company with McCormick's existing holders owning 35 per cent. McCormick valued Unilever Foods at an enterprise value of about $44.8 billion. It would be the largest reshaping of Unilever since the ice cream demerger, leaving it a beauty, personal care and home care company.
Unilever acquired Bestfoods, the American food group behind Knorr and Hellmann's, in what was then the largest cash acquisition in the food industry. The European Commission cleared the deal in Phase I subject to divestiture commitments.
The European Commission cleared Unilever's acquisition of Bestfoods in Phase I on 28 September 2000 under Article 6(1)(b) with conditions and obligations, after the parties offered divestitures. The case was notified on 16 August 2000 under the then-applicable Council Regulation 4064/89.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Hellmann's?
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The parent company of Hellmann's is Unilever, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United Kingdom.
Is Hellmann's American or British?
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Hellmann's originated in the United States in 1913, but it is owned today by Unilever, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom. So Hellmann's is an American-origin brand under British ownership.
When did Unilever buy Hellmann's?
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Unilever completed its acquisition of Hellmann's on 4 October 2000, after announcing the deal on 6 June 2000. The deal, which also included Knorr and Maizena, was valued at $24.3 billion (enterprise value).
Who owned Hellmann's before Unilever?
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Before Unilever, Hellmann's was owned by Bestfoods until 2000.
Is Hellmann's still owned by Unilever?
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Yes. As of 8 October 2026, Hellmann's is still owned by Unilever. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (5) & 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.
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