Who owns Hostess?
Hostess, a food brand from Kenya, is owned by Unga Group (Kenya, NSE: UNGA).[1]
Unga Group owns 65% of Hostess rather than all of it.
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Unga Group Plc Integrated Report & Financial Statements 2025. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Unga Group Plc (65% stake) reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇰🇪 Kenya, Nairobi
- Origin
- 🇰🇪 Kenya
- Category
- Food › Meals & meal components › Baking mixes & ingredients
- Parent ticker
- NSE: UNGA
- Last verified
- · 2 sources
About Hostess
Hostess is what Unga Limited calls its finest grade of maize flour, a fortified sifted maize meal made by refining the maize to the highest level, which Unga says makes it cook faster and gives a smooth ugali. It is sold in 2 kilogram packs. Unga's 2025 integrated report names Hostess, with Jogoo, among its market-leading products. It is unrelated to the American snack cake brand of the same name.
Ownership timeline of Hostess
- Current owner Unga Group (65%) [1] reported
Where Hostess sits in Unga Group
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Unga Group ownership tree →
See the full Unga Group brand portfolio (6) →
Other brands owned by Unga Group
Unga Group controls 6 brands on Brandtree, 6 of them in food.
Also in food
Other brands in baking mixes & ingredients, and who owns them
The 74 brands in baking mixes & ingredients on Brandtree belong to 47 owners. The largest is Bidco Africa, with 5; Unga Group has 4.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Cowboy | Bidco Africa | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| Golden Penny | Flour Mills of Nigeria | 🇳🇬 Nigeria |
| Al Horra | Lesieur Cristal | 🇲🇦 Morocco |
| Florencia | Molino Cañuelas | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
| Amuleia | Nisshin Seifun | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Clabber Girl | B&G Foods | 🇺🇸 United States |
| BUA Sugar | BUA Foods | 🇳🇬 Nigeria |
| Duncan Hines | Conagra Brands | 🇺🇸 United States |
About the owner: Unga Group
Unga Group is a publicly listed company headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, founded in 1908. Brandtree records 6 brands under its control, and it is listed as NSE: UNGA.
Unga Group is a Kenyan flour miller and animal feed maker. Unga Limited was incorporated on 28 December 1908 and produced its first bag of wheat flour, under the name Kenia's Mist, on 5 April 1909, and the business has been listed in Nairobi since 1956. Its operating companies, Unga Limited for flour and Unga Farm Care for feeds, sit under Unga Holdings, which Unga Group holds 65 per cent of and Seaboard Corporation of the United States 35 per cent. In the year to June 2025 it returned to profit, earning Shs 222 million on revenue of about Shs 26 billion.
🇰🇪 Hostess and other Kenyan brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 59 brands that began in Kenya. 3 of them (5%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Hostess is not one of them.
- Cowboy — Bidco Africa 🇰🇪
- Dairy Best — Brookside Dairy 🇰🇪
- Fresh — Kenafric 🇰🇪
- Manji Biscuits — Manji Food Industries 🇰🇪
- Afia — Kevian Kenya 🇰🇪
- AirKenya — AirKenya 🇰🇪
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Hostess?
The parent company of Hostess is Unga Group, a publicly listed company headquartered in Kenya.
Is Hostess Kenyan?
Yes. Hostess originated in Kenya and its owner, Unga Group, is also headquartered in Kenya.
Is Hostess still owned by Unga Group?
Yes. As of 17 September 2026, Hostess is still owned by Unga Group (65% stake). The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (2) & 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] Unga Group Plc Integrated Report & Financial Statements 2025 — Unga Group Plc, Annual report; retrieved 17 September 2026.
- [2] Unga Group — Hostess — Unga Group Plc, Official document; retrieved 17 September 2026.
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