Who owns Lay's?
Lay's is owned by PepsiCo (the United States, NASDAQ: PEP).[1]
Evidence: PepsiCo, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-03, SEC EDGAR, 3 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- PepsiCo, Inc. verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, Purchase, New York
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Founded
- 1932 by Herman Lay
- Category
- Food › Snacks › Salty snacks
- Parent ticker
- NASDAQ: PEP
- Trademark registrant
- FRITO-LAY NORTH AMERICA, INC. (USPTO)
- Last verified
- · 2 sources
About Lay's
Lay's potato crisps grew from Herman Lay's Nashville snack distribution round in 1932, and the company merged with Fritos in 1961 to form Frito-Lay. The same product is sold under local names by market: Walkers in the United Kingdom, Smiths in parts of Australia, Sabritas in Mexico and Chipsy in Egypt.
How often PepsiCo names Lay'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.
Trademark record for Lay's
The USPTO record for the Lay's mark lists FRITO-LAY NORTH AMERICA, INC. as the owner of record (serial number 72140938). 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.[2]
Ownership timeline of Lay's
Where Lay's sits in PepsiCo
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full PepsiCo ownership tree →
See the full PepsiCo brand portfolio (29) →
Other brands owned by PepsiCo
PepsiCo controls 29 brands on Brandtree, 16 of them in food.
Also in food
- Cheetos (1948)
- Doritos (1966)
- Doritos Dinamita (2011)
- Fritos (1932)
- Quaker (1877)
- Quaker Chewy (1986)
- Ruffles (1958)
- Sabra (1986)
- Siete Foods (2014)
- Smartfood (1985)
- Stacy's (1997)
- SunChips (1991)
- Tostitos (1980)
- Walkers (1948)
- Wotsits (1970)
Other brands in salty snacks, and who owns them
PepsiCo has more brands in salty snacks on Brandtree than any other owner: 12 of 100.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Calbee Potato Chips | Calbee | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Boyki | Siantar Top | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
| Cape Cod | Campbell's | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Bonitas | Vitaminka | 🇲🇰 North Macedonia |
| Act II | Conagra Brands | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Diana | Diana | 🇸🇻 El Salvador |
| Chiki | Indofood | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
| Cuttlefish Peanut Balls | Orion | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
About the owner: PepsiCo
PepsiCo is a publicly listed company headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, founded in 1965. Brandtree records 29 brands under its control, and it is listed as NASDAQ: PEP.
PepsiCo was formed in 1965 by the merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay. Roughly half its revenue comes from snacks rather than drinks, which distinguishes it from its main soft-drink competitor.
🇺🇸 Lay's 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; Lay's is not one of them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Lay's?
The parent company of Lay's is PepsiCo, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is Lay's American?
Yes. Lay's originated in the United States in 1932 and its owner, PepsiCo, is also headquartered in the United States.
Is Lay's still owned by PepsiCo?
Yes. As of 26 September 2026, Lay's is still owned by PepsiCo. 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] PepsiCo, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-03 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 3 February 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
- [2] USPTO: LAY'S, serial 72140938, registration 905919 — United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark registry; retrieved 26 September 2026.
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