Who owns Smartfood?
Smartfood 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
- 1985
- Category
- Food › Snacks › Salty snacks
- Parent ticker
- NASDAQ: PEP
- Trademark registrant
- SMARTFOODS, INC. (USPTO)
- Last verified
- · 2 sources
About Smartfood
Smartfood makes white cheddar popcorn in a black bag, founded in Massachusetts in 1985 and acquired by Frito-Lay in 1989. It is the largest ready-to-eat popcorn brand in the United States. The black bag was chosen to stand out in an aisle where almost every other package used bright colours.
How often PepsiCo names Smartfood 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 Smartfood
The USPTO record for the Smartfood mark lists SMARTFOODS, INC. as the owner of record (serial number 73534195). 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 Smartfood
Where Smartfood 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)
- Lay's (1932)
- Quaker (1877)
- Quaker Chewy (1986)
- Ruffles (1958)
- Sabra (1986)
- Siete Foods (2014)
- 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.
🇺🇸 Smartfood 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; Smartfood is not one of them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Smartfood?
The parent company of Smartfood is PepsiCo, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is Smartfood American?
Yes. Smartfood originated in the United States in 1985 and its owner, PepsiCo, is also headquartered in the United States.
Is Smartfood still owned by PepsiCo?
Yes. As of 26 September 2026, Smartfood 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: SMARTFOOD, serial 73534195, registration 1367966 — United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark registry; retrieved 26 September 2026.
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