Popular Food Companies That Raised Prices And Made Big Profits In 2022

Many of the top food companies in the U.S. have raised prices and made record profits in 2022. When faced with challenges like inflation, lower sales volumes, and supply chain issues, which have been common over the last few years, companies must enact new strategies to ensure they hit their goals. And while some of the most popular food companies, like Kraft Heinz and Campbell's, are losing profits, many other big names have seemingly figured out how to overcome current economic challenges, becoming more profitable than ever before.

Oxfam International found that food billionaires increased their collective net worth by 42% — and 62 new people became "food billionaires" — from 2020 to 2022 (via Phys.org). Meanwhile, food prices in 2022 were up an average of 30% from the year before (via The Guardian). Some food companies feel that people are adjusting to higher food prices just fine. However, according to an Urban Institute survey, one out of every six U.S. adults were relying on food charities at the beginning of the year. And food banks are struggling to keep up with demand with fewer donations and an increase in food prices (per The New York Times).

We looked at Food Processing's top 25 food companies to determine which corporations came out on top in 2022. While you may not recognize all the names of the profitable parent companies, you'll certainly recognize the brands they sell, many of which are staples at your supermarket and even on your grocery list.

Tyson Foods is responsible for roughly 20% of the chicken supply in the U.S. (via The Wall Street Journal). The company also own 33 other brands, including Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farms, Ball Park, and Sara Lee's meat division. So, while Tyson is known for chicken, some of its other brands depend on beef and pork supplies as well.

At the end of 2021, Reuters reported that a White House analysis determined that Tyson "made record profits while actually selling less beef than before" because they had raised the price by over 35%. While drought conditions have affected the cost of beef, Tyson says it has enough livestock to continue to support its beef-related operations (via Meat+Poultry). Sales for the fourth quarter of 2022 increased by 7% over the same period in 2021 to $13.74 billion. At the same time, Tyson Foods' prices have increased 12.3% overall for the year, with an 18% increase in chicken prices and a 13.5% increase in prepared food prices. Vice president John R. Tyson explained that pork has become relatively expensive because of the global demand for it contrasted against "high domestic retail prices and the strong US dollar." According to CEO Donnie King, Tyson Foods attributes rising profits to the "continued strength in consumer demand for protein" (via TB&P). He told the press, "We're not asking customers or the consumer ultimately to pay for our inefficiencies, we're asking them to pay for inflation" (via WSJ).

Price increases from the world's largest brewer mainly lie on the luxury side of the price inflation situation. Anheuser-Busch produces Budweiser, Michelob Ultra, Busch, and Stella Artois, along with around 30 other regular and craft beers, hard seltzers, canned wines, and canned cocktails.

Marketplace says Anheuser-Busch's executives told investors that it is passing along the higher prices of barley, hops, and fuel to its customers. While more price-conscious consumers have stuck with cheaper beers like Budweiser, many customers with a more disposable income have switched to higher-priced premium brands. Anheuser-Busch's gross profits by the end of the third quarter of 2022 was more than $31 billion, an increase of 3.22% over 2021 (via Macrotrends). Starting October 3, 2022, Anheuser-Busch announced that it would further raise prices by up to 5% across all its brands (via CS News). If people are willing to pay more, the company is certainly not shy about charging more to keep up with inflation.

Smithfield Foods calls itself the world's largest pork company and owns 15 brands, including Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, and Armour. The demand for pork went down at the beginning of the pandemic, and supposedly, there were fewer hogs available for slaughter, driving the price of pork to record numbers (via Pork Business). The cost of pork was 12% higher in 2022 than during the same time in 2021. During the first half of 2022, Smithfield Foods' profits increased 51% from 2021 to $536 million, with a projected profitability of $1.5 billion for the year (via Fitch Ratings).

However, Smithfield Foods and other major pork producers are being accused of pork price fixing, which the Federal Trade Commission defines as an agreement between competitors to set the price of items. Several restaurant companies accused pork producers of creating a fake pork shortage (via Associated Press). Even Congress and the White House became involved in the questioning process. As of September 2022, Smithfield Foods agreed to pay $75 million as a lawsuit settlement (via Reuters). A spokesperson for Smithfield, Jim Monroe, says that the settlement is about reducing the risks and costs of a long litigation period rather than being an admission of guilt and liability .

Hormel Foods is known for its many meat products, including canned chili, pepperoni, bacon, and tamales. You also know them for Compleats, Mary Kitchen, Dinty Moore, Spam, Skippy, and Jennie-O Turkey. Spam was created during the Great Depression, so it's not surprising that it started trending significantly amid increased food insecurity driven by COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Hormel can't seem to make it fast enough to meet demand (via CNN).

Like many other food companies, Hormel has raised its prices to help combat inflation (via Yahoo!). However, by the end of the third quarter of 2022, Hormel was enjoying its seventh consecutive quarter of record sales. The company divides its profits into segments. So, as of the third quarter of 2022, grocery products were down 5%, and international profits were down 9%. However, its refrigerated food profits were up 16%, and its Jennie-O Turkey profits were up a whopping 537%. Yahoo! reports Hormel is projecting its 2022 net sales to end up around $12.2 to $12.8 billion. This amount compares to $11.386 billion for 2021, which would be an 11.7% increase (via Macrotrends).

Hormel told its investors that its new operating model involves strategically acquiring brands like Planters, implementing its One Supply Chain initiative, modernizing technology, and integrating Jennie-O Turkey more directly into the main company. Hormel also increased advertising at the beginning of 2022 for Planters, Spam, Skippy, Jennie-O, its chili, and its pepperoni (via Food Business News).

Bimbo Bakeries USA owns several baked goods brands, producing everything from bagels and buns to pizza crusts and bread. Its many product brands include Sara Lee's bread division, Oroweat, Lender's Bagels, Ball Park Buns & Rolls, Boboli, Tia Rosa, and Mrs. Baird's.

In the face of inflationary pressures across different business segments, the CEO, Daniel Servitje, was happy to announce that Bimbo's innovations have allowed them to become increasingly more profitable (via Baking Business). The company's net sales in the third quarter of 2022 hit $2.67 billion, up 20% from the same time in 2021. The company attributed its sales increase to the "successful implementation of the pricing strategy across categories and channels, while experiencing continued market share gains in all categories." Servitje says the company hasn't been selling as many products as usual and that Bimbo has been very strategic about price increases. However, the company's CFO, Diego Gaxiola, noted that people were choosing cheaper products in response to the price increases. However, Gaxiola was pleased that sales were higher than expected despite all the challenges the company has faced, saying that the company's "growth strategy and productivity initiatives" were what allowed such success (via Baking Business).

Keurig Dr Pepper owns over 30 carbonated soft drink brands, including Dr Pepper, Crush, 7UP, Hawaiian Punch, Mott's, Snapple, and IBC. They own close to 15 ready-to-brew Keurig K-Cup brands, like Green Mountain, Donut Shop, McCafe, and Gloria Jean's Coffees. They also partner with around 25 others, like Illy, Twinings, Folgers, Dunkin', and Starbucks. Additionally, they own Mott's ready-to-eat fruit sauces.

Keurig Dr Pepper's gross profit for the third quarter of 2022 was $1.901 billion, which was a 3.6% increase from the same time in 2021. This is certainly not the most significant income increase the company has seen. The annual gross profit increase between 2018 and 2019 was 63.37% (via Macrotrends). So it seems that the company's marketing strategies have worked in different ways at different times. Chairman and CEO of Keurig Dr Pepper, Bob Gamgort, says, "Our strong results reflect the flexibility and resilience of our business and the capability of our team to execute with excellence." He cites being able to recover from supply chain disruptions and adjusting prices for inflation as the key to the company's current sustained success. He says, "We remain confident that our 'all-weather' business model will enable us to deliver in the ongoing volatile macro environment" (via Keurig Dr Pepper).