Nestlé owns Nescafé, Nespresso, Purina, Maggi, Gerber and KitKat, among many other brands. The table below lists major examples by category. It also distinguishes ownership from licensing: Nestlé does not own Starbucks cafés, and Hershey makes KitKat under licence in the United States.
This is a guide to major brands, not an exhaustive catalogue of every regional brand or product. Ownership checks updated on 8 October 2026; use the linked company sources to check subsequent changes.
The Nestlé brand list, by category
| Category | Brands | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee | Nescafé, Nespresso, Starbucks at-home products | Starbucks packaged coffee for retail is sold by Nestlé under a global licensing deal; Starbucks cafés are not Nestlé |
| Water | Perrier, S.Pellegrino, Acqua Panna | Nestlé sold its North American mass-market water brands (e.g. Poland Spring) in 2021; the premium international brands remain |
| Pet care | Purina, Felix, Fancy Feast | Availability and product names vary by country. |
| Confectionery | KitKat, Smarties, Aero, Quality Street | Hershey makes KitKat under licence in the United States. Nestlé’s chocolate Smarties and the US candy from Smarties Candy Company are different products. |
| Prepared food | Maggi, Stouffer's, DiGiorno, Hot Pockets, Lean Cuisine | Availability and product names vary by country. |
| Baby food | Gerber, NAN, Cerelac | Availability and product names vary by country. |
| Health and supplements | Garden of Life, Nature's Bounty | Nature’s Bounty is included in an announced sale, subject to approvals and expected by H1 2027; announcement is not completion. |
| Breakfast cereals | Nestlé-branded cereals outside North America | Sold through Cereal Partners Worldwide, a joint venture with General Mills (see edge cases below) |
The edge cases: brands that look like Nestlé but aren't (and vice versa)
These examples show why a brand name alone cannot establish who owns, manufactures or licenses a product.
KitKat in the United States. Hershey manufactures and distributes KitKat under licence from Nestlé in the US. This does not transfer ownership of the global brand.
Smarties: two different products. Nestlé’s Smarties are chocolate confectionery. The candy wafers sold as Smarties in the US come from the separate Smarties Candy Company. The US KitKat licence does not apply to Smarties.
Does Nestlé own Häagen-Dazs? General Mills operates the business outside North America, including Europe. The US business is operated by Froneri, Nestlé’s ice-cream joint venture. Check the country before assigning a parent company.
Cereals outside North America. Nestlé-branded cereals such as those sold across Europe, Asia and Latin America are produced by Cereal Partners Worldwide, a 50/50 joint venture with General Mills.
Does Nestlé own Hershey?
No. The Hershey Company is a separate company, not a Nestlé subsidiary. Its 2026 proxy statement identifies Hershey Trust Company, acting for the Milton Hershey School Trust, as its controlling shareholder. The connection is licensing: Hershey makes and distributes KitKat and Rolo under licence in the United States. A licence to sell those products does not mean Nestlé owns Hershey.
Does a shared parent mean identical ethical performance?
No. Ownership tells you which corporate group a brand belongs to; it does not establish that every product has the same ingredients, suppliers, working conditions or environmental footprint. A licence or joint venture can also split commercial interests between several companies.
If your aim is to avoid a particular parent company, checking ownership is useful. If your aim is to choose a product with lower impact, also compare product-level evidence such as sourcing, packaging and manufacturing. Switching between two Nestlé brands may leave the parent unchanged while changing some of those product characteristics.
Check Nestlé’s evidence and scores
The Nestlé scorecard provides our current company-level scores and the supporting record. Read the dates, sources and status of the evidence: an allegation, settlement and court finding are different things. Scores can change as evidence is reviewed, and a company score is not a certification of every product. Our methodology explains the assessment.
For the wider research, read Is Nestlé Ethical? and Nestlé vs Unilever. These answer a different question from the ownership table.
How to check a brand before buying
- Identify the country and exact product. The same brand can have different licensing arrangements across markets.
- Check the manufacturer and distributor on the label, then confirm the relationship in the parent company’s brand directory. A distributor is not necessarily the owner.
- For a reported sale, look for a completion announcement. A proposed transaction does not immediately change ownership.
- Compare the company’s record with evidence about the product itself. Neither substitutes for the other.
For another parent-company map, see brands owned by PepsiCo. You can also search company scores to investigate the business behind a label.
Primary sources
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