Top 10 biscuit manufacturers
10. Leclerc Foods
Québec, Canada
2,800 employees
CEO: Denis Leclerc
Revenue: CAN$210m
Founded in 1905, the Canadian biscuit company operates nine production facilities across America. Its company values include putting passion for baking into work, commitment to families and treating suppliers and partners with respect.
Its best-known biscuits include the Chocolat au Lait, which has become the darling of Instagram.
LinkedIn: Leclerc Foods
Twitter: @groupe_leclerc
Jammy Dodgers, Wagon Wheels and Maryland Cookies - sounds like every child’s birthday party.
The company was founded in 1935, by Joseph Burton, the grandson of a baker who had learned a lot growing up. Burton’s Biscuits expanded to become a staple in every British kitchen by the 1900’s, then expanding across the world with its innovative manufacturing technologies.
Burton's Biscuit Company has secured long term agreements which allows them to manufacture branded snacks from across Mars, Cathedral City & Marmite.
LinkedIn: Burton's Biscuit Company
Twitter: @BurtonsBiscuits
United Biscuits is a popular biscuit manufacturer, known for its McVities range, including Digestives, Hobnobs and Rich Tea.
British biscuit consumption is the highest in the world, with up to 6bn biscuits nibbled each year and nothing divides those with a sweet tooth like the question: is the Jaffa Cake a biscuit, or indeed a cake? In 1991, McVitie’s claimed the right for the Jaffa Cake not to be charged VAT, as it was a cake, not a biscuit. In the UK, cakes and plain biscuits are zero rated, while chocolate biscuits are rated standard. HMRC disagreed and claimed that the Jaffa Cake was indeed a chocolate biscuit. The country followed the court battle closely and eventually, Jaffa Cakes were finally recognised as cakes, making their spot on this list a little pointless, but it’s history worth knowing.
LinkedIn: United Biscuits
Twitter: @McVities
In 1932, Jan Boone Sr. created the caramelised cookie with natural ingredients and named it ‘Lotus’, after the flower of purity. Ironically, it turned out that the biscuit suited coffee, with the depth of the caffeine perfectly united with the caramelised crunch of Lotus. This proved a match made in confectionery heaven. The term 'Biscoff' arrived in 1986, as a combination of 'biscuit' and 'coffee'.
LinkedIn: Lotus Bakeries
Twitter: @BiscoffCookies
6. Arnott’s
North Strathfield, Australia
1,200 employees
CEO: George Zoghbi
Revenue: AUD$1bn
Arnott’s was founded in 1865, Australia, with its most famous confectionery item being the TimTam, another sandwich biscuit. Launched in 1983, the Tim Tam Slam proved to be a marketing strategy to put others to shame.
In 2022, Arnott’s announced that it would resume manufacturing in New Zealand. Local biscuit maker 180degrees is to take on the role at its manufacturing facility in West Auckland, which is expected to create many manufacturing jobs.
LinkedIn: The Arnott's Group
Twitter: @ArnottsBikkies
pladis Global was founded in 2016 and is the manufacturer behind ‘baking happiness’.
If you suddenly have "BN BN, do doo do doo-do" tune stuck in your head - apologies. Getting a song stuck on your internal radio does not put a smile on anyone's face - but these square shaped, winking biscuits will.
It’s worth noting that pladis Global also encompasses United Biscuits - but we thought they both deserved their own mention.
LinkedIn: pladis Global
Twitter: @pladis_Global
Confectionary giant Lotte was founded in 1967, in Seoul, South Korea. Many of Lotte’s products, such as the stick biscuit Pepero, are widely enjoyed by Koreans and have benefitted from the Korean Wave (known as Hallyu).
But Lotte has always had an international outlook. Chewing gum was popularised by American soldiers during the Korean War (1950-present) and Lotte’s founder quickly picked up on its potential. Now, Lotte is the third largest manufacturer of gum in the world.
LinkedIn: Lotte
Food and beverage manufacturing processes at Kraft Heinz are centralised with a fully integrated end-to-end supply chain which manufactures best value biscuits.
For biscuits, Kraft Heinz is behind Jif Jaf, a sandwich biscuit to rival Mondelēz International’s iconic Oreo. The biscuit was launched in partnership with Alibaba’s T-Mall e-commerce platform.
LinkedIn: The Kraft Heinz Company
Twitter: @KraftHeinzCo
Mondelēz International is known for its snacks, from Ritz crackers to Milka chocolate, Trident to biscuits. Belvita is the most popular breakfast biscuit in the world, while the Oreo is the number one cookie.
First sold 1912, the Oreo has become the world’s top selling sandwich biscuit. It takes biscuits manufacturers two hours to bake one Oreo and the total amount of Oreos baked in one year could circle the earth five times.
LinkedIn: Mondelēz International
Twitter: @MDLZ
1. Nestlé
Vevey, Switzerland
10,000 employees
CEO: Ulf Mark Schneider
Revenue: US$93BN
Of all the biscuit manufacturers in the world, Nestle takes the cake.
In 2010, Guinness World Records certified KitKat as the world's most global brand.
Each day, 4.5m KitKats are manufactured in 14 countries and sold in over 70 territories.
Invented in York, England, in 1935, 17bn KitKats are eaten worldwide, each year.
Through the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, KitKats are produced with 100% certified sustainable cocoa, with support from the Rainforest Alliance.
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