(Reuters) - Ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co, owned by 3G Capital and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (>> Berkshire Hathaway Inc.), is buying a majority stake in Kraft Foods Group Inc (>> Kraft Foods Group Inc) to create the third-largest North American food company, executives said on Wednesday. [ID:L3N0WR3E0]
Below is a list of the largest North American food and beverage companies ranked according to annual sales, before Wednesday's deal.
Company Annual sales Brands
PepsiCo Inc (>> PepsiCo, Inc.) $37.2 bln Pepsi, Lays, Tropicana,
Quaker
Nestle USA $27.9 bln Nestle, Maggi,
Haagen-Dazs
The Coca-Cola Co (>> The Coca-Cola Co) $21.5 bln Coca-Cola, Diet Coke,
Fanta, Sprite
Kraft Foods Group Co $17.9 bln Velveeta, Oscar Mayer,
(>> Kraft Foods Group Inc) Maxwell House, Jell-O
ConAgra Foods Inc (>> ConAgra Foods Inc) $15.5 bln* Chef Boyardee, Slim Jim,
Hunt's, Bertolli
General Mills Inc (>> General Mills, Inc.) $13.7 bln Betty Crocker, Green
Giant, Chex, Cheerios
* Reuters calculations based on data from annual report
All figures for annual sales in North America
Sources: Kraft-Heinz conference call presentation based on company filings and Nielsen data
Heinz had sales of $4.2 billion in 2014. Its brands include Heinz, Classico, T.G.I. Fridays and Nurture.
(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das)