PDF manipulation commands [Linux Terminal Cheatsheet]

1. Extract pages from pdf

Whether you want to split off a specific page from a pdf or extract a range of pages, this is the command for you:

pdftk full-pdf.pdf cat 13-17 output extracted-pages.pdf

2. Concatenate two pdfs

You can merge/concatenate two pdfs with the following command:

pdftk file1.pdf file2.pdf cat output concatenated.pdf

3. Convert jpeg to pdf

Option 1:

convert picture.jpeg -auto-orient newfile.pdf

Option 2:

This method works with jpg, jpeg, or png files.

img2pdf picture.jpg –output newfile.pdf

4. Make text searchable in an image pdf

If you have a pdf with pages that are only images of a written document, you won’t be able to select, highlight, or search the text. However, you can fix that by running OCR over the pdf document and adding a text layer.

ocrmypdf images.pdf images_ocr.pdf

The OCRmyPDF package is very useful and powerful.

How to Build an Android App that can Read other Apps’ Data

How do you create the equivalent of a browser extension on a mobile phone?

Chrome plugins like Grammarly, Lastpass, Metamask, and even the Pinterest plugin gain the majority of their utility from the fact that they can can read, overlay, and/or change data on many different websites that you visit. If Lastpass was only a website, it wouldn’t be very useful. The same is true for Grammarly and Metamask. However, if you want to create an app with similar functionality on mobile phones, you run into a problem:

Most mobile phone apps aren’t accessed through a browser.

That means if you want to create any sort of cross-app functionality on mobile, you need an alternative to a browser extension. Two such alternatives are keyboards and screen recorders.

1. Make a keyboard

A third-party mobile phone keyboard app can essentially get access to everything you type into your phone, plus more. That can make keyboard apps very dangerous, but if you take appropriate steps to protect a user’s security and privacy, then it can also allow you to create a consistently accessible functionality and user experience across every app. In fact, Grammarly and Lastpass took exactly this approach to port their product from desktop to mobile.

2. Use screen capture

Screen recording apps have access to all on-screen data, and your app can request the same permissions to do the same. For example, if you want to create an app that offers suggested responses to messages (whether those messages are in your gmail app, outlook app, sms app, whatsapp, etc), you could use screen capture to read the messages and a keyboard display area to show the suggested responses your app generates.

Example use cases for such apps

Password managers
Crypto wallets
Add functionality to an app that doesn’t provide an API or other specifically designed point of access
Highlight and warn the user about messages / accounts (on any platform — email, text, Tinder, etc) that are likely from scammers
Offer suggestions within the context of other app (e.g. Grammarly offers writing improvement suggestions, but you could do the same for graphic improvement suggestions overlaid on the Canva app)
Save & organize data from all apps and sources into a single, unified, searchable personal database or Google Drive

17 Niche B2B Food Industry Blogs [Real Examples]

Niche websites can be very profitable businesses, and B2B blogs (i.e. blogs targeting an audience of business executives or entrepreneurs) can be especially lucrative even with relatively small audiences. In this article, I list 17 niche B2B blogs in the food and beverage industry. Use these as inspiration to start your own profitable blog business.

	Website	Description	Website Traffic (Monthly Visits)	Top Visitor Countries	Top Non-Branded Organic Search Terms
1	confectionerynews.com	Daily news on the confectionery and biscuit industry.	82,000	USA (26%) UK (17%) Australia (9%)	“harmful ingredients and preservatives in m&ms” “quality street types of chocolate” “utz certified good inside” “cacao amazon rainforest deforestation”
2	candyindustry.com	Candy Industry Magazine is a B2B publication that covers the candy industry.	69,000	USA (66%) India (4%) UK (4%)	“biltong from south africa” “halloween candy” “best sweets brand” “candy industry” “top confectionery companies in usa 2022”
3	foodnavigator.com	Food industry news.	354,000	USA (24%) UK (13%) India (6%)	“jellyfish” “inspect protein economics” “fooditive” “why be beefatarian” “genetically modified plants”
4	foodnavigator-usa.com	Daily news about food and beverage trends, food regulation, and labeling.	205,000	USA (51%) Indonesia (8%) India (4%)	“new solution for battling food waste” “caffeine ialternartive energy drink” “bang energy drink” “dissolvable tea” “bang energy”
5	fooddive.com	News and market analysis for food industry executives.	284,000	USA (65%) UK (3%) Canada (3%)	“bang energy drink bankruptcy” “bang energy” “beyond meat challenges” “people over 35 are more likely to print out a recipe”
6	foodbusinessnews.net	News and market analysis for the food and processing industry.	299,000	USA (70%) India (4%) Canada (3%)	“business news” “liquid death” “food business news” “why did oatly gross profit” “bang energy drink”
7	grocerydive.com	News and articles in the grocery industry.	167,000	USA (61%) Brazil (18%) Canada (4%)	“cooking or product delivery” “sprouts sandwiches” “amazon and cardenas news” “alert inovation” “grocer app”
8	supermarketnews.com	Competitive business intelligence for the supermarket industry.	421,000	USA (78%) Canada (4%) UK (2%)	“supermarket news” “greg mcniff stater bros” “amazon and cardenas news” “alert inovation” “kroger albertsons”
9	wineintelligence.com	Wine consumer research.	96,000	USA (14%) Australia (13%) Spain (9%)	“digital marketing needs of the wine industry in italy” “gomberg-fredrikson sparkling wine september 2022” “latest wine news” “wine market of south korea”
10	thedrinksbusiness.com	European drinks trade publication.	644,000	UK (32%) USA (27%) Brazil (4%)	“naked wines” “hakushu limited” “most alcoholic countries” “countries where most alcohol is consumed” “glass straws demographics”
11	thespiritsbusiness.com	International spirits trade publication.	597,000	USA (37%) UK (24%) India (5%)	“irish whiskey” “gorillaz smirnoff” “ardbeg hypernova” “rebrand” “jameson orange irish whiskey”
12	bakeryandsnacks.com	Global market news for bakery, snacks, cereal, cakes, and pastries.	74,000	USA (45%) UK (10%) Canada (5%)	“types of cake” “historia de hostess cupcakes birthday” “potato peel” “hfss” “usa protein bar”
13	restaurantdive.com	News in the restaurant industry.	91,000	USA (65%) Brazil (6%) Canada (4%)	“npc declared bankrupt” “butler hospitality” “siren system starbuc” “uber eats revenue in india” “doordash credit card”
14	restaurantowner.com	Restaurant business plans, systems, checklists, training, pos, and startup tools articles.	41,000	USA (46%) Canada (12%) Philippines (5%)	“restaurant manager training program” “restaurant startup stories” “google sheets templates catering cost profit food” “restaurant p&l” “do we increase menu prices”
15	restohub.org	Tools and advice to launch a restaurant startup.	40,000	USA (23%) Canada (11%) Dominican Republic (11%)	“marketing plan for a new restaurant” “restaurant target audience” “menu pricing calculator” “landscape menu size” “professionals as target market in food business”
16	foodtruckempire.com	Hundreds of founder interviews and other resources to start a food business.	514,000	USA (39%) India (12%) Philippines (8%)	“muffin captions” “mens clothing brands name” “message to hiring manager” “most popular towing company names” “made up town names”
17	mobile-cuisine.com	Food industry news and guides for food business entrepreneurs.	351,000	USA (37%) India (15%) Philippines (7%)	“fantasy town names” “whiskey slogan” “forest names” “snack slogans” “fun sales team names”

The site traffic and search term data in this table was sourced from Similar Web for the month of October, 2022.

41 Niche music blogs that get over 1 million visits per month

Niche websites can be very profitable businesses. Here are 41 examples of websites in the music niche that get over 1 million visits per month.

	Website	Description	Website Traffic (Monthly Visits)	Top Visitor Countries	Top Non-Branded Organic Search Terms
1	soundguys.com	Music tech blog with review articles for sound equipment (earbuds, headphones, microphones, etc) and informational articles (e.g. how to stream music through chromecast). The site is monetized through affiliate commissions and ads.	3.04 Million	USA (34%) UK (7%) Canada (6%)	“bone conduction headphones” “beats fit pro review” “open back headphones” “bose 700 vs sony 1000xm4”
2	freesound.org	Collaborative database of creative-commons licensed sound clips.	2.20 Million	USA (22%) UK (9%) Brazil (5%)	“free sound effects” “free sounds”
3	musictheory.net	Resources for teaching and learning music theory. Example Resources: – Calculators (e.g. scale, chord, interval, and accidental calculators) – Staff paper generator – Reading music exercises (as simple widgets) – Written lessons (bullet form) – Mobile and tablet apps for purchase	1.28 Million	USA (59%) Canada (3%) Poland (3%)	“music theory” “tempo tapper” “interval calculator” “chord calculator”
4	chordify.net	Turn any song (youtube, soundcloud, mp3, etc) into a set of chords.	8.23 Million	USA (16%) Russia (4%) Germany (4%)	“lsd and the search for god blue angel lounge chords”
5	chordu.com	Get piano, ukulele, and guitar chords with variations for any song.	2.50 Million	USA (15%) Germany (6%) France (5%)	“crying all the time alexandra savior tab” “accordes seres irracionales los de marras” “ella jose luis chacin acordes”
6	e-chords.com	Chords and tabs for songs. The site also has video lessons with chords for many songs. The site has resources for guitars, drums, ukuleles, keyboards, flutes, bass guitars, and harmonicas.	2.43 Million	USA (29%) Germany (6%) UK (5%)	“wonderwall chords” “lost on you chords” “let it be chords”
7	guitaretab.com	Searchable database of around 200,000 tabs.	1.32 Million	USA (31%) Philippines (8%) UK (6%)	“guitar tabs” “dancing queen chords” “teenage dream chords” “teenage dream guitar chords” “enchanted chords”
8	ultimate-guitar.com	Chords, guitar tabs, bass tabs, ukulele chords, and music industry news.	53.58 Million	USA (30%) UK (7%) Philippines (5%)	“guitar tabs” “tabs” “chords” “farewell transmission tab”
9	sheetmusicplus.com	Sheet music store (pay to buy).	2.26 Million	USA (53%) UK (5%) Canada (4%)	“sheet music”
10	sheetmusicdirect.com	Sheet music store (pay to buy).	1.55 Million	USA (37%) Germany (7%) France (7%)	“sheet music”
11	musicnotes.com	Sheet music store (pay to buy) with a paid membership option that gives you a discount on sheet music purchases along with other benefits.	3.73 Million	USA (46%) UK (6%) Canada (5%)	“music notes” “how to read sheet music” “sheet music” “how to read music sheet”
12	free-scores.com	Free sheet music for all instruments (winds, strings, choral, and orchestra). The site appears to be monetized through affiliate links to sites like sheetmusicplus.com as well as ads.	1.08 Million	USA (23%) France (16%) Italy (5%)	“free sheet music” “free scores” “chopin waltz ops 64 no 2 free pdf” “marantz mph-2 professional studio headphones” “just the way you are billy joel pdf guitar”
13	imslp.org	Creative Commons licensed sheet music and recordings.	3.81 Million	USA (27%) UK (6%) Italy (6%)	“bach” “beethoven”
14	musescore.com	Share, download, and print free sheet music for piano, guitar, flute, and other instruments. The site has 200+ online music courses as well. Musescore.com also has a custom software (free to download) to create, play, and print sheet music. The site is run by MuseScore Ltd, a Cyprus-based company that was acquired by Ultimate Guitar.	10.56 Million	USA (31%) Canada (5%) Germany (4%)	“music score” “sheet music” “clair de lune sheet music”
15	allkpop.com	Minute to minute news updates on Kpop celebrities, music, and topics.	23.42 Million	USA (33%) Malaysia (6%) Indonesia (5%)	“bts” “blackpink” “kpop news” “naver bts concert”
16	tuner-online.com	Tune your guitar online with a microphone.	1.49 Million	USA (12%) Spain (8%) Italy (5%)	“guitar tuner” “guitar tuner online” “afinador de guitarra” “online guitar tuner” “online tuner”
17	musicgrotto.com	Informational music blog with many “top N” list type articles (e.g. “51 Best Songs of All Time” and “41 Best Karaoke Duets of All Time”)	1.34 Million	USA (43%) UK (6%) Canada (5%)	“guitar chords” “best songs of all time” “easy guitar songs” “best albums of all time” “80s rock bands”
18	spinditty.com	Music blog (theory, playlists, history, and more).	1.87 Million	USA (40%) UK (7%) Canada (6%)	“teenage songs” “kpop girl groups” “teenage years songs” “songs in c major” “korean boy band 2020”
19	chosic.com	Free tools to discover new music and songs. The site has multiple discovery tools: – “Similar songs finder” – “Random songs picker” – “Music genre finder” – “Find song by lyrics” – “Find songs by theme” Etc	2.40 Million	USA (22%) India (6%) Brazil (5%) UK (4%)	“songs like” “find similar songs” “similar song finder” “spotify playlist analyzer”
20	songsterr.com	Guitar, bass, and drum tabs and chords with free online tab player. This site feels MUCH more modern and sleek than most sites in this list.	11.20 Million	USA (17%) Russia (7%) France (4%)	“hotel california tab” “master of puppets tab” “guitar tabs”
21	songfacts.com	Blog about the stories and meanings behind the songs, with the songwriters.	5.33 Million	USA (47%) UK (8%) Canada (5%)	“du hast lyrics” “taylor swift songs” “gary wright really want to know you”
22	songmeanings.com	Song lyrics and lyric interpretation articles.	4.25 Million	USA (41%) UK (7%) Canada (5%)	“say goodbye to hollywood billy joel lyrics” “i wish i was like you, easily amused”
23	songmeaningsandfacts.com	Despite being a clear copycat of songfacts.com and songmeanings.com, this website still brings in over 2 million visits a month.	2.05 Million	USA (39%) Philippines (5%) UK (5%)	“mary on a cross meaning” “what does mary on a cross mean” “mary on a cross song meaning” “do you really want to hurt me song meaning” “what does the song mary on a cross mean”
24	musicca.com	Lessons, exercises, and interactive tools to help you learn music.	2.49 Million	USA (10%) Brazil (10%) Russia (6%)	“piano online” “piano virtual” “piano” “online piano” “metronome”
25	allmusic.com	Music news, new releases, music search engine, music quizzes, musician profiles, and miscellaneous other music articles. The site’s structure and navigation are very confusing. I would guess that it’s almost exclusively navigated through Google search.	6.12 Million	USA (43%) Canada (6%) UK (5%)	“keanu torres” “sophia black”
26	rateyourmusic.com	Community music rating website.	16.49 Million	USA (29%) UK (8%) Canada (5%)	*Top 5 organic search terms are all branded, but 87% of organic searches overall are non-branded.
27	lyricstranslate.com	Multilingual song lyric translation community.	16.44 Million	USA (18%) Russia (13%) Turkey (6%)	“red sun in the sky lyrics” “du hast lyrics” “battotai lyrics”
28	azlyrics.com	Legal database of song lyrics.	24.48 Million	USA (32%) Philippines (11%) UK (5%)	“lavender haze lyrics” “anti hero lyrics” “anti hero lyrics taylor swift” “snow on the beach lyrics” “labyrinth taylor swift lyrics”
29	genius.com	Song lyrics website.	101.3 Million	USA (36%) Russia (5%) UK (5%)	“unholy lyrics” “snow on the beach lyrics” “bigger than the whole sky lyrics”
30	lyrics.com	Lyrics to (almost) every song.	5.54 Million	USA (45%) UK (5%) Canada (4%)	“lyrics” “lyrics search” “lyrics finder” “lyric search” “find song by lyrics”
31	songlyrics.com	Millions of searchable song lyrics.	2.51 Million	USA (40%) Philippines (5%) UK (5%)	“song lyrics” “amazing grace lyrics” “lyrics” “rick roll lyrics” “numa numa lyrics”
32	lyricsmint.com	Indian lyric website that provides Hindi song lyrics.	3.03 Million	India (76%) USA (4%) Bangladesh (3%)	“kaise hua lyrics” “teri mitti lyrics” “samjhawan lyrics” “raabta lyrics”
33	tunebat.com	Find key and bpm information for any song.	3.66 Million	USA (24%) Germany (5%) France (5%)	“bpm finder” “key finder” “bpm detector”
34	vocalremover.org	Split music into separated vocals and instrumental tracks.	4.84 Million	Russia (12%) USA (11%) Brazil (6%)	“vocal remover” “vocal remover online” “separar voz de musica”
35	mp3cut.net	Simple online tool to cut out a piece of music.	3.90 Million	Russia (10%) USA (8%) Brazil (7%)	“audio cutter” “mp3 cutter” “mp3 cutter online” “cortar audio” “cut mp3”
36	audiotrimmer.com	Online tool to trim audio files.	1.34 Million	USA (17%) Russia (11%) India (7%)	“audio trimmer” “mp3 trimmer” “trim mp3” “mp3 cutter” “mp3 editor”
37	equipboard.com	Music tech / gear blog.	1.14 Million	USA (29%) UK (8%) Canada (6%)	“what guitar does joe hawley use” “abba bjorn playing guitar” “jacob collier gear” “any singers using audix”
38	premierguitar.com	Guitar informational blog (lessons, product reviews, recording tips, etc).	1.05 Million	USA (50%) Canada (7%) UK (6%)	“epiphone korina explorer” “horsegirl band” “tod10n” “kaizen nyc”
39	musicradar.com	Music news and reviews.	3.87 Million	USA (27%) UK (15%) Canada (7%)	“daw” “best daw” “best piano vst” “dj software”
40	soundonsound.com	Sound and music news, reviews, techniques, tech, advice, and forum.	1.09 Million	USA (26%) UK (14%) Canada (6%)	“alesis sr-16 power supply specs” “rupert neve designs portico ii channel” “api 2500 bus compressor review” “studio one 6”
41	sonichits.com	Song lyrics and interpretation blog with open comment sections for discussion.	1.60 Million	USA (24%) Germany (6%) Canada (4%)	“what makes you beautiful cimorelli and one direction” “lotus bomb original mixhuge hephner” “we been troddin lyrics” “ikillzone_blas” “10 negertjes zaten op een hek”

The site traffic and search term data in this table was sourced from Similar Web for the month of October, 2022.

You may think that the music niche is saturated, but if you are passionate about music, you can almost certainly build a new profitable site. Here are two good SEO strategies to build and rank a new niche music blog:

Identify young, promising artists as early as possible, and create content about them. Many will never reach the mainstream, but any that do become popular will generate Google searches, and not many other sites will have written about them yet. The content you produce could be song lyrics, song lyric interpretations/meanings, artist backstory & gossip, artist interviews, artist physical and family information, etc.
Periodically research any new instruments that have been invented or are gaining popularity. Google and Google Trends are both good tools for this. If/when you identify one, start creating content and tools (e.g. online tuners, online sheet music generators, etc) for that up-and-coming instrument.

U.S. Turkey Industry Facts

The United States is the world’s largest turkey producing and turkey product exporting country, according to the National Turkey Federation.

How much turkey do Americans eat?

In 2021, U.S. turkey consumption was 15.3 pounds per capita. That’s almost double what it was in 1970 (8.2 pounds per capita).

How many turkeys does the U.S. produce each year?

In 2021, total U.S. turkey production was 216.5 million birds (5.56 billion pounds). The total value of that turkey production was $5.89 billion, according to the USDA.

How much turkey does the U.S. export each year?

In 2021, the U.S. exported 548 million pounds of turkey meat. This is a decrease from prior years:

2017: 622 million pounds
2018: 611 million pounds
2019: 639 million pounds
2020: 571 million pounds
2021: 548 million pounds

How many turkey farms exist in the U.S.?

There are approximately 2,500 turkey farms in the United States, many of which are family farms.

Which states produce the most turkeys?

These are the 10 states which produced the most turkeys in the United States in 2021:

Minnesota – 40.5 Million turkeys
North Carolina – 30 Million turkeys
Arkansas – 27 Million turkeys
Indiana – 20.5 Million turkeys
Missouri – 17 Million turkeys
Virginia – 14.5 Million turkeys
Iowa – 11.7 Million turkeys
Pennsylvania – 6.9 Million turkeys
California – 6 Million turkeys
Ohio – 6 Million turkeys

What is the rate of turkey price inflation?

According to the USDA, average wholesale prices for frozen whole turkey hens over the past 6 years have been:

2017: $0.96 per pound
2018: $0.80 per pound (deflation!)
2019: $0.89 per pound
2020: $1.07 per pound
2021: $1.23 per pound
2022: $1.55 per pound (according to the Nov 2022 WASDE projection)

According to USDA and WASDE price statistics, turkey inflation from 2021 to 2022 was 26%.

How is turkey production measured?

There are two main units of measurement for turkey meat:

Live weight: The weight of a still living bird.
Dressed weight: The ready-to-cook weight of a bird after removing the head, plucking, etc.

Turkey hens are traditionally raised to a live weight of 14-18 pounds. From that, the dressed weight would typically be 9-12 pounds. The toms (males) are raised to a life weight around 30 pounds and dressed weight of 14+ pounds.

Large turkeys raised for institutional consumption are grown to a live weight of 45 pounds or more, yielding about 30 pounds of dressed weight.

What are the largest turkey companies in the United States?

These are the top 10 turkey-producing companies in the U.S.

	Company	Live Weight of Turkeys Slaughtered in 2021	Notes
1	Butterball, LLC	1.25 Billion Lbs	Butterball, LLC is a turkey production company headquartered in the Raleigh-Durham area of NC. Seaboard Corporation (NYSEAMERICAN: SEB) owns a 50% non-controlling interest in Butterball, LLC, plus another ~2.5% additional interest from warrants.
2	Jennie-O Turkey Store, LLC	1.20 Billion Lbs	Jennie-O Turkey Store is a subsidiary of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL). The Jennie-O Turkey segment of Hormel generated $1.5 billion of net sales on an output (dressed weight) of 824 million pounds of turkey in FY 2021. The profit margin was 5.1%. *NOTE: Hormel’s FY 2021 ended Oct 31, 2021.
3	Cargill Turkey Production, LLC	908 Million Lbs	Cargill is the largest privately owned company in the U.S. by revenue. Cargill Turkey Production, LLC (a subsidiary of Cargill based in Springdale, Arkansas) sells turkey under the Honeysuckle White, Shady Brook Farms, and Honest Turkey brands.
4	Farbest Foods, Inc.	605 Million Lbs	Farbest Foods is a turkey farming company headquartered in Jasper, Indiana.
5	Tyson Foods	352 Million Lbs	Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) is one of the largest food companies in the world and owns a vertically integrated turkey business.
6	Kraft Heinz	325 Million Lbs	Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ: KHC) is a food conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
7	Perdue Farms	281 Million Lbs	Perdue Farms is a fourth-generation family owned food & agriculture company headquartered in Salisbury, Maryland.
8	Cooper Farms	273 Million Lbs	Cooper Farms is a family-owned, Ohio-based farm and food company.
9	Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative	261 Million Lbs	VPGC is a co-op owned and operated by independent poultry farmers in Virginia.
10	Michigan Turkey Producers	235 Million Lbs	Michigan Turkey Producers is a co-op of family turkey farmers in Michigan.

Numbers are modeled based on sources that include 2019 turkey weight processed, 2017-2022 total turkey market statistics from the USDA, statements from the various companies’ websites, and SEC statements where available.

Is Butterball a good business?

Despite being a premium brand which charges more per pound than many other turkey brands, the Butterball company has struggled with profitability for years. In 2021, Butterball, LLC generated $65 million in operating losses and $73 million in total net losses (see the turkey segment results from Seaboard Corporation). Part of that can be attributed to the poor margins of the turkey industry in general (we’re talking 2.9% net profit margins). However, the margins are still worse than some other turkey businesses so no, Butterball, LLC does not appear to be a good business.

References

10 Largest Candy Companies in the World by Revenue (2021)

These are the 10 largest candy companies as ranked by total dollars of candy, chocolate, confectionery, and gum sales during 2021. Many of the companies on this list have revenue from other business segments as well, but such revenue was not considered for the purpose of generating this list.

#1 Mars ($21 Billion)

Mars, Incorporated generated nearly $45 billion in total sales in 2021, with about half of that coming from candy sales and about half coming from pet food and veterinary services. Mars is the fourth largest privately owned company in the U.S. as ranked by revenue, and its revenue also recently surpassed CocaCola (NYSE: KO) due Mars’ rapidly growing pet food & pet services business lines. In fact, more than half of the company’s employees (85,000 out of 140,000 total) now belong to its pet care arm.

The company’s pet food brands include Pedigree, Iams, Greenies, Whiskas, and others.

The company’s candy brands include M&M’s, Milky Way, Life Savers, 3 Musketeers, Skittles, Snickers, Starburst, Twix, and more.

Company Name	Mars, Incorporated (parent company) Mars Wrigley (candy subsidiary)
Global Candy Sales	$21 Billion
Famous Candy Brands	Mars, M&M’s, Snickers, Bounty, Milky Way, Twix, Skittles, 3 Musketeers, Wrigley’s gum, Life Savers, Starburst, Altoids, 5 gum, Kind bars
Headquarters	McLean, Virginia, USA
Year Founded	1911
Founder(s)	Franklin Mars
Ownership	Private (Mars family)
Website	mars.com

#2 Ferrero ($14 Billion)

This Italian-based chocolate & candy company makes Tic Tacs, Laffy Taffy, Nerds, Nutella, Mon Cheri, Raffaello, and many other international candy and chocolate brands. Total 2021 revenue was approximately $14 billion. However, that number will likely fall significantly in 2022 since the Euro-USD exchange rate has fallen 15-20% from mid 2021 to mid 2022.

As of January 2022, the company employed approximately 39,000 people and operated 32 production plants across multiple countries.

Company Name	Ferrero International S.A. Ferrero Group (subsidiary) Ferrara Candy Company (Chicago-based subsidiary)
Global Candy Sales	$14 Billion
Famous Candy Brands	Tic Tac, Nutella, Nerds, Laffy Taffy, Butterfinger, Crunch, Red Hots, Kinder, Raffaello, Mon Cheri, Ferrero Kusschen
Headquarters	Alba, Piedmont, Italy
Year Founded	1946
Founder(s)	Pietro Ferrero Piera Cillario Giovanni Ferrero
Ownership	Private (Ferrero family)
Website	ferrero.com

#3 Mondelez International ($12 Billion)

Mondelez International is a publicly traded, Chicago-based candy & snack company (NASDAQ: MDLZ) formed in 2012 as a spin-off of Kraft Foods. The company generated $28.7 billion in revenue in 2021, but only 42% of that ($12.1 billion) was from chocolate, gum, and candy sales.

Company Name	Mondelez International, Inc.
Global Candy Sales	$12 Billion
Famous Candy Brands	Sour Patch, Toblerone, Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Cadbury Chocolate
Headquarters	Deerfield, Illinois, USA
Year Founded	2012 (Spin off of Kraft Foods)
Ownership	Publicly traded (NASDAQ: MDLZ)
Website	mondelezinternational.com Brands Investor Relations 2021 Annual Report

#4 The Hershey Company ($8.2 Billion)

This Pennsylvania-based company doesn’t just own Hershey’s but also Kit Kat, Reese’s, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Almond Joy, and many other parts of your childhood. The company generated $8.97 billion in net sales during 2021 with about $8.2 billion from candy & confectionery sales.

Company Name	The Hershey Company
Global Candy Sales	$8.2 Billion
Famous Candy Brands	Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kisses, Jolly Rancher, Almond Joy, Twizzlers *Kit Kat (U.S. manufacturing rights licensed from Nestle)
Headquarters	Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
Year Founded	1894
Founder(s)	Milton Hershey
Ownership	Publicly traded (NYSE: HSY) with Hershey Trust Company as a large (but still minority) shareholder
Website	Investor Relations 2021 Annual Report

#5 Nestle ($8.2 Billion)

Nestle is a Swiss-based food, beverage, and pet food company whose candy brands include Kit Kat, Smarties, and the Brazilian chocolate brand Garoto.

The company generated $95.2 billion (CHF 87 billion) in total sales during 2021, including approximately $8.2 billion in confectionery sales.

Nestle alos has fast-growing coffee and pet care businesses.

Company Name	Nestle S.A.
Global Candy Sales	$8.2 Billion
Famous Candy Brands	– Kit Kat – Smarties – Garoto (one of the largest chocolate companies in Brazil) – Baci chocolates
Headquarters	Vevey, Switzerland
Year Founded	1866
Founder(s)	Henri Nestle
Ownership	Publicly traded
Website	Investor Relations 2021 Annual Report

#6 Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprungli ($5 Billion)

Lindt & Sprungli is a Swiss chocolate and candy company that owns the Ghirardelli and Russell Stover brands and generated $5.0 billion in total sales.

Geographic Market	Total Sales
North America	$1.85 Billion
Europe	$2.55 Billion
Rest of the World	$622 Million
Total	$5.0 Billion

Company Name	Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprungli AG
Global Candy Sales	$5 Billion
Famous Candy Brands	Ghirardelli, Russell Stover, Lindor Truffles, Lindt, Caffarel
Headquarters	Kilchberg, Switzerland
Year Founded	1845
Founder(s)	Rodolphe Lindt
Ownership	Publicly traded (LISN: SW)
Website	Investor Relations 2021 Annual Report

#7 Yildiz Holding ($4 Billion)

Yildiz is a Turkish conglomerate that owns food and beverage subsidiaries as well as a venture capital firm, a vehicle leasing company, and a real estate company. The company’s subsidiaries include Pladis, Ulker, Godiva Chocolatier, Kerevitas, United Biscuits, and many other food companies. Total candy & confectionery sales were approximately $4 billion in 2021.

Company Name	Yildiz Holding A.S.
Global Candy Sales	$4 Billion
Famous Candy Brands	Godiva chocolates
Headquarters	Istanbul, Turkey
Year Founded	1944
Founder(s)	Sabri Ulker
Ownership	Private (but Yildiz partially owns 7 publicly traded subsidiaries)
Website	Major Subsidiaries Ulker (subsidiary) Annual Reports

#8 Haribo GmbH & Co. KG ($3 Billion)

Haribo is a German-based candy company most well known for making gummy bears, other gummy candies, and marshmallows.

Company Name	Haribo GmbH & Co. KG
Global Candy Sales	$3 Billion
Famous Candy Brands	Gold Bears
Headquarters	Grafschaft, Rhineland, Germany
Year Founded	1920
Founder(s)	Hans Riegel, Sr.
Ownership	Private (Riegel family)
Website	haribo.com

NOTE: Very little reliable information is available about the true revenue of Haribo. This article implies that Haribo does at least $350 million in gummy sales in the U.S. Wikipedia claims Haribo’s annual revenue is €1.7–2.0 billion (about $2.0-$2.36 billion) but does not provide a reliable source. Statista estimates 2021 net sales of $3.3 billion but also does not provide a very satisfying source. This article estimates sales at $3.6 billion but again does not provide a solid source and has provably incorrect information about certain other companies like Meiji which have publicly available financial statements that contradict the article.

#9 Perfetti Van Melle ($2.9 Billion)

This Dutch-Italian multinational conglomerate was formed in 2001 through the merger of the Perfetti and Van Melle companies. The conglomerate produces confectionery and gum products in 31 manufacturing facilities, employs over 17,000 people, and distributes its products in over 150 countries. Net sales in 2021 were 2.472 billion Euros (approximately 2.92 billion US dollars using the 2021 average exchange rate of 1.18 USD per Euro).

Company Name	Perfetti Van Melle Group B.V.
Global Candy Sales	$2.9 Billion
Famous Candy Brands	Mentos, Chupa Chups, Alpenliebe
Headquarters	Netherlands
Year Founded	2001 (via the merger of Perfetti of Italy and Van Melle of the Netherlands) Van Melle was founded in 1900 (by converting a family-owned bakery founded 60 years earlier) Perfetti was founded in 1946
Founder(s)	Izaak Van Melle Ambrogio Perfetti Egidio Perfetti
Ownership	Brothers Augusto and Giorgio Perfetti
Website	perfettivanmelle.com

#10 Meiji ($2 Billion)

Meiji is a Japanese food and pharmaceutical conglomerate. During fiscal year 2021, the company’s food segment generated JPY 826 billion (~$7.3 billion using the average USD-JPY exchange rate from December 2021). Of that, about a quarter (roughly 2 billion USD) is from chocolate and candy sales.

Company Name	Meiji Holdings Co., Ltd.
Global Candy Sales	$2 Billion
Famous Candy Brands	Meiji, Meltykiss, XYLISH, Fran
Headquarters	Tokyo, Japan
Year Founded	2009 (from merger of
Ownership	Publicly traded
Website	meiji.com Investor Fact Sheet

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