U.S. Food & Beverage M&A Industry Update – Summer 2026

Home » Insights » U.S. Food & Beverage M&A Industry Update – Summer 2026

M&A activity in the food & beverage sector was lackluster in 2025, primarily due to a backlog of sponsor-owned portfolio companies awaiting exit, persistent gaps in valuation expectations and broader macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty impacting the timing and structure of deal activity. Deal volume has continued to recover through June 2026.

While the observed rebound in food & beverage deal activity is certainly encouraging, transaction appetite in this sector remains highly selective, in line with the broader M&A landscape. Investors are increasingly witnessing a bifurcated M&A market, in which high-quality assets continue to attract strong interest, while a meaningful portion of mid-tier businesses remain on the sidelines.

Similarly, food & beverage companies with strong brands, attractive margins and differentiated product attributes continue to attract the greatest interest from both strategic and private equity buyers. Conversely, challenged businesses facing ongoing pressure due to manufacturing constraints as well as inconsistent volume and margin trends are exploring alternative and creative ways to achieve liquidity, including minority recapitalizations and strategic combinations.

Overall, buyers are prioritizing businesses with resilient demand profiles, differentiated brands, pricing power and clear avenues for organic growth, while remaining disciplined on valuation and diligence.

Key Food & Beverage Industry Highlights: Segments Witnessing Growth

• Functional products – Consumers increasingly seek products delivering clinically supported health benefits beyond basic nutrition, including digestive health, immune support, cognitive function, metabolic health, hydration and healthy aging. As a result, brands with differentiated formulations, proprietary ingredients or scientifically validated claims are attracting significant strategic and private equity interest.
  
  
• Ingredients – Ingredient businesses have arguably been among the most sought-after assets in the sector over the past several years due to their recurring customer relationships, attractive margins and exposure to long-term health and wellness trends. Functional ingredients, flavors, natural colors, proteins, fibers, cultures, enzymes and specialty food ingredients remain particularly attractive.
  
  
• Better-for-you beverages – End user demand continues to shift toward beverages offering functional benefits, clean-label ingredients, reduced sugar, hydration, energy, digestive health and alcohol-free alternatives, making the category one of the most active areas for investment.
  
  
• Proteins – Protein consumption is expanding well beyond sports nutrition into mainstream diets, driving growth across ready-to-drink beverages, snacks, dairy, meal replacements and functional foods. Consumers increasingly view protein-rich diets as part of a proactive approach to health and wellness, supporting continued investment across both branded products and ingredient suppliers.
  
  
• Nutrient-rich foods – Consumers are favoring minimally processed, nutrient-dense foods featuring healthy fats, whole ingredients and recognizable labels. Categories such as olive oil, avocado oil, nuts, seeds and functional grains continue to benefit from this shift.
  
  
• Premium and fresh foods – Rising demand for premium and fresh food items is motivating many grocery retailers to reassess historically stable categories and find new brands or expand their own private-label offerings, particularly within refrigerated, prepared and fresh perimeter categories.
  
  
• Fermented specialties – Fermented specialty foods and beverages are gaining consumer acceptance as shoppers increasingly associate them with digestive health, natural ingredients and minimally processed nutrition. Categories including yogurt, kimchi, kefir, pickled vegetables, fermented sauces and cultured dairy continue to attract innovation and investment.
  
  
• Sustainability-focused brands – While consumer purchasing decisions remain primarily driven by value and health, sustainability is influencing product development and capital allocation through environmentally friendly packaging, waste reduction initiatives, regenerative agriculture and responsibly sourced ingredients.

Observations on M&A Activity and Related Drivers

• Strategic acquirers have dominated the food & beverage M&A market. Such players have been pursuing accretive acquisitions as they seek tangible synergies, economies of scale, increased negotiation power with suppliers and additional revenue opportunities – often willing to pay premium valuations for highly-synergistic assets.
  
  
• Less-acquisitive North American strategics have revamped their M&A playbook in recent periods to address clear gaps in their product offering. Additionally, international strategics are displaying renewed interest in acquiring North American-based food & beverage assets of critical size in order to gain access to the vast local market and mitigate supply chain risks around export strategies.
  
  
• Large strategic players and emerging brands are investing in self-manufacturing capabilities via M&A to secure production capacity, improve quality control, monitor input costs and enhance supply-chain resilience.
  
  
• Large strategics are shedding off non-core assets in their portfolios and cautiously expanding their presence within attractive, high-velocity categories (e.g., pet, indulgent snacking, BFY sauces, etc.) while redeploying capital toward faster-growing, higher-margin categories.
  
  
• The private label segment is gaining foothold across multiple food & beverage categories in the current economic environment as inflationary pressures remain.
  
  
• The branded subsector continues to represent the most active area of strategic M&A as strategics have been on the lookout for strong brands and product categories.

M&A Landscape – Selected Strategic Inorganic Growth Perspectives

Selected highlights related to recent M&A activity:

• Seneca Foods acquires the Green Giant U.S. Frozen Business – “This acquisition significantly enhances our frozen capabilities and expands our reach in the frozen category. With this acquisition, the iconic Green Giant shelf-stable and frozen businesses are back together. We also very much look forward to growing the frozen franchise in a category that continues to expand and building on the positive momentum we’ve experienced in Green Giant shelf-stable business.” Paul Palmby, President and Chief Executive Officer of Seneca Foods Corporation
  
  
• McCormick to combine with Unilever’s Foods Business – “This transformative combination accelerates McCormick’s strategy and reinforces our continued focus on flavor. This combination will create a diversified flavor leader with a robust growth profile that remains differentiated by its focus on flavoring calories while others compete for them.” Brendan Foley, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of McCormick
  
  
• Rich Products acquires Great Kitchens – “As a major player in the food industry for more than 80 years, pizza has been an integral part of our business for over four decades. When you combine Great Kitchens’ leadership in fully topped pizzas with our strength in crust and dough, you get a one-stop pizza partner with an unmatched breadth of expertise that will allow us to accelerate growth, drive greater innovation and deliver unique and distinct value to our customers.” Kevin Spratt, President, U.S.-Canada Region, Rich Products

Selected Recent Food & Beverage M&A Transactions (YTD June 30, 2026)

Source: PitchBook, PKF Investment Banking
Note: Dollars in U.S. millions

Selected Public Company Data (as of June 30, 2026) – Median Values

Source: CapIQ, PitchBook, PKF Investment Banking
Note: Dollars in U.S. millions; *EV = Enterprise Value; LTM = Last Twelve Months

Contact Us

The PKF Investment Banking team is available to discuss current M&A dynamics across the food & beverage sector and determine which opportunities may exist for your business. For more information, please contact:

Alberto Sinesi
Partner
PKF Investment Banking
asinesi@pkfib.com | 203.273.5024

Robert Murphy
Partner
PKF Investment Banking
rmurphy@pkfib.com | 201.788.6844

Mark Gianfalla
Vice President
PKF Investment Banking
mgianfalla@pkfib.com | 929.226.0398

About PKF Investment Banking

PKF O’Connor Davies Capital LLC (DBA PKF Investment Banking) is a subsidiary and investment banking affiliate of PKF O’Connor Davies Advisory LLC. Securities-related transactions are processed through an unaffiliated broker-dealer, Burch & Company, Inc.

Whether a business owner is ready to sell the company or seeking growth through acquisition, our investment banking team is committed and credentialed to help owners achieve their objectives. PKF Investment Banking provides guidance through every step of the process and brings the expertise to enhance certainty to close – while always staying focused on maximizing the value derived from the transaction. With deep expertise in and a dedicated focus on advising privately held middle-market businesses, the PKF Investment Banking team has completed over 350 M&A advisory engagements in North America and internationally throughout their careers. Our key services include sell-side and buy-side M&A advisory, exit readiness and transaction planning. For more information, visit www.pkfib.com.

PKF Investment Banking provides this report for informational purposes only and it does not constitute the provision of financial, legal or tax advice or accounting or professional consulting services of any kind.