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The food and beverage industry is a difficult place.
Inflation reduced sales due to the withdrawal of shoppers. However, the company’s cost is increasing as expenditures decrease.
Consumers are demanding more features in their food. This puts on the company to spend great consumption to premium ingredients that can support nutritional demands. The Trump administration’s tariffs and pressure to remove artificial dyes and other additives have also created a new financial headquarters.
To maintain, the company is reconstructing its operation, dismissing workers or selling assets. When they can do it, they also participate in small M & A transactions and are in trendy areas of conversation with consumer trends.
In 2025, Food Dive is looking at four large trends of food that can dominate the rest of the year.
Large food is feeling heat
Large food manufacturers were interrupted by numerous forces weighed in business in 2025.
The packaging food sector has seen a profit slide due to inflation, tariff uncertainty, spending consumer fullback and product costs.
Brittany Quatrochi, an analyst at Edward Jones, said, “The environment is still difficult.
Quatrochi added, “There is a lot of pressure that the company should absorb the cost, but there is not much flexibility to pass it.” She said sales can improve compared to the first half of the business, but it is likely to be offset by the increase in costs.
Craft Heinz’s sales fell almost 2% in the second quarter, and lunch manufacturers expect organic sales to decrease 3.5% from 1.5% in fiscal year 2025.
Conagra Brands, a healthy choice and slim JIM owner, warned that the 2026 fiscal year would be affected by the increase in product costs such as cocoa and eggs and the tariffs affecting steel and aluminum. It is estimated that the tariff will add about $ 200 million.
Some companies have announced job cuts, including Brown-Forman, the owner of GENERAL MILLS, POST HOLDINGS and JACK DANIEL.
Morgan Stanley’s analysts said in mid -August, “The continued low growth predicted an important restructuring of CPG (including food and drinks), and the company added that organic sales growth was bottomed out in the first half of 2025 and will be improved in the short term.
M & A focuses on building scale through small transactions.
After signing a small number of small and medium -sized contracts in 2025, food and beverage M & A is expected to be the same for the rest of the year.
The transaction was not so powerful until this year, but a small number of transactions have been made to increase the existence of the company in the fashion area.
PEPSICO purchased Prebiotic Soda Brand Poppi for nearly $ 2 billion, and Hershey purchased Lesserevil, a healthier snack manufacturer like Popcorn and Puffs. Ferrero also announced that Nutella manufacturers will buy Cereal Giant WK Kellogg for $ 3.1 billion, a contract that will help to expand US footprints.
In July, Robert Moskow, an analyst at TD Cowen, said in a July study that the large merger of food tends to overcome the width.
“We believe that food companies with concentrated portfolios and category leaderships (e.g. Hershey) are more likely to succeed than various companies that want to use operating and marketing functions in various categories.”
Manufacturers not only deal with the rapid paragraphs on consumer spending, but also reduce food stamps and uncertainty related to the Trump administration’s tariff policy.
Despite these headwinds, food and beverage companies are hungry for growth. When the right goal comes at a reasonable price, you can participate in small M & A.
Certainly, a large deal is likely to happen, but it is rare and is likely to accompany the company’s reasons. Earlier this week, Dr. Keurig DR PEPPER announced that he would buy JDE PEET ‘S for $ 18 billion to increase the coffee business that is struggling. After the merger, the company was divided into two units of coffee and drinks.
A new wave of functional ingredients is approaching
Protein has strengthened its wellness boom over the past few years, but the saturated market has a company to soothe consumers who are sensitive to health by leaning on other functional ingredients.
More Americans are eating protein at any time. In particular, more and more people need foods that can take GLP-1 drugs and reconstruct muscles to lose weight. According to the CARGILL report, 61%of Americans increased their protein intake in 2024 and increased 48%in 2019.
But consumers began to expect more from food. Individuals are looking for premium ingredients that can help everything from intestinal and skin health to mood and sleep problems.
Nicole Avena, a visiting professor at Princeton University, said, “We can think about customizing food in the future.
“Maybe not only those who are interested in supporting GLP-1 trips, but also for those who want to maintain brain health as they grow older. The category of potential foods is actually open.”
Innova Market Insights prioritized spending on products with health benefits last year. According to Circana Data, health -oriented consumers have $ 660 billion in total food and drinks.
Major food and beverage companies deepened the existence in functional ingredients, especially trendy free biotics categories in 2025. PEPSICO purchased Prebiotic Soda Brand Poppi and Coca-Cola introduced its own version in Simply Banner.
The material supplier has also begun to sign a new contract to expand the options for companies looking for functions. The ADM has partnership with Asahi Group and announced that it will sell post -biology for the atmosphere and sleep, while Darling has begun a US $ 1.5 billion joint investment focused on collagen.
After the artificial dye, what is the next step of MAHA?
In response to the promise of removing synthetic colors, the “Make the United States Healthy” exercise is moving to a new regulatory pressure that aims for everything from chemical additives to ultra -light components.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Minister of Health has asked the companies to voluntarily remove artificial colors from the product, and almost all major food manufacturers promised to compliance with WK Kellogg, General Mills, Nestlé and Pepsico. The state also strengthened the pressure by prohibiting sugar drinks and foods due to federal food support benefits.
In the future, the MAHA movement can make a bigger change. The FDA is studying the definition of ultra -fine foods that can open the way for future regulations. The agency is also considering the ingredients that are already on the market, such as additives used in the validity period.
Kennedy is expected to be updated once every five years and to be involved in the guidelines for Americans who offer recommendations for health. Kennedy is conducting a review of the “Line Vine Line” on the guidelines in May, and it is recommended that Americans will eat more vegetable protein sources such as lens beans and peas.
In addition to providing nutrition advice to Americans, this guideline is used to announce federal nutrition programs, including school meals. Nutritionists and medical groups are closely seeing that Kennedy’s personal and non -scientific views on seed oil and saturated fat.
“If the next version for the United States encourages the guideline to replace the seed oil with beef tool low, it is a clear signal that the president of Peter G. Lurie of the Public Science Center said in a statement.” And they decided to abandon the evidence of evidence for an individual’s pet friends. “
