Gitnux/Report 2026

Food Process Industry Statistics

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Food Process Industry Statistics
Samuel NorbergWritten by Samuel Norberg·Fact-checked by Maya Johansson
Published
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

An editor sets the topic, the inclusion criteria, and the evaluation framework before research starts.

02Source Research

AI search agents locate sources and extract each figure together with the document it came from.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 39 days

01 Industry overview

The food process industry at a glance

The global food and beverage processing economy reached $6.69 trillion in 2024, while U.S. food manufacturing generated $1.05 trillion in shipments and employed 1.70 million people.

$6.69T
Global food market, 2024
4–5%
Global CAGR, 2023–2027
1.70M[95]
U.S. food manufacturing jobs, 2024
23.2%
Meat, poultry and seafood share, 2024
Market size
The global food and beverages market was valued at $6,689.05 billion in 2024. In the United States, food manufacturing recorded $1,054.3 billion in value of shipments in 2024.[96]
Forecast & CAGR
The global food and beverage industry was valued at $10.5–11.0 trillion in 2023 and is projected to reach $12.5–13.5 trillion by 2027, implying a 4–5% CAGR. India’s food processing market was valued at $354.5 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $758.4 billion by 2028.[97]
Market share & regions
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries identifies Asia-Pacific as a key food and beverage market, supported by population growth, rising disposable income and demand for processed, convenient and healthier foods. The source reviewed did not provide a comparable percentage regional market-share estimate.
Segmentation
In U.S. food and beverage manufacturing employment in 2024, animal slaughtering and processing accounted for 26% of jobs, bakeries and tortilla manufacturing 17%, beverage manufacturing 16%, and other food manufacturing 12%. Fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty food manufacturing and dairy product manufacturing each represented 8%.[36]
Pricing
U.S. food-at-home prices increased 2.3% in 2025, while food-away-from-home prices rose 3.8%. USDA forecasts food-at-home prices to increase 2.4% in 2026 and food-away-from-home prices to increase 3.5%.[98]
Trends, drivers & challenges
Growth is being supported by urbanization, rising disposable income, demand for convenient and healthier foods, and increased e-commerce purchasing. The sector remains exposed to geopolitical tensions, policy changes, extreme weather, energy costs, labor costs and agricultural disease; U.S. food prices averaged 2.6% annual growth across 2024 and 2025.[98]
Consumer behavior & competition
For every dollar spent on domestically produced food in the United States in 2024, food processing received 16.1 cents, compared with 13.8 cents for retail and 6.3 cents for wholesale. USDA describes processors as competing by adapting plants, products and marketing channels to changing consumer demand.[98]
M&A
Food and agriculture M&A activity moderated through the third quarter of 2026, with 265 closed transactions on a last-twelve-month basis versus 390 in the third quarter of 2025. Strategic buyers remained active in branded foods, beverages, distribution and specialty processing assets.[99]
Regulation
The FDA Food Traceability Rule requires covered firms that manufacture, process, pack or hold foods on the Food Traceability List to maintain key data elements linked to critical tracking events. Although the original compliance date was January 20, 2026, FDA states that it will not enforce the rule before July 20, 2028, following a 2026 congressional directive.[100]
Latest news
On November 6, 2026, USDA Rural Development announced more than $700,000 for five Minnesota meat-processing projects, including investments in freezing, refrigeration, packaging, processing efficiency and production capacity. The projects are intended to expand regional processing and value-added meat output.[101]

02 Ranking

Top 10 Companies in the Food Process Industry

The leading companies in the food process industry, ranked on market impact, performance, momentum, innovation and brand popularity.

Updated November 10, 2026 · Next review December 10, 2026

Verdict

Cargill leads Gitnux's 2026 food process ranking with an Overall score of 9.4, with 2024 annual revenue of $160 billion. Mars is the highest-ranked confectionery and prepared foods manufacturer at 9.2, with confectionery, pet food and prepared foods segment operations.

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in food ingredients & commodities

    Cargill

    US

    Ranked #1 · 9.4 · Food ingredients & commodities

    Why we picked it: It spans food, agriculture and ingredient operations, with global reach supporting food ingredients and protein processing.

    See in ranking ↓Visit cargill.com ↗

  2. Leader in confectionery & prepared foods

    Mars

    US

    Ranked #2 · 9.2 · Confectionery & prepared foods

    Why we picked it: Its food-processing footprint covers confectionery, pet food and prepared foods within one operating segment.

    See in ranking ↓Visit mars.com ↗

  3. Leader in meat & protein processing

    JBS

    NL

    Ranked #3 · 9.2 · Meat & protein processing

    Why we picked it: Its protein operations scale is reflected in US$86.2B net revenue, aligned to global meat and protein processing.

    See in ranking ↓Visit jbsglobal.com ↗

Pick 1 is the #1 company overall. Picks 2 and 3 are the highest-ranked companies in the top 5 that add a new segment.

Full ranking

Sort by
Top 10 companies in the food process industry, 2026 – Gitnux ranking
#CompanyOverall ↓Company snapshot
1

Cargill

Food ingredients & commodities · US

9.4
2

Mars

Confectionery & prepared foods · US

9.2
3

JBS

Meat & protein processing · NL

9.2
4

The Coca-Cola Company

Beverage concentrates & finished drinks · US

9.1
5

Nestlé

Food, beverage & nutrition products · CH

8.8
6

PepsiCo

Convenient foods and beverages worldwide · US

8.7
7

Danone

Dairy, plant-based, water and nutrition products · FR

8.7
8

Tyson Foods

Chicken, beef, pork and prepared foods · US

8.6
9

ADM

Oilseed, grain, nutrition and food ingredients · US

8.3
10

General Mills

Cereal, snacks, meals and pet food · US

8.1

How we score

  • Impact (30%): scale and weight in the market (revenue, market share, employees, market position).
  • Performance (20%): recent revenue growth and operating margin; an analyst assessment where a company does not publish them.
  • Momentum (20%): growth trajectory and future potential.
  • Innovation (15%): R&D intensity and how technologically advanced the company is.

Popularity (brand search demand, 15%) counts toward Overall but is not published as a column. Overall leaves out what is not known.

Scale Scores are shown on a 7–10 scale with one decimal; bars start at 7.0.

Cadence Recalculated when new figures are published; next review December 10, 2026.

Independence. Rankings are editorially independent. Scores, ranks, picks and the verdict follow the method above; no company can pay to change them.

Cite this ranking

APA

Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Top 10 companies in the food process industry. In Food Process Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/food-process-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Comparison

Revenue of the largest food process companies

Cargill leads with $154.0B in annual revenue (group level, converted to USD).

Cargill$154.0B
Nestlé$101.1B
PepsiCo$93.9B
JBS$86.2B
ADM$80.3B
Tyson Foods$54.4B
source-verifiedcargill.com · nestle.com · pepsico.com · sec.gov · adm.com · tysonfoods.com2025

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

Digital transformation shows measurable effects: 34% of survey respondents linked digital transformation, including AI, to manufacturing process or assembly improvements.

AI in the food process industry

  • 34% of food-industry technology survey respondents said manufacturing process or assembly was positively affected by digital-transformation technologies, including AI.[1]
  • 28% of food-industry technology survey respondents said food-safety preventive control was positively affected by digital-transformation technologies, including AI.[1]
  • 2.1% of Polish food-processing businesses used AI technology in 2021.[2]
  • 28% of agri-food businesses reported that their AI was provided by US service providers in 2024.[3]
  • 50% of food-industry professionals said their companies planned to invest in AI during 2025.[1]
  • 18% of agri-food companies developed their AI capabilities in-house in 2024.[3]

Automation in the food process industry

  • 90% of surveyed food processors, manufacturers and distributors were in the process of digital transformation in 2023.[4]
  • 37% of food and beverage facilities surveyed were digital and integrated, with predictive, real-time analytics or fully autonomous operations.[5]
  • 34% of North American food and beverage companies planned to increase automation in 2024.[6]
  • 21% of food and beverage companies surveyed intended to acquire robots in the future.[7]
  • 71% of food and beverage manufacturers surveyed aimed to reach digital and integrated or fully autonomous facility levels within three years.[5]
  • 56% of North American food and beverage companies planned to invest in technology to overcome supply-chain disruption in 2024.[8]

Digital Transformation in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Among EU food-manufacturing enterprises, 3.4% had very high digital intensity in 2023, compared with 2.1% in 2021.[3]
  • Among EU food-manufacturing enterprises, 51.2% had very low digital intensity in 2023, down from 55.1% in 2021.[3]
  • Among EU food-manufacturing enterprises, 15.4% had high digital intensity in 2023, compared with 13.0% in 2021.[3]
  • In the United States, 61% of farmers reported adopting digital agronomy technologies in 2024.[9]
  • Across the EU agri-food industrial ecosystem, 20% of companies had a concrete digital-transformation strategy in 2024.[3]

Technology Adoption in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • In Germany, 85.5% of surveyed farms used at least one digital technology in 2024–2025.[10]
  • Across EU farms, 43% had internet access, 11% used farm-management information systems, and 7% used robotics in 2023.[10]
  • In Chile, 12% of agricultural production units reported using a technological tool such as mobile applications, drones, or sensors in 2021.[10]
  • Across EU farms with utilised agricultural area, about 18% used some form of precision-farming technology or practice in 2023.[10]
  • In Czechia, 30% of crop-production farmers used at least one precision-agriculture technology in 2023.[10]
  • In Canada, 84% of field-crop operations used GPS equipment in 2021.[10]

Cloud Computing in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Among EU large businesses, 78% purchased cloud-computing services in 2023, compared with 44% of SMEs.[11]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 37% used cloud computing in 2024, up from 26% in 2023.[3]
  • Across EU businesses, 45% purchased cloud-computing services in 2023.[11]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 26% used cloud computing in 2023.[3]

Big Data in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 307 startups focused on artificial intelligence and big data were formed between 2015 and 2023.[3]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 13% used big-data technologies in 2024, compared with 17% in 2023.[3]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 17% used big-data technologies in 2023.[3]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

Data governance and data access remain constraints. In 2025, 69% of food and beverage companies relied on spreadsheets and email for core operations.

Business intelligence in the food process industry

  • 6.8% was the actual revenue growth of food and beverage companies using homegrown BI software in 2021–2022.[4]
  • 41% of North American food and beverage companies planned to invest in business-intelligence tools within the following 12 months in 2024.[4]
  • 4.7% was the actual revenue growth of food and beverage companies not using or planning to use BI software in 2021–2022.[4]
  • 40% of European food and beverage companies wanted to introduce BI tools during 2024.[8]
  • 54% of European food and beverage companies already had BI tools in 2023.[8]
  • 68% of manufacturers used corporate analytics systems to analyze manufacturing data in the 2024 Manufacturing Leadership Council survey.[12]

Data analytics in the food process industry

  • 25% of food and beverage companies said data analytics provided the most value for energy-consumption patterns and peak-usage alerts in 2025.[13]
  • 33% of food and beverage companies said data analytics provided the most value for identifying production bottlenecks in 2025.[13]
  • 85% of food retailers used data analytics in 2023, according to FMI survey results.[14]
  • 31% of food and beverage companies said data analytics provided the most value for real-time production-line performance tracking in 2025.[13]
  • 27% of food and beverage companies said data analytics provided the most value for product-yield-loss tracking and alerts in 2025.[13]
  • 23% of food and beverage companies said data analytics provided the most value for quality-defect detection and root-cause analysis in 2025.[13]

Data Quality in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 44% of manufacturers reported that AI projects had failed because of poor data quality in 2025, according to a survey of manufacturing organizations.[15]
  • 41% of manufacturers said they distrusted the data used for supply-chain operations in 2025, reflecting persistent data-quality concerns in production and procurement.[15]
  • 49% of manufacturing respondents rated their operational data as having low AI readiness in 2024, meaning it was insufficiently labeled, contextualized, governed or accessible.[12]
  • 30% of manufacturing respondents identified poor-quality data as one of their top three challenges when working with AI-related data in 2024.[12]
  • 42% of manufacturers reported having a process to verify operational data accuracy or quality in 2025, indicating that most lacked a formal validation process.[12]

Data Governance in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 40% of food and beverage professionals worldwide identified disconnected systems and data as their biggest barrier to moving faster in 2026.[16]
  • 15% of manufacturers said their data strategy was entirely aligned with their overall business strategy in 2024, while 31% said it was very closely aligned.[12]
  • 69% of food and beverage companies still relied on spreadsheets and email for core operations in 2025, limiting standardized access and control of business data.[16]
  • 6% of food and beverage leaders reported fully integrated digital systems in 2025, despite 82% saying technology adoption was a strategic priority.[16]
  • 61% of supply-management organizations reported having a dedicated data-governance function in 2024, while 90% agreed that data governance was necessary.[17]
  • 61% of manufacturers reported having a corporate-wide governance plan, strategy or formal guidelines for how data is collected, organized, accessed and used in 2024.[12]

KPIs in the food process industry

  • 40% of food and beverage companies measured employee productivity rates as an operational performance indicator in 2025.[13]
  • 43% of food and beverage companies measured labor-cost savings as an operational performance indicator in 2025.[13]
  • 38% of food and beverage companies measured overall equipment effectiveness as an operational performance indicator in 2025.[13]
  • 34% of food and beverage companies measured production throughput as an operational performance indicator in 2025.[13]
  • 30% of food and beverage companies measured energy efficiency as an operational performance indicator in 2025.[13]
  • 49% of food and beverage companies measured return on investment as an operational performance indicator in 2025.[13]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

Deal flow shifted: food-and-agriculture M&A closed on a last-twelve-month basis fell to 265 through the third quarter of 2026 from 390 in the third quarter of 2025.

Growth in the food process industry

  • $149.9 billion was the value of food and beverage deals closed in 2024, compared with $83.1 billion in 2023.[18]
  • 29.2% was the meat and poultry segment’s share of the U.S. food and beverage processing machinery market in 2025.[19]
  • 58.2% of Canadian food manufacturing businesses spent up to 5% of total expenditures on innovation during fiscal years 2021–2023.[20]
  • $6.2 billion was the U.S. food and beverage processing machinery market’s shipment value in 2025, up 3.2% from 2024.[19]
  • $6.7 billion is the projected U.S. food and beverage processing machinery market size for 2027.[19]
  • $651 million was raised by privately held fermentation companies in 2024.[21]

Differentiation in the food process industry

  • 72% of U.S. shoppers cited good value as a reason for buying more private-brand food products in 2024.[14]
  • Nearly one-third of North American grocery consumers expected to increase private-label purchases in 2026.[9]
  • 5.5 percentage points was the increase in small brands’ share of products with health and functional claims between 2019 and 2024.[22]
  • Approximately 40% was small brands’ share of U.S. food-and-beverage products with health and functional claims in 2024.[22]
  • Nearly half or more of private-label merchandising, product-design and trend-identification activities were expected to be managed internally by grocers in 2026.[9]
  • 48.4% of Canadian food manufacturing businesses introduced process innovation during fiscal years 2016–2018.[20]

Mergers and acquisitions in the food process industry

  • 108 food-production transactions were announced or closed year to date in 2026, up 21.3% year over year.[23]
  • $2.1 billion was the value of Performance Food Group’s acquisition of Cheney Brothers in 2024.[18]
  • 234 food-production transactions were recorded in 2023.[23]
  • 60 food-and-beverage transactions were announced in the first quarter of 2026, up 5% quarter over quarter.[24]
  • $9 billion was the value of BlueTriton Brands’ acquisition of Primo Brands in 2024.[18]
  • 301 food-production transactions were recorded in 2021.[23]

Strategic partnerships in the food process industry

  • At least 21 partnerships were formed in the fermentation sector in 2024.[21]
  • 9% was Ingredion’s equity investment in Sanstar under their 2026 strategic partnership.[25]
  • $357 million was raised by companies operating primarily in the fermentation ecosystem in 2025.[21]
  • $1.5 billion was the expected revenue of the collagen-focused company planned by Darling Ingredients and Tessenderlo Group in 2025.[26]
  • $66 million was the investment grant applied for by Solar Foods for its large-scale Factory 02 in Finland in 2025.[27]
  • £6.5 million was Hilton Foods’ contribution to a Saudi joint-venture facility with NADEC in 2025.[28]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

Labor pressure persists alongside training moves. In the U.S., 87% of manufacturers were hiring for production positions throughout the year.

Hiring in the food process industry

  • 87% of U.S. manufacturers surveyed were hiring for production positions throughout the year.[29]
  • 26% of U.S. food and beverage businesses expected staffing shortages to worsen over the following 12 months.[30]
  • 51% of U.S. food and beverage processors were recruiting maintenance technicians.[31]
  • 82% of U.S. food and beverage businesses were actively hiring.[30]
  • 24% of U.S. food and beverage processors planned to outsource more job functions.[31]

Employee retention in the food process industry

  • 35% of manufacturers estimated the average replacement cost for a skilled frontline employee at $10,000–$20,000.[32]
  • 11% of manufacturers said employee turnover had a severe impact on bottom-line finances.[32]
  • 21.0% was the 25th-percentile voluntary separation rate among surveyed U.S. food and kindred-products manufacturers.[33]
  • 23% of manufacturers estimated the average replacement cost for a skilled frontline employee at $20,000–$30,000.[32]
  • 45% of manufacturers said employee turnover had a moderate impact on bottom-line finances.[32]

Remote Work in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across U.S. agriculture and food employers, 35% offered some type of remote-work arrangement in 2024, according to AgCareers’ industry hiring report.[34]
  • Across U.S. agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, about 12% of workers worked remotely during October 2023–September 2024, including hybrid and fully remote work.[35]
  • Across U.S. accommodation and food services, 4.8% of workers worked remotely in 2021, up from 1.9% in 2019 and 5.3% in 2020.[36]
  • Across U.S. crop and animal production, 14.4% of workers worked remotely in 2021, compared with 14.7% in 2019 and 15.4% in 2020.[36]

Hybrid Work in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 13% of Australian FMCG and agribusiness professionals preferred full-time on-site work in 2024.[37]
  • 21% of Australian FMCG and agribusiness professionals reported working fully remotely in 2024.[37]
  • 84% of Australian agribusiness organisations planned no change to existing flexible or hybrid work arrangements in 2026.[38]
  • 33% of Australian FMCG and agribusiness professionals reported working in hybrid arrangements in 2024.[37]
  • Among science-of-food professionals surveyed in 2024, 36% reported having no work-at-home days per week.[1]

Upskilling in the food process industry

  • 55% of U.S. food and beverage processors were adding on-the-job training to expand maintenance-worker skills.[31]
  • Nearly 70% of food and beverage industry respondents said their employees were eager to learn new skills.[13]
  • 30% of U.S. food and beverage processors were expanding in-house technical training.[31]

Employee Engagement in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • At Europe Snacks, a multinational food manufacturer, employee engagement reached 79% across its international workforce and 88% in its UK business after a structured listening program.[39]
  • Manufacture, distribution and storage organizations recorded an average employee-engagement score of 72.9% in People Insight’s global benchmark data.[39]
  • Employees in manufacture, distribution and storage organizations scored 59.3% on leadership in People Insight’s global benchmark data.[39]
  • Employees in manufacture, distribution and storage organizations scored 60.9% on enablement in People Insight’s global benchmark data.[39]
  • In the agriculture industry, employees averaged 7.68 out of 10 for engagement and an eNPS of +5 in CultureMonkey’s 2026 benchmark.[40]

DEI in the food process industry

  • 46% female representation was achieved by leading food-industry organizations.[41]
  • 51.4% of Nestlé’s total promotions in 2024 went to women.[42]
  • 25% of the global food manufacturing workforce was female at high-executive level.[41]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

Customer experience effects show up in loss behavior. In 2024, 47.73% of U.S. consumers said they would stop doing business after a bad customer experience.

Customer experience in the food process industry

  • 23.11% of United States consumers said in-person grocery and retail stores had improved customer service or experiences in 2024.[43]
  • 35.42% of United States consumers said they would contact a company to share a complaint after a bad experience in 2024.[43]
  • 29% of foodservice consumers said operators should invest in face-to-face customer service in the United States in 2025.[44]
  • 28.79% of United States consumers said fast-food, coffee-shop, or fast-casual businesses had improved customer service or experiences in 2024.[43]
  • 47.73% of United States consumers said they would try to stop doing business with a company after a bad customer experience in 2024.[43]

Customer retention in the food process industry

  • 57% of Canadian consumers said restaurant loyalty programs made them more likely to dine out in 2024.[45]
  • 36% of United States consumers agreed they were less loyal to stores and brands in 2024, four percentage points lower than the previous year.[46]
  • 61% of global food and beverage consumers said price matters more to them than two years earlier, with cost and perceived value the leading reasons for stopping purchases from a brand in 2025.[9]
  • 20% of United States consumers shopped with brands offering points or loyalty rewards in 2024.[46]

Customer acquisition in the food process industry

  • 31.3% of United States Gen Z consumers discovered new food products through online reviews in 2025.[13]
  • 50% of United States Gen Z and millennial consumers discovered new beverage brands or products at grocery or convenience stores in 2026.[47]
  • 25% of United States Gen Z and millennial consumers discovered new beverage brands or products at restaurants or cafés in 2026.[47]
  • 33% of United States Gen Z and millennial consumers discovered new beverage brands or products through social media in 2026.[47]
  • 17% of United States Gen Z and millennial consumers discovered new beverage brands or products through delivery apps or online grocery platforms in 2026.[47]

Customer loyalty in the food process industry

  • 54% of United States CPG shoppers said brand longevity positively affects loyalty in 2024.[48]
  • 66% of United States CPG shoppers said high-quality products positively affect loyalty in 2024.[48]
  • 62% of United States CPG shoppers expected brands to stay away from political issues in exchange for loyalty in 2024.[48]
  • 43% of United States consumers were loyal to at least one food and beverage brand in the Visual Objects survey.[49]
  • 53% of United States CPG shoppers demonstrated loyalty by shopping with brands frequently in 2024.[48]

Lead generation in the food process industry

  • 17% of United States Gen Z and millennial consumers discovered new beverage brands or products through sampling at stores or events in 2026.[47]
  • 9.4% of United States Gen Z consumers discovered new food products through email newsletters from stores in 2025.[13]
  • 12.5% of United States Gen Z consumers discovered new food products through food blogs or websites in 2025.[13]
  • 32% of United States Gen Z and millennial consumers discovered new beverage brands or products through personal recommendations in 2026.[47]
  • 33% of United States Gen Z and millennial consumers discovered new beverage brands or products through social media in 2026, representing a leading food-and-beverage prospecting channel.[47]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

Brand impact is measurable through social reach. Food and drink influencer content generated 392 billion impressions globally in 2023.

Marketing in the food process industry

  • $9.2 billion was Procter & Gamble’s advertising spending in fiscal 2025 worldwide.[50]
  • $9.6 billion was Procter & Gamble’s advertising spending in fiscal 2024 worldwide.[50]
  • $8.0 billion was Procter & Gamble’s advertising spending in fiscal 2023 worldwide.[50]
  • $1.655 billion was Mondelez International’s advertising expense in 2025 worldwide.[51]
  • $2.112 billion was Mondelez International’s advertising expense in 2024 worldwide.[51]

Digital marketing in the food process industry

  • $680 million was online revenue for the global Food category in 2024, according to Digital 2025 data.[52]
  • 10% of surveyed food and beverage marketers said their companies did not outsource analytics and reporting in 2025.[53]
  • 1,005 U.S. food and beverage shoppers were surveyed by Tinuiti in June 2025.[53]
  • 200 food and beverage marketing professionals were surveyed by Tinuiti in the United States in June 2025.[53]
  • 62% of surveyed food and beverage marketers said most or all advertising was outsourced in 2025.[53]

Branding in the food process industry

  • $15.3 billion was Nongfu Spring’s brand value in 2026, up 38% year over year.[54]
  • $50.8 billion was the combined value of the world’s 10 most valuable dairy brands in 2026.[54]
  • $3.9 billion was Hershey’s brand value in 2024, when it ranked as the second-strongest food brand.[55]
  • 91.0 was Amul’s Brand Strength Index score in 2024, ranking it as the strongest food brand globally that year.[55]
  • 93.5 was Sadia’s Brand Strength Index score in 2026, making it the world’s strongest food brand.[54]

Social media in the food process industry

  • 2.4% was the median Instagram engagement rate for confectionery brands in October 2026.[56]
  • 3.9% was the median TikTok engagement rate for confectionery brands in October 2026.[56]
  • 3.2% was the average Instagram engagement-by-views rate for food and beverage posts in the first half of 2026.[57]
  • 136,000 views was the average per TikTok post for food and beverage brands in the first half of 2026.[57]
  • 1.7% was the median Instagram engagement rate for food brands in October 2026.[56]

Influencer Marketing in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Food and drink influencer content generated 392 billion impressions globally in 2023.[58]
  • Food and drink influencer content involved 78,800 profiles globally in 2023, based on Sprout Social’s benchmark dataset.[58]
  • Food and drink influencer content produced an estimated $122 billion in earned media value globally in 2023.[58]
  • Food and drink influencer content generated 42.7 billion engagements globally in 2023.[58]
  • 11.5 million influencer posts covered food and drink globally in 2023, according to Sprout Social’s benchmark dataset.[58]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

Operational monitoring is moving into production. In 2025, 41% of surveyed food manufacturers used real-time production-monitoring dashboards.

Process optimization in the food process industry

  • 51% of food companies planned to implement cloud-based manufacturing-execution systems in 2025.[13]
  • 33% of food companies said data analytics delivered the greatest value for identifying production bottlenecks in 2025.[13]
  • 13% of the potential energy-efficiency-gap reduction could be achieved by bringing the lower half of U.S. food-processing plants up to median performance in 2020.[59]
  • 44% of food companies planned to implement smart-energy-management systems in 2025.[13]
  • 41% of surveyed food manufacturers were using real-time production-monitoring dashboards in 2025.[13]

Operational efficiency in the food process industry

  • 65.6% was the average baseline OEE for factories exceeding $500 million in annual revenue in the 2025 food and beverage benchmark.[13]
  • 50.0% was the average baseline OEE for factories with $100 million to $500 million in annual revenue in the 2025 food and beverage benchmark.[13]
  • 26.3% was the average 90-day productivity increase reported for food and beverage factories in a 2025 benchmark.[13]
  • 99.105 was the U.S. food-manufacturing labor-productivity index in 2023, with 2017 equal to 100.[60]
  • 12.4 percentage points was the average OEE uplift reported for food and beverage factories after 90 days in a 2025 benchmark.[13]

Quality management in the food process industry

  • 468 U.S. food and beverage recall incidents from 2020 through 2023 involved under-processed products.[61]
  • 758 U.S. food and beverage recall incidents from 2020 through 2023 involved refrigeration issues.[61]
  • 82% of food and beverage manufacturers reported experiencing a product recall during the five years covered by an Octave survey.[30]
  • 35,548 U.S. food and beverage recall incidents were recorded from 2020 through 2023 in a NOAA analysis of FDA data.[61]
  • 48% of U.S. food and beverage recall incidents from 2020 through 2023 were attributed to biological contamination.[61]

Supply chain in the food process industry

  • 9.3% was the average annual growth rate of Canada's processed food, beverage and tobacco imports over the five years through 2024.[62]
  • 89% of Canada's processed food and beverage exports went to the United States, China and Japan in 2024.[62]
  • $4.3 billion was Canada's processed food, beverage and tobacco trade balance in 2024.[62]
  • 35% of Canadian food and beverage processors measured, tracked or assessed food waste through process optimization in 2024.[63]
  • $55 billion was the value of Canada's processed food, beverage and tobacco imports in 2024.[62]

Outsourcing / Offshoring in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 2% of Canadian food and beverage companies outsourced production entirely to third-party manufacturers in 2020.[64]
  • 66% of Queensland food-processing businesses engaged in contract manufacturing to some extent in 2010, including contracting work in or out.[65]
  • About 12% of firms in the 11-country World Bank Firm-level Adoption of Technology sample outsourced at least one food-processing function, compared with about 18% in apparel.[66]
  • 19% of surveyed Queensland food-processing businesses contracted work out in 2010, while 28% contracted work in and 15% did both.[65]
  • 49% of U.S. growers surveyed outsourced at least some farm work to third-party service providers in 2022, with spraying services the most commonly outsourced activity.[67]

11 Statistics

Finance & Pricing

Margins and spending plans vary by cohort, while capex stays active. The 25 large food and beverage companies tracked by Food Processing planned a 2.9% increase in capital spending for 2026.

Pricing strategy in the food process industry

  • More than 1 in 10 CPG manufacturers said they would proactively reduce everyday prices in response to retailer price-investment requests in 2024.[68]
  • 9% of CPG manufacturers said they would share the cost of retailer price investments in 2024.[68]
  • US Foods increased adjusted gross profit 7.3% to $6.6 billion in fiscal 2024, citing pricing optimization among the drivers.[50]
  • US Foods reported 52% private-label penetration with core independent restaurants in fiscal 2024.[50]
  • 46% of food and beverage manufacturers that increased prices in 2024 raised them by 3% to 6% in New York and New Jersey.[69]

Cost reduction in the food process industry

  • A national food manufacturer increased labor productivity by 11% after operational-improvement work.[70]
  • The same food and ingredients manufacturer reduced outside repair and maintenance costs by 22.7%.[70]
  • Campbell generated approximately $950 million in cumulative pretax savings from its completed multiyear cost-savings and Snyder’s-Lance transformation programs by July 2024.[71]
  • Conagra reduced costs by 3.9% as a percentage of total cost of goods sold in fiscal 2024 through materials, manufacturing, logistics, network and product-design efficiencies.[72]
  • Campbell expects approximately $250 million in annual ongoing savings from new initiatives by the end of 2028.[71]

Profitability in the food process industry

  • 70% of surveyed New York and New Jersey food and beverage manufacturers reported profit increases of at least 10% in 2024.[69]
  • The aggregate gross margin for food-processing companies in the NYU Stern sample was 25.9% in January 2025.[73]
  • The aggregate operating margin for food-processing companies in the NYU Stern sample was 12.0% in January 2025.[73]
  • The aggregate net margin for food-processing companies in the NYU Stern sample was 6.0% in January 2025.[73]
  • Food-processing companies in the NYU Stern January 2026 sample had a 15.3% aggregate EBITDA margin.[73]

Financial planning in the food process industry

  • The 25 large food and beverage companies tracked by Food Processing planned a 2.9% increase in capital spending for 2026.[31]
  • The 25 large food and beverage companies tracked by Food Processing represented $21 billion in 2026 capital-expenditure funds.[31]
  • Canadian food and beverage manufacturing capital expenditures equaled 5.7% of sales in 2020.[8]
  • U.S. beverage manufacturing capital costs were $29.84 billion in 2023.[60]
  • Canadian food and beverage manufacturing capital expenditures equaled 3.3% of sales in 2025.[8]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

Reliability of supply supports service ecosystems. The mean share of engineering services outsourced by surveyed food-processing companies was 45% in the latest Food Engineering survey.

Product development in the food process industry

  • 20.1% of Canadian grain and oilseed milling businesses introduced product innovations during fiscal years 2021–2023.[20]
  • 31.9% of Canadian bakeries and tortilla manufacturers introduced product innovations during fiscal years 2021–2023.[20]
  • 42.0% of Canadian fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty-food manufacturers introduced product innovations during fiscal years 2021–2023.[20]
  • 39.8% of Ontario food-manufacturing businesses introduced product innovations during 2021–2023, the highest regional share reported in Canada.[20]
  • 45.6% of Canadian businesses in other food manufacturing introduced product innovations during fiscal years 2021–2023.[20]

Product lifecycle in the food process industry

  • 26% of surveyed U.S. food consumers would pay 1%–5% extra for longer shelf life in 2025.[13]
  • 7% of surveyed U.S. food consumers would pay more than 15% extra for longer shelf life in 2025.[13]
  • 31.7% of Canadian food-manufacturing businesses tracked unusable food parts and unmarketable food products during 2021–2023.[20]
  • 15.1% of unusable food parts and unmarketable food products tracked by Canadian food manufacturers were sent to landfill during 2021–2023.[20]
  • 8% of surveyed U.S. food consumers would pay 11%–15% extra for longer shelf life in 2025.[13]

After-sales in the food process industry

  • 13% of surveyed food-processing professionals maintained spare-parts relationships with multiple distributors and OEMs in 2025.[74]
  • 18.6% was the mean share of energy-management services outsourced by surveyed food-processing companies in the latest Food Engineering survey.[74]
  • 19% of surveyed food-processing professionals used parts owned by a local distributor but stored at the plant in 2025.[74]
  • 33% of surveyed food-processing professionals used spare-parts inventory stored at a local distributor in 2025.[74]
  • 45% was the mean share of engineering services outsourced by surveyed food-processing companies in the latest Food Engineering survey.[74]

Value proposition in the food process industry

  • 17.4% of U.S. consumers ranked convenience or ease of preparation among their top food and beverage purchase influences in 2025.[13]
  • 1.0% of U.S. consumers ranked local sourcing among their top food and beverage purchase influences in 2025.[13]
  • 80.6% of U.S. consumers ranked taste or flavor among their top food and beverage purchase influences in 2025.[13]
  • 3.6% of U.S. consumers ranked environmental sustainability among their top food and beverage purchase influences in 2025.[13]
  • 18% of consumers in the United Kingdom and United States said they most often bought large food brands for functionality in McKinsey's global consumer survey.[9]

13 Statistics

Sustainability & Ethics

Waste and traceability signals are widespread. In 2023–2024, 87% of Canadian food and beverage processors implemented at least one environmentally related initiative.

Sustainability in the food process industry

  • 48.3% of food manufacturers reported measurable progress in reducing waste output over the previous two years.[4]
  • 87% of Canadian food and beverage processors had implemented at least one environmentally related initiative in 2023–2024.[63]
  • €250 billion was generated in value added by the EU food and drink industry in 2023.[75]
  • 17.2% of food manufacturers reported no measurable sustainability progress in the previous two years.[13]
  • 4.7 million people were employed by the EU food and drink industry in 2023, making it the bloc’s largest manufacturing employer.[75]

ESG in the food process industry

  • 83% of food and beverage manufacturers surveyed globally had an ESG policy in 2024.[5]
  • 90 food and agriculture companies reported sustainable agricultural practices in the World Benchmarking Alliance’s latest benchmark, three times as many as in 2023.[76]
  • 75% of food and beverage manufacturers surveyed globally were using tax credits to support ESG implementation in 2024.[5]
  • More than 60% of the agri-food companies assessed by BloombergNEF had at least one water target in 2024.[77]
  • 60% of the 50 largest North American food companies analyzed by Ceres were making progress on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in 2024.[78]

Ethics in the food process industry

  • 76% of Canadian food and beverage processors had traceability systems in 2023–2024.[63]
  • 78% of Canadian food and beverage processors had food-safety communication programs in 2023–2024.[63]
  • 17% of food and agriculture companies assessed had set targets to improve soil health.[76]
  • Fewer than 3% of food and agriculture companies assessed measured living-income gaps or worked specifically to close them.[76]
  • 5% of food and agriculture companies assessed reported actual improvements in soil health.[76]

CSR in the food process industry

  • 62% of Canadian food and beverage processors reported food-waste-reduction programs in 2023–2024.[63]
  • 76% of Canadian food and beverage processors reported traceability systems in 2023–2024.[63]
  • 29.5% of U.S. food-manufacturing surplus food went to land application in 2024.[79]
  • 60% of Canadian food and beverage processors reported sustainable packaging programs in 2023–2024.[63]
  • 78% of Canadian food and beverage processors reported food-safety communication programs in 2023–2024.[63]

Circular economy in the food process industry

  • 90.1% of U.S. food-manufacturing surplus food came from byproducts and production-line waste in 2024.[79]
  • 21.1 billion meals were equivalent to the surplus food generated by U.S. food manufacturers in 2024.[79]
  • More than 11 million tonnes of food waste were generated by EU processing and manufacturing in 2024.[11]
  • 18.4% of U.S. food-manufacturing surplus food was dry goods in 2024.[79]
  • 19% of EU food waste came from manufacture of food products and beverages in 2024.[11]

Carbon footprint in the food process industry

  • 492,000 metric tonnes of methane emissions were associated with surplus food from U.S. manufacturing in 2024.[79]
  • 5.74 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions came from waste-management Scope 3 emissions in the EU food and drink sector.[75]
  • 88% of total EU food and drink industry emissions came from Scope 3 emissions in the latest pathway assessment.[75]
  • 60% of the 50 largest North American food companies analyzed by Ceres were reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in 2024.[78]
  • 36.04 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions came from distribution-related Scope 3 emissions in the EU food and drink sector.[75]

15 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

Scale is international. Cargill hosted operations in 70 countries in 2024 and served 125 markets through food, ingredients and agricultural businesses.

Globalization in the food process industry

  • 70 countries hosted Cargill operations in 2024.[86]
  • €27.4 billion was Danone’s 2024 sales, generated from products sold in more than 120 markets.[87]
  • 125 markets were served by Cargill in 2024 through food, ingredients and agricultural businesses.[86]
  • $160 billion was Cargill’s annual revenue in 2024.[86]
  • 160,000-plus employees worked for Cargill globally in 2024.[86]

Cultural adaptation in the food process industry

  • 52% of Utah ranchers reported annual gross sales of at least $100,000 in a 2024 study of value-added food production.[88]
  • 34% of Utah food processors reported annual gross sales of at least $100,000 in a 2024 producer survey.[88]
  • 134 farmers in Utah’s 2024 survey were involved in or planning to engage in food-processing activities.[88]
  • 10% was Euromonitor’s forecast compound annual growth rate for food-delivery channels from 2024 to 2028.[89]
  • 64% of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander consumers said they would stop buying from brands that devalue their identity group.[90]

Supplier management in the food process industry

  • Approximately 6,000 suppliers supported US Foods’ 2024 foodservice distribution network.[91]
  • 8.7 million hectares of farmland were covered by Rainforest Alliance certification in 2024.[92]
  • 400,000 products were available through US Foods’ supplier network in 2024.[91]
  • 400,000 farmers in more than 30 countries were reported as part of Starbucks’ ethical-sourcing network.[90]
  • 53,000 farmers had been positively impacted by McCormick farmer and community-resilience programs by the end of fiscal 2024.[93]

Stakeholder management in the food process industry

  • 6,500 or more trucks were operated by US Foods in 2024 to support foodservice customers and suppliers.[91]
  • $11 million was donated to global charities through McCormick’s Power of Giving program by the end of fiscal 2024.[93]
  • 120,000 Tyson Foods team members were employed in the United States as of September 28, 2024.[72]
  • 7,700 McCormick employees engaged in activities supporting the company’s global charitable-giving programs by the end of fiscal 2024.[93]
  • 23 Stock Yards facilities were operated by US Foods in 2024 as part of its customer-service network.[91]

Distribution channels in the food process industry

  • $46.9 billion was U.S. small-local-grocer retail sales in 2023.[62]
  • $37.8 billion was U.S. discounter retail sales in 2023.[62]
  • $686.2 billion was U.S. supermarket retail sales in 2023.[62]
  • -0.2% was 2024 volume change for U.S. brick-and-mortar food-and-beverage sales compared with the prior year.[94]
  • $206.8 billion was U.S. grocery ecommerce retail sales in 2023, up from $81.1 billion in 2019.[62]

Key questions about the food process industry

How big is the food and beverage processing market?
The global food and beverage processing economy reached $6.69 trillion in 2024. U.S. food manufacturing generated $1.05 trillion in shipments in 2024.
What growth rate should we expect for 2023–2027?
The global food and beverage processing sector shows 4–5% CAGR for 2023–2027. India’s food processing market is valued at $354.5 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $758.4 billion by 2028.
Which companies lead the food process industry?
Cargill leads Gitnux's 2026 food process ranking with an Overall score of 9.4, with 2024 annual revenue of $160 billion. Mars is the highest-ranked confectionery and prepared foods manufacturer at 9.2, with confectionery, pet food and prepared foods segment operations.
Where is technology shifting in food processing?
In technology survey results, 34% said manufacturing process or assembly improved via digital transformation, including AI. For data operations, 41% of manufacturers reported real-time production-monitoring dashboards in 2025.
What is the market structure across the value chain?
Consumer dollars funnel into processing at 16.1 cents per $1 spent on domestically produced food in the U.S. in 2024, compared with 13.8 cents for retail and 6.3 cents for wholesale.
What compliance timeline matters for FDA food traceability in 2026?
FDA states it will not enforce the Food Traceability Rule before July 20, 2028, even though the original compliance date was January 20, 2026. Covered firms must maintain key data elements tied to critical tracking events.
Reference

Cite This Report

This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.

APA
Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Food Process Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/food-process-industry-statistics
MLA
Samuel Norberg. "Food Process Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 10 Nov 2026, https://gitnux.org/food-process-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Food Process Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/food-process-industry-statistics.

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