727 Food And Drink Acquisitions In 2017

2017 was another record year for food and drink industry transactions, with 727 registered in the bevblog.net mergers and acquisitions database, an average of almost 14 each week.

The total is 103 more than in 2016 and 40% higher than five years ago. The number has increased each year apart from a dip in 2013.

Global Food And Drink Acquisitions 2012-17

The most active sectors were dairy on 72, ingredients and soft drinks on 68, then packaging on 54. Beer on 40 was ahead of spirits on 37 and wine on 30.

Global Food And Drink Acquisitions By Sector 2016-17 

The top 15 sectors were the same as 2016, with the exception of plant-based replacing bottled water.

Plant-based deals quadrupled (+13), with nutrition up 121% (+17), meat up 67% (+16), snacks up 52% (+11), ingredients up 36% (+18) and dairy up 24% (+14). Wine activity dropped by 36% (-17) and packaging by 16% (-10).