Attacking The Grocery Shelves: 120+ Food & Beverage Startups In One Infographic

The food and beverage industry is remarkably concentrated, with the top companies wielding multiple, sometimes dozens, of brands. In each of the major food & beverage categories, the top 4 or fewer companies capture over 70% of the market across key segments like beer, soda, chocolate, and cereal.

But with increased global focus on health and natural eating, smaller food companies have grown in recent years — a Boston Consulting Group report found that CPG companies with less than $5B in sales gained 2.7 points of market share since 2011 — representing $18.1B in aggregate sales growth.

Big CPG players have stepped up their M&A and investment activity in recent years. Since late 2015, we’ve seen General Mills, Campbell Soup, and Kellogg’s all launch or invest in venture capital funds to foster startup innovation, while other corporates have made major acquisitions. Danone’s announced a $12.5B acquisition of WhiteWave Foods in October 2016, while in November PepsiCo acquired kombucha startup KeVita and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group acquired antioxidant beverage startup Bai Brands for $1.7B. 

We still see dozens of private food and beverage companies (some with equity funding from the industry leaders) attacking every aisle in the supermarket, with some offering their products in stores, and others competing solely by distributing online. Using CB Insights data, we identified over 120 companies offering new takes on healthy beverages, snack foods, plant-based cheese, and more. Scroll down to view the graphic, as well as funding and investor data for each company.

The graphic includes private, active companies only. The graphic is not exhaustive of startups in the space. Please click image to enlarge. 

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