Move over health food. Consumers want beer and chocolate, Forbes says. This year’s Forbes Global 2000 list identifies Anheuser-Busch InBev as the largest food and beverage company in the world, displacing Nestle, which is now second. PepsiCo didn’t make the top 100 overall, but still came in third in the food and beverage category.
Anheuser-Busch saw huge gains in revenue and profit, which propelled the beer company from #126 last year to #41 this year. Meanwhile, Nestle dropped 14 spots — Forbes notes that while Nestle’s revenue was stable, profits slipped. PepsiCo also dropped this year, moving out of the top 100 to #102, but their performance was still good enough for #3 in the industry.
Close on PepsiCo’s heels is Unilever at #103. Kraft Heinz was the only other food and beverage company to make the top 200 — at #126.
Forbes notes that the top 25 food and beverage companies saw increases in both revenue ($749.3 billion) and profit ($137 billion) last year.
For more information, view the full list and read Forbes’ analysis of the food and beverage sector.
