Food Products valuation multiples
Worldwide, the median listed food products company was valued at 16.0x normalised earnings and 9.2x EBITDA at 30 September 2026. By region, the median was 14.8x in the United States, 17.3x in Europe, 15.8x in Japan and 16.1x in Emerging Asia.
Global 599 listed food products companies at 30 September 2026
median
median
median
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*Excludes companies with negative normalised earnings. **Excludes companies with negative EBITDA. ***Excludes companies with negative free cash flow. How the figures are built
| P/E | EV/EBITDA | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Companies | Median | Aggregate | Median | Aggregate |
| Global | 437 | 16.0x | 19.4x | 9.2x | 10.6x |
| United States | 36 | 14.8x | 16.0x | 9.0x | 10.2x |
| Europe | 52 | 17.3x | 18.0x | 8.7x | 12.0x |
| Japan | 75 | 15.8x | 20.2x | 7.9x | 10.2x |
| Emerging Asia | 241 | 16.1x | 29.0x | 10.6x | 10.3x |
Companies: those in the P/E median. Median: the typical food products company. Aggregate: the industry as a whole, total value over total revenue, earnings or book value, with larger companies weighing more and loss-makers included. Worldwide and in Japan and Emerging Asia the larger companies trade on higher multiples than the typical one, so the aggregate sits above the median. In Europe one company is more than half the industry's value, so the aggregate mostly describes that company. n/m: not meaningful, or too few companies. How both are calculated
Valuation multiples by sector and region
What listed companies trade on worldwide, by region and sector, in ten pages. It may be shared and quoted with attribution to Siblis Research.
- Market multiples for eight regions: EV/EBITDA, P/E, EV/Sales, P/B
- 13 sectors by region: EV/EBITDA and P/E
- The most and least expensive industries
- Twelve quarters of history
| Multiple | Global | United States | Europe | Japan | Emerging Asia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/ENormalised earnings: one-off items removed. The key multiple for food products companies. | 16.0x | 14.8x | 17.3x | 15.8x | 16.1x |
| EV/EBITDAEnterprise value to EBITDA; share-based pay counted as an expense. | 9.2x | 9.0x | 8.7x | 7.9x | 10.6x |
| P/FCFMarket value to free cash flow. | 15.3x | 14.1x | 15.7x | 18.7x | 15.3x |
| EV/EBITEnterprise value to operating profit, after depreciation. | 13.9x | 13.7x | 14.0x | 13.1x | 14.6x |
| Ratio | Global | United States | Europe | Japan | Emerging Asia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 23.5% | 24.0% | 27.9% | 26.4% | 22.0% |
| EBIT margin | 7.1% | 7.7% | 6.8% | 5.1% | 8.2% |
| Revenue growth | 3.2% | 1.9% | 4.1% | 3.7% | 3.1% |
| Return on invested capital | 7.4% | 7.5% | 7.5% | 6.6% | 8.3% |
Each ratio is the median of the companies that report the figure. Revenue growth compares the last twelve months with the twelve months before.
Global
- Nestle SASwitzerland
- Mondelez International IncUS
- Danone SAFrance
- Archer-Daniels-Midland CoUS
- Muyuan Foodstuff Co LtdChina
of 599 companies
United States
- Mondelez International IncUS
- Archer-Daniels-Midland CoUS
- Hershey CoUS
- Kraft Heinz CoUS
- Bunge Global SAUS
of 44 companies
Europe
- Nestle SASwitzerland
- Danone SAFrance
- Lotus Bakeries NVBelgium
- Mowi ASANorway
- Magnum Ice Cream Co NVNetherlands
of 80 companies
Japan
- Ajinomoto Co IncJapan
- Kikkoman CorpJapan
- Meiji Holdings Co LtdJapan
- Toyo Suisan Kaisha LtdJapan
- Nissin Foods Holdings Co LtdJapan
of 77 companies
Emerging Asia
- Muyuan Foodstuff Co LtdChina
- Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food Co LtdChina
- Nestle India LtdIndia
- Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co LtdChina
- Yihai Kerry Arawana Holdings Co LtdChina
of 351 companies
Subscribers get the figures of all 599 companies at 30 Sep 2026, and of every company in earlier quarters, delisted ones included, with their key multiples, size band, last reporting date and data flags. Every median and aggregate can be checked company by company, and every company figure traced back to that company's own filings.
| Sub-industry | Covers | P/E | EV/EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packaged Foods & Meats | Packaged foods, meat and poultry processors | See plans | See plans |
| Agricultural Products | Agribusiness, crop and produce, grain merchants | See plans | See plans |
Global medians, 30 Sep 2026
Global median P/E, 12 quarters
Food Products in the full data
Close together across regions
Food products are valued on earnings, and the regional medians are close: 17.3x normalised earnings in Europe, the highest, 16.1x in Emerging Asia, 15.8x in Japan and 14.8x in the United States, the lowest. They have moved in opposite directions: Europe's median rose from 15.4x in Q4 2023, the United States' fell from 18.3x.
Emerging Asia: the largest companies trade far higher
Most of the 579 companies in the statistics are in Asia, 166 of them in China. In Emerging Asia the aggregate P/E is 29.0x against a median of 16.1x: the largest food companies there trade far above the typical one.
Thin margins, size premium
The median food company earns an EBIT margin of 7.1% and a return on invested capital of 7.4%. Companies above USD 10bn trade at a median 20.0x normalised earnings, against 12.3x for micro caps. A brand owner and a commodity processor are both in this industry, and they are valued far apart.
What P/E multiple do food products companies trade at?
The median listed food products company traded at 16.0x normalised earnings (P/E) at 30 September 2026, across 437 companies above USD 100m; the aggregate was 19.4x. United States 14.8x, Europe 17.3x, Japan 15.8x, Emerging Asia 16.1x.
What is the median EV/EBITDA of food products companies?
9.2x at 30 September 2026, across 534 companies; the aggregate was 10.6x.
Should a valuation use the median or the aggregate?
The median, with the 25th and 75th percentiles of a peer group close to the target in sub-industry and size. The aggregate describes the industry as an investor holding all of it would see it, and it is pulled towards the largest companies.
Do these figures include private food products companies?
No. They cover listed companies with a market value above USD 100m. Data for US companies of USD 25–100m is available to subscribers as a separate universe.
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Companies with a market value above USD 100m whose main business is packaged foods, agricultural products, meat and dairy producers, listed on the largest stock markets in every region. Delisted companies are included for the dates they were listed, so past figures carry no survivorship bias.
Financial statements come from official filing databases where they exist, such as SEC EDGAR in the United States and EDINET in Japan, and otherwise from the companies' own published reports.
599 food products companies at 30 September 2026. The number changes every quarter as companies list, delist or change industry. Companies with accounts more than about nine months old, and holding companies whose results are mainly revaluations of their investments, are left out.
The typical company: each counts once, from at least five values. A company with negative EBITDA, operating profit or normalised earnings is left out of the median of that multiple, as are multiples above 50x for EV/Sales or 100x for earnings multiples. So each median has its own number of companies.
The industry as a whole: total value over total revenue or earnings in US dollars, each company weighted by its free float, loss-makers included. Where one company is more than half the industry's value, the aggregate mostly describes that company; use the median.
Each figure uses only the financial statements public on the valuation date, over the last twelve months. Later restatements never change it.
Market value plus debt, preferred equity and minority interests, less cash. Lease liabilities are included on the IFRS 16 basis.
Restructuring, deal and litigation costs are added back; share-based pay stays an expense. Adjusted EBITDA adds share-based pay back as well.
Net earnings with one-off items removed, such as impairments, restructuring costs and disposal gains. The P/E uses these, never reported earnings.
Cite this page
Siblis Research (2026). Food Products Valuation Multiples [Data set]. Valuation date 30 September 2026. siblisresearch.com/valuation-multiples-by-industry/food-products/
Charts on this page may be reproduced with attribution to Siblis Research and a link to this page.
@misc{siblis_food_products_multiples,
title = {Food Products Valuation Multiples},
author = {{Siblis Research}},
year = {2026},
note = {Valuation date 30 September 2026},
url = {https://siblisresearch.com/valuation-multiples-by-industry/food-products/}
}