Fancy Food Show June 2026

There is presently a window of opportunity leading up to the mid-term elections in November, followed by an unknown environment where the situational circumstances will depend heavily on the outcome of those elections.

For now, the M&A market continues to be relatively strong, supported by extreme historical highs in the public equity markets, moderate government bond yields, and historically tight credit spreads. The S&P 500 has been posting new all-time record highs this spring, trading at forward multiples well above its 10-year average, while the Federal Reserve itself has flagged elevated asset valuations and historically low credit spreads. The S&P 500’s forward earnings yield is near parity with the 10-year Treasury – an equity risk premium among the lowest on record.

In the credit markets, interest rates have been climbing in response to inflationary pressures from tariffs, uncertainty surrounding the conflict with Iran, and continued growth in government spending. The 10-year Treasury yield is now over 4.5%, while the 30-year yield is over 5.0% and recently reached its highest level since 2007. The fiscal circumstances are unsustainable with the federal debt now exceeding $39 trillion and about to cross $40 trillion before the end of this year, with net interest payments projected to exceed $1 trillion in fiscal 2026, nearly triple what the government paid in 2020.

Rising interest rates have historically been the catalyst for market setbacks and outright outages, and the early warning signs are visible beneath the surface. We are already seeing reduced lending and deal demand in the middle market — a softness obscured by high-profile, headline-grabbing transactions in the AI sector. While 74 megadeals of $5 billion or more were announced last year (the most since 2021, with more than 20% driven by AI), middle-market M&A declined to a decade low, and leveraged-loan refinancing issuance fell more than 40% year-over-year in the first quarter.

Within consumer packaged goods specifically, the window is attractive on both sides of the table. For sellers, acquirer demand is concentrated with high intent in functional foods, healthy snacking, high protein, and GLP-1 and peptide complements. The line between food and healthcare has blurred as consumers treat dietary choices as proactive health management, with GLP-1 adoption accelerating “food as medicine” trends. High-protein products, and better-for-you deals comprised more than a quarter of total sector volume in 2025, the highest share since 2019, with health-oriented branded products expected to continue to drive dealmaking in 2026. For buyers, the wave of large strategic transactions over the last twelve months – Mars–Kellanova, Ferrero–WK Kellogg, the announced Kraft Heinz split, Unilever Foods–McCormick, and Unilever’s ice cream divestiture among them – will result in portfolio rationalization as acquirers integrate and prune, making high-quality brands available both opportunistically and through formal sale processes. With 25+ years of CPG market experience and industry connections, Silverwood has unmatched access to buyers and sellers for the benefit of its clients.

That leaves approximately five months between now and the midterms – enough time for a well-prepared company to make significant headway on a process, and quite possibly to close a transaction, before the environment potentially resets.

Trends Highlighted in the Industry Analysis Below Include: