Food Production Mergers & Acquisitions Update – September 2026

Distressed Transactions and Verticalized Consolidation Propel Food Production Mergers & Acquisitions

The Food Production sector has experienced unabated volatility in 2026 as the onset of the Iran conflict led to spiking inflationary impact on fertilizer and fuel prices. This has resulted in increased financial strain for many producers. Smaller-scale operations have especially struggled with these rising input costs, in many cases further amplified by rising farm loan dependency to cover the increased operating expense. Elevated loan demand has coincided with a decline in farm loan repayment rates, which may continue falling as broader inflationary spillover from the Iran conflict has spurred expectations of at least one Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate hike in 2026. As a result of these and other Agricultural industry pressures, the number of bankruptcies, divestments, and distressed transactions has increased year to date (YTD) with a corresponding increase in food production mergers & acquisitions activity year-over-year (YOY). While financial stress has elevated sector deal flow, current conditions have remained favorable for established, well-capitalized and integrated producers seeking to add vertical and horizontal strength through mergers & acquisitions in the Growing, Packing, and Shipping sectors.

Protein remains the bright spot in the sector, while row crops continue to carry more risk. Reported earnings may look stable on the surface, but that stability is being supported in large part by government aid. For buyers, the opportunity in 2026 will be identifying where that support is masking real margin pressure.

Skye RootManaging Director, Agriculture Investment Banking, Capstone Partners

Farmer Sentiment Remains Subdued as Recent Geopolitical Volatility Pushes Input Costs Higher

Increased government farm aid, rate cut expectations, and easing macroeconomic volatility were anticipated to bring a more constructive Food Production sector backdrop coming into 2026. However, heightened costs amid global fertilizer and fuel shortages following the start of the Iran conflict have prolonged sector-wide financial strains, with rising input expenses and interest rates expected to persist in the near term. Crop farmers have faced the greatest financial pressure, as strong harvests and reduced exports have depressed commodity prices, increased input costs have compressed already tight margins and driven up borrowing costs.

Global shortages in fertilizer and fuel exports following the onset of the Iran conflict have forced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to revise its average 2026 cost estimates for fertilizer (from +5.1% YOY to +16% YOY) and fuel/lube/electricity (from -5.5% YOY to +28% YOY) upwards across major crops for the year, according to the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS).¹  While a 202.6% YOY increase in government farm aid in 2025 helped mitigate the impacts of rising costs, renewed geopolitical pressures have prevented margin recovery for crop farmers, according to the USDA ERS.² Through YTD May 2026, expenses paid by crop farms have been 1.5x higher than prices received, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).³ This has outpaced both the previous 10-year average (1.3x) and the 2023-2025 average (1.4x) when growing interest rate expenses began to converge with higher input costs. Livestock and animal product sector participants have largely avoided these financial setbacks, as cattle shortages and strong demand for protein have increased consumer prices and lifted operator margins so far this year. However, absent a meaningful de-escalation in geopolitical tensions or a decline in input costs, both crop and livestock participants are likely to continue to face additional margin pressure.

Despite the potential for supplementary farm aid if the Farm Bill gets approved this year, the financial strain and macroeconomic headwinds have dampened Food Production sector sentiment. The majority (58%) of farmers have reported worsening financial conditions in 2026, according to an April Farm Bureau survey.⁴ Nearly 70% of surveyed farmers have indicated an inability to fully fund all required fertilizer, driving many growers to seek out alternative soil amendments or secure financing to offset rising operating costs. Farmers have taken out more loans amid the financial strain and are having an increasingly difficult time repaying the debt. Notably, the farm loan demand index reading in Q1 2026 (141) expanded 26.8% compared to the 10-year average (111.2), while the index level for farm loan repayment capabilities (63) dropped 25.7% compared to the 10-year average (84.8), according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.⁵ This dynamic is anticipated to encourage the consolidation of smaller, struggling operators by established sector participants looking to bolster market share coverage, broaden portfolio offerings, and support vertical supply chain expansion.

Divestitures, Consolidations, and Tuck-Ins Lift Food Production Mergers & Acquisitions Activity

Food production mergers & acquisitions (M&A) have expanded for the third consecutive year as renewed geopolitical instability, stressed agriculture operating conditions, and margin weakness have led to a rise in divestitures, consolidations, and distressed transactions. Through YTD 2026, sector dealmaking has increased 21.3% YOY to a total of 108 announced or closed transactions. Strategic-led engagements have jumped 29.2% YOY and have continued to make up the majority (77.8%) of YTD sector M&A. Most strategic activity (88.1%) has come from private buyers seeking to remain competitive against large-scale, vertically-integrated operators, consolidating other private businesses that have struggled in the persistently tough financial environment. Private strategics have capitalized on the increased number of sellers entering the market, with volume rising 25.4% YOY (up 15 transactions YTD). Tuck-ins and corporate divestitures across the Food Production sector have also elevated public strategic deal flow. After four years of flat activity, public strategic M&A has expanded by four deals YOY to 10 transactions. Of note, the majority (60%) of public-led deals to date have been tuck-ins like Cal-Maine Foods’ (Nasdaq:CALM) acquisition of Creighton Brothers (March 2026, $130 million). Divestitures have made up the remaining 40% of deal activity, including assets from Del Monte, International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF), and B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS). If public strategic buyer activity continues at its current rate, full-year 2026 volume will remain on pace with the 2022-2025 four-year average of 21 deals.

Private equity (PE) food production dealmaking has bifurcated in YTD 2026. Platform formations have accelerated as firms have attempted to revive struggling assets and invest in premium growth opportunities, while weak sector fundamentals and a clouded near-term outlook have subdued add-on acquisition activity. Total PE transaction volume has remained flat YOY at 24 deals, with a nine-deal increase in platforms offsetting a nine-deal dip in add-ons. In addition to divested assets and struggling operator acquisitions, sponsors have targeted premium assets operating in high-growth categories, like Beef and Fresh Fruit, to enter the Food Production market. Of note, PE firm Falfurrias Management Partners acquired Miami Beef (NKA: Young American Food Brands) from Trivest Partners (April 2026, undisclosed). Falfurrias pursued the acquisition of this meat processor and packaged foods provider because of its disciplined inorganic growth under Trivest management and its strong positioning within the high-growth, high-margin Protein market. To reduce exposure to sector headwinds, add-on activity to date has also concentrated in these premium, high-growth categories, reflecting more disciplined capital deployment across existing portfolios. Categories such as Sourcing & Supply Chain, Leafy Greens & Microgreens, and Protein have remained resilient, continuing to attract platform investments and follow-on capital deployment—a trend likely to persist in the near term.

Financial Strains Weigh on Sector Valuations, Large-Scale Deals Sustain Transaction Multiples

Sector-wide financial strains and shifts towards supply chain consolidation have favored scaled, vertically integrated acquirers to date. These buyers have been helped by the influx of struggling operators looking to offload underperforming assets as well as sellers seeking scaled participants that can help them navigate sector headwinds. This dynamic has created meaningful valuation opportunities for buyers, with the average revenue multiple down from 3.0x in full-year 2025 to 1.2x EV/Revenue in YTD 2026. Concurrently, financial pressures have also led to blockbuster Food Production M&A, as well-capitalized buyers have looked to further vertical integration and increase market share through acquisitions of businesses outperforming the broader market. These market-leading transactions—including the recent merger between plant-based beverage leaders SunOpta (Nasdaq:STKL) and Refresco (February 2026, $1.2 billion, 1.5x EV/Revenue, 11.6x EV/EBITDA)—have helped maintain sector M&A EBITDA multiples to date despite current sector-wide financial hardship. Notably, the average sector EV/EBITDA transaction multiple has remained flat at 10.0x in YTD 2026 compared to full-year 2025. Valuation conditions for sellers across the sector are expected to improve in the long-term as input cost pressures eventually ease.

Rising Farm Bankruptcies Accelerate Distressed Transactions

The impact of rising input costs, higher-for-longer interest rates, and low commodity crop prices has left many farming operations with elevated, unmanageable debt balances. Across much of the Food Production sector, these prolonged financial pressures have compounded with pre-existing headwinds—such as supply chain consolidation, competition from foreign imports, and shifting consumer preferences—exacerbating challenging conditions for select participants. These operating constraints have driven a wave of asset divestitures and outright sales among farm and farming-adjacent business owners. Notably, Chapter 12 bankruptcy rates for small farms and fisheries jumped 45.8% YOY in 2025 and have risen 20.5% YOY through the last twelve-month (LTM) Q1 2026 period, according to U.S. Courts data.⁶ Although crop farms and smaller operators have experienced outsized financial strain, these headwinds have also compelled large enterprises to consider out of court restructuring and Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. To date, roughly 26.9% of Food Production M&A has been from bankruptcy-related transactions and divestments of financially distressed assets. Capstone’s Agriculture Investment Banking Team has witnessed this trend first-hand, recently advising on two distressed Food Production sector transactions.

• Gebbers Farms Engages Capstone’s Agriculture Investment Banking Team: Brewster Heights Packing and Orchards (BHPO dba “Gebbers Farms”)—an apple and cherry grower in Washington’s Okanogan Valley—engaged Capstone’s Agriculture Investment Banking Team to provide sell-side M&A advisory services. Capstone’s team has guided the historic growing operation through the transaction process and recent bankruptcy proceedings (June 2026). Gebbers’ assets include 8,000+ acre orchard, packing and logistics operations, and the exclusive production and marketing rights of SugarBee®, Rockit™, Lucy™ Rose and Lucy™ Glo apples, according to a press release. ⁸ As of August 2026, Gebbers’ assets are now the subject of an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) between Gebbers and an agricultural PE fund. Terms of the deal are confidential. In addition to helping Gebbers secure debtor in-possession (DIP) financing, Capstone has helped source potential buyers and secure the APA.
• Capstone Advises Maricopa Orchards on Sale Process: Capstone’s Agriculture Investment Banking Team has facilitated the court-mandated sale of Maricopa Orchards, the Assemi family’s large-scale almond and pistachio cultivation and processing operations. The family initiated the sale proceedings amid mounting debt obligations and legal challenges stemming from unsuccessful attempts to internalize processing operations and launch its own pistachio brand. The court-approved receiver selected Capstone to represent the sale of Maricopa’s 41,000+ acres of farmland and related water rights due to the team’s extensive Agriculture industry knowledge, combined investment banking and legal background, and experience navigating California water rights. Following a competitive auction, Capstone facilitated the sale of more than 7,000 acres of Maricopa farmland to the world’s largest vertically integrated pistachio grower and processor, the Wonderful Company, in January 2026. Terms of the deal are confidential. Under Capstone’s direction and guidance, the remaining Maricopa farmland acreage and water rights associated with the receivership sale are also under contract to an agricultural PE fund. Terms of the deal are confidential. Capstone’s water rights and farming knowledge enabled the company to strategically structure the transactions to preserve key asset groupings, effectively maximizing the value of the sale for the lender.

Well-Capitalized Acquirers Increasingly Focus on End-to-End Vertical Integration

Food Production sector consolidation has continued to accelerate as cash-strapped operations look to stay afloat and compete against larger, established participants. Through YTD 2026, many transactions have centered on end-to-end vertical integration across the food supply chain. Buyers have pursued acquisitions that connect growing, packing, processing, and distribution across their operations to enhance scale and market share reach. Against a backdrop of intensifying competition and subdued sector fundamentals, Capstone expects vertical integration to remain a central strategic focus among buyers for the foreseeable future.

• LastMile Acquires GreenFruit Avocados (April 2026, Undisclosed) – Under the newly formed holding company, LastMile, investment management firm Ospraie Management, partners Scott Bauwens and Jamie Johnson of Simpatica, former Mission Produce (Nasdaq:AVO) executive Jim Donovan, and Spanish PE firm Tahuaycani acquired GreenFruit Avocados for an undisclosed sum (April 2026). GreenFruit operates as an avocado supplier focused on ripening, cold storage, and distribution across the U.S. The transaction follows recent consolidation across the Avocado space, with the consortium of buyers aiming to disrupt and gain a foothold within the increasingly competitive market via GreenFruit. Together, the buyer group will leverage its cultivation connections and industry experience to expand GreenFruit’s avocado supply. This includes sourcing avocados from Simpatica’s California and Brazil growing operations as well as from PE firm Tahuaycani’s farming investments in Peru. Through strategic capital deployment from funds managed by Ospraie, the buyer consortium plans to transform GreenFruit into a fully verticalized operation managing growing, packing, shipping, and ripening activities across North and South America.

“This partnership was formed around a simple conviction: the Avocado industry rewards companies that control the supply chain and bring the right leadership, the right growers and the right capital together. GreenFruit 2.0 gives us the distribution and operational foundation to do that,” noted GreenFruit’s new Executive Chairman of the Board, Jim Donovan, in a recent press release.¹⁰

• Mission Produce Acquires Calavo Growers (January 2026, $444.1 Million, 0.7x EV/Revenue, 15.3x EV/EBITDA) – In January 2026, Mission Produce acquired Calavo Growers (Nasdaq:CVGW) for an enterprise value of $444.1 million, equivalent to 0.7x EV/Revenue and 15.3x EV/EBITDA. Calavo Growers—founded as the original avocado company in the U.S. more than 100 years ago—sources, distributes, and processes avocados, tomatoes, and papayas from California, Columbia, Peru, and Hawaii, according to a press release.¹¹ The acquisition of Calavo Growers expands Mission’s avocado, mango, and blueberry produce portfolio to include papayas and tomatoes while enhancing its North American avocado presence and global value chain capabilities. Moreover, the transaction scales Mission’s vertically integrated platform through greater distribution efficiency, improved year-round utilization, and reduced exposure to seasonal avocado supply disruptions. Mission also cited Calavo’s ready-to-eat prepared foods portfolio, which includes guacamole and salsa, as part of the deal’s key strategic rationale, as the company looks to diversify its revenue streams into attractive, high-growth categories.
• Cobram Estate Olives Acquires California Olive Ranch (December 2025, $173.5 Million, 1.3x EV/Revenue, 10.8x EV/EBITDA) – Cobram Estate Olives (ASX:CBO), an Australian food and agribusiness company, acquired California Olive Ranch in December 2025 for an enterprise value of $173.5 million (1.3x EV/Revenue and 10.8x EV/EBITDA). California Olive Ranch operates as a vertically integrated olive growing, milling, and bottling business focused on the production of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). The acquisition aligns with Cobram Estate’s sustainable and vertically integrated olive farming, EVOO milling, and production operations across Australia and California. Cobram cited expanded U.S. growing and production capabilities—including California Olive Ranch’s 4,620.9 acres of owned and leased California olive groves, more than 6,177 acres of third-party contracted groves, and its premium olive mill, oil storage, bottling, and warehouse facilities in Artois, California—as key deal rationale, according to a press release.¹² The addition of California Olive Ranch’s established groves is expected to help Cobram bridge the maturity gap of its U.S. growing operations as its younger California-based groves continue to develop. California Olive Ranch also touts the top selling brand of California-produced EVOO in the U.S., which Cobram plans to leverage to bolster its U.S.-based sales.

Sector cost pressures could materially improve if commodity crop prices increase and federal farm aid expands with the potential passing of the Farm Bill later this year. Livestock and animal product producers—benefitting from rising consumer demand for protein and strong sales prices—will likely remain insulated from many of the financial headwinds impacting growers. In the meantime, heightened divestiture and distressed transaction activity is expected to persist, particularly if near-term interest rate hikes materialize. However, the current environment is anticipated to remain favorable for well-capitalized and scaled buyers as supply chain consolidation trends continue to encourage acquisitions that strengthen vertical strategies around growing, packing and shipping operations.

To discuss Capstone’s successful experience with distressed Agriculture industry transactions, provide an update on your business, or learn about Capstone’s wide range of advisory services and food production mergers & acquisitions knowledge, please contact us.

 Izzy Jack, Associate, was the lead Market Intelligence contributor to this article.

Endnotes

1. U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, “Commodity Costs and Returns,” ers.usda.gov/data-products/commodity-costs-and-returns, accessed July 2, 2026.

2. U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, “Farm Income and Wealth Statistics – Government Payments by Program,” data.ers.usda.gov/reports.aspx?ID=4050, accessed July 2, 2026.

3. U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service, “Prices Paid and Received: Crop Farm Index by Month, U.S.,” nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Agricultural_Prices/cropfarm.php, accessed July 2, 2026.

4. American Farm Bureau Federation, “Farm Bureau Survey Reveals Real Impact of Fertilizer Availability and Price,” fb.org/market-intel/farm-bureau-survey-reveals-real-impact-of-fertilizer-availability-and-price, accessed July 2, 2026.

5. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, “Agriculture and Farmland Data,” chicagofed.org/research/data/ag-conditions/index, accessed July 2, 2026.

6. U.S. Courts, “Bankruptcy Filing Statistics,” uscourts.gov/data-news/reports/statistical-reports/bankruptcy-filings-statistics, accessed July 2, 2026.

7. Capital Press, “Legendary Bids $231.3 Million to Set Floor for Gebbers Auction,” capitalpress.com/2026/06/16/legendary-bids-231-3-million-to-set-floor-for-gebbers-auction/, accessed July 2, 2026.

8. PR Newswire, “Legendary Fruit Company Enters Letter of Intent with Gebbers Farms,” prnewswire.com/news-releases/legendary-fruit-company-enters-letter-of-intent-with-gebbers-farms-302793004.html, accessed July 2, 2026.

9. The Wall Street Journal, “Del Monte Foods Files for Bankruptcy After Post-Pandemic Consumer Pullback,” wsj.com/articles/del-monte-foods-files-for-bankruptcy-with-plans-to-pursue-sale-d5cabc68, accessed July 2, 2026.

10. GreenFruit Avocados, “GreenFruit Avocados Acquired by Industry Veterans, Bringing Global Growing Capacity, Vertical Integration and Experienced Leadership to the Avocado Market,” greenfruitavocados.com/greenfruit-avocados-acquisition-industry-leaders-2026/, accessed July 2, 2026.

11. Calavo Growers, “Mission Produce® Announces Agreement to Acquire Calavo Growers, Expanding North American Avocado Business and Diversifying Portfolio Across Fresh Produce,” ir.calavo.com/static-files/ef3a87de-695e-452b-9453-3cc54f0be61e, accessed July 2, 2026.

12. Cobram Estate Olives, “Business Update and Acquisition of California Olive Ranch, Inc.,” investors.cobramestateolives.com.au/investor-centre/?page=market-announcements, accessed July 2, 2026.