Winners and losers in the food sector from the latest Nielsen numbers
SolStock
A new batch of Nielsen data indicated some recent winners and losers in the battle for market share.
Overall, total packaged food retail sales increased 9.1% year-over-year in the latest four-week period ending March 25 with pricing up 10.5% and volume down 1.3%.
Food companies that saw sequential acceleration over the last four weeks of more than 150 basis points included BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR), Dole plc (DOLE), Mission Produce (AVO), and Sovos Brands (SOVO).
For the same tracking period, Beyond Meat (BYND) saw 21.0% drop in retail sales. The alternative meat seller saw a 22.0% drop over 12 week and 18.6% decline over the last 52 weeks. Lamb Weston (LW), Hershey Company (HSY), and Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) also saw sales weaken during the tracking period.
The food sector has attracted the attention of investors looking to for a more defensive positioning, but is also being watched closely to see how consumers react to higher pricing. The Invesco Dynamic Food & Beverage ETF (PBJ) is one of the catch-all investments for the food and beverage sector. General Mills (GIS), Hershey (HSY), and Mondelez International (MDLZ) are top holdings for the ETF that has outperformed the S&P 500 Index over the last 52 weeks.
See Seeking Alpha Quant Ratings across the food sector.