Sectors & IndustriesConsumer DefensivePackaged Foods

Best Food Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top food stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best food stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best food stocks to buy right now are:

Sanfilippo John B & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS) is the #1 top food stock out of 66 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Sanfilippo John B & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: A, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Sanfilippo John B & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS) has a Due Diligence Score of 40, which is 11 points higher than the food industry average of 29.

JBSS passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Sanfilippo John B & Son has seen its stock return 6.7% over the past year, overperforming other food stocks by 36 percentage points.

Sanfilippo John B & Son has an average 1 year price target of $109.00, an upside of 43.19% from Sanfilippo John B & Son's current stock price of $76.12.

Sanfilippo John B & Son stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Sanfilippo John B & Son, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 100% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Natures Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) is the #2 top food stock out of 66 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Natures Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Natures Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) has a Due Diligence Score of 35, which is 6 points higher than the food industry average of 29.

NATR passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Natures Sunshine Products has seen its stock return 82.43% over the past year, overperforming other food stocks by 112 percentage points.

Natures Sunshine Products has an average 1 year price target of $33.00, an upside of 37.56% from Natures Sunshine Products's current stock price of $23.99.

Natures Sunshine Products stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Natures Sunshine Products, 100% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) is the #3 top food stock out of 66 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) has a Due Diligence Score of 41, which is 12 points higher than the food industry average of 29.

SENEA passed 13 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Seneca Foods has seen its stock return 67.63% over the past year, overperforming other food stocks by 97 percentage points.

Out of 18 food stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 food stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) has an annual dividend yield of 15.05%, which is 10 percentage points higher than the food industry average of 5.5%. B&G Foods's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. B&G Foods's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

B&G Foods's dividend payout ratio of -140.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) has an annual dividend yield of 8.65%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the food industry average of 5.5%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Conagra Brands's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio of -666.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) has an annual dividend yield of 8.52%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the food industry average of 5.5%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Flowers Foods's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio of 246% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Food stocks were down -1.69% in the last day, and down -4.91% over the last week. Freshpet was the among the top losers in the packaged foods industry, dropping -10.55% yesterday.

Freshpet shares are trading lower after the BBB National Programs' National Advertising Division recommended that the company's advertising claims that indicate its dog food is "human grade" be discontinued.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued food stocks right now are:

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) is the most undervalued food stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Herbalife has a valuation score of 57, which is 33 points higher than the food industry average of 24. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Herbalife's stock has gained 84.02% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the food industry by 113 percentage points.

Usana Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA) is the second most undervalued food stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Usana Health Sciences has a valuation score of 57, which is 33 points higher than the food industry average of 24. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Usana Health Sciences's stock has dropped -36.88% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the food industry by -8 percentage points.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) is the third most undervalued food stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Ingredion has a valuation score of 29, which is 5 points higher than the food industry average of 24. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ingredion's stock has dropped -15.1% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the food industry by 14 percentage points.

42.11% of food stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect food stocks to rise by 28.61% over the next year.

4.65% of food stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 11.63% of food stocks are rated B (Buy), 72.09% are rated C (Hold), 9.3% are rated D (Sell), and 2.33% are rated F (Strong Sell).