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 +28.50% 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:

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) is the #1 top food stock out of 62 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) has a Due Diligence Score of 35, which is 4 points higher than the food industry average of 31.

DAR passed 12 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Darling Ingredients has seen its stock return 73.45% over the past year, overperforming other food stocks by 172 percentage points.

Darling Ingredients has an average 1 year price target of $78.20, an upside of 40.32% from Darling Ingredients's current stock price of $55.73.

Darling Ingredients stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 5 analysts covering Darling Ingredients, 80% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 20% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) is the #2 top food stock out of 62 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% 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 55, which is 24 points higher than the food industry average of 31.

SENEA passed 18 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Seneca Foods has seen its stock return 46.69% over the past year, overperforming other food stocks by 145 percentage points.

Coffee Holding Co (NASDAQ:JVA) is the #3 top food stock out of 62 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Coffee Holding Co (NASDAQ:JVA) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Coffee Holding Co (NASDAQ:JVA) has a Due Diligence Score of 64, which is 33 points higher than the food industry average of 31.

JVA passed 23 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Coffee Holding Co has seen its stock return 18.08% over the past year, overperforming other food stocks by 116 percentage points.

Out of 20 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 24.57%, which is 18 percentage points higher than the food industry average of 6.12%. B&G Foods's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two 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 -74.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) has an annual dividend yield of 11.89%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the food industry average of 6.12%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Flowers Foods's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio of 321.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Sanfilippo John B & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS) has an annual dividend yield of 8.35%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the food industry average of 6.12%. Sanfilippo John B & Son's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% seven times in the last 10 years. Sanfilippo John B & Son's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Sanfilippo John B & Son's dividend payout ratio of 93.6% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Food stocks were up 0.67% in the last day, and down -0.03% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why food stocks are up.

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:

Coffee Holding Co (NASDAQ:JVA) 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.

Coffee Holding Co has a valuation score of 71, which is 50 points higher than the food industry average of 21. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Coffee Holding Co's stock has gained 18.08% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the food industry by 116 percentage points.

Natures Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) 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.

Natures Sunshine Products has a valuation score of 29, which is 8 points higher than the food industry average of 21. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Natures Sunshine Products's stock has dropped -6.77% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the food industry by 91 percentage points.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) 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.

Herbalife has a valuation score of 57, which is 36 points higher than the food industry average of 21. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Herbalife's stock has gained 68.39% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the food industry by 167 percentage points.

50% of food stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect food stocks to rise by 30.37% over the next year.

4.88% of food stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 7.32% of food stocks are rated B (Buy), 73.17% are rated C (Hold), 12.2% are rated D (Sell), and 2.44% are rated F (Strong Sell).