11 Best Food Stocks to Buy According to Wall Street Analysts

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President Donald Trump is back to announcing trade threats through a new series of letters to leaders of various countries. These letters outline tariffs on goods imported from their countries starting in August.

The most notable announcement came late on Wednesday as President Trump announced a 50% tariff on goods from Brazil in a letter sent to the country’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Trump criticized Brazil for how it is treating former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial in Brazil’s Supreme Court for allegedly plotting a coup in 2022.

Trump called the trial a “Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!”

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump also dictated tariffs ranging from 20% to 30% to the leaders of the Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Iraq, Sri Lanka, and Libya. These tariffs were mostly in line with the duties he had announced previously in April.

On Monday, Trump sent 14 letters to countries, including South Africa, Malaysia, and Thailand, outlining tariffs between 25% to 40%. These tariffs will start on August 1.

On Tuesday, China responded by warning Trump against restarting trade tensions and said it would retaliate against countries that enter into deals with the US in order to exclude China from supply chains.

Now that we’ve briefly talked about the ongoing trade tensions, let’s take a look at the 11 best food stocks to buy according to Wall Street analysts.

11 Best Food Stocks to Buy According to Wall Street Analysts

A chef in a professional kitchen demonstrating ways to use the company’s products to cook healthy and functional food.

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the 11 best food stocks to buy according to Wall Street analysts, we looked for the largest food companies by market cap. We also reviewed our own rankings, financial media reports, and various online resources to compile a list of the best food stocks. Next, we focused on the top food stocks that analysts believe have the most potential for growth. We ranked the 11 best food stocks to buy based on their average price target upside potential according to analysts as of July 8, 2025.

Additionally, we mentioned the hedge fund sentiment surrounding each stock, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s Q1 2025 database of 1,000 elite hedge funds.

Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

11 Best Food Stocks to Buy According to Wall Street Analysts

11. McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Average Price Target Upside Potential According to Analysts: 13.09%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) is one of the best food stocks to buy according to Wall Street analysts. On June 27, Bernstein SocGen Group increased its price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) from $101 to $102 and kept a “Market Perform” rating.

This decision came after McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) reported results for the second quarter of 2025, which were described as “solid” by Bernstein. The company also reaffirmed its full-year 2025 guidance, even when there were concerns about tariffs impacting its global supply chain.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) sources its ingredients from different countries. It faces a 10% tariff on imports from most countries and an additional 30% tariff on imports from China.

Bernstein pointed out that the company’s ability to reaffirm its guidance while digesting these tariff costs shows “the strength of the underlying business.”

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) is an American food company that specializes in flavor. It manufactures, markets, and distributes herbs, spices, seasonings, condiments, and flavors to retailers, food manufacturers, and foodservice businesses.

10. United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

Average Price Target Upside Potential According to Analysts: 15.17%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 26

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) is one of the best food stocks to buy according to Wall Street analysts. On June 11, UBS lowered its price target on United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) from $30 to $26 and kept its “Neutral” rating.

This decision came after United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) reported its third quarter fiscal 2025 results, which beat both expectations for both top and bottom line. The company’s Natural segment helped drive revenue growth.

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) also improved its adjusted EBITDA by almost 21% compared to last year. UBS analysts also noted that the company made good progress in reducing its debt.

Despite these positive developments, a recent cyber attack raised some concerns and introduced “considerable uncertainty” about customer retention and how United Natural Foods, Inc.’s (NYSE:UNFI) future earnings might be affected. The cyber attack’s potential impact on the company’s business was an important factor in the research firm’s decision to lower its price target for United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI).

However, on June 26, United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) reported that it had restored the main systems its retail customers and suppliers use to do business with the company. The report said that the incident had been contained, and its electronic ordering and invoicing systems are back online.

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) is a leading natural and organic food company. It is one of the largest wholesale distributors of healthy, fresh, branded, and owned brand products in North America.

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