New flavors to new ventures: food sector continues to expand

Did you know that our food sector has rapidly accelerated due to the pandemic? From the meat processing industry to the potato product sector, the food industry has received an unexpected yet welcome surge. Our editorial team has compiled the data. Discover which sectors have made the biggest leaps.

Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, the number of businesses in the food industry has increased by nearly 30%. In January 2020, there were 5,970 companies. By October 2023, this number had risen to 7,735. Just this year, 555 new businesses have emerged, marking a 7.7% growth. This is according to recent data from CBS.

Growth Standouts

Almost every branch within the food industry witnessed growth. The leaders in growth were the dietary food industry (+63.6%), fruit and vegetable juice sector (+62.5%), and the potato products industry (+60%). Other areas with notable growth include meat processing (+36.4%), cocoa and chocolate production (+42.1%), snack industry (+44%), coffee roasters and tea packers (+45.8%), sauce, salt, and spice industry (+47.4%), and the confectionery and biscuit industry (+53.5%). Only a few sectors, like the ice cream industry (+15.4%), slaughterhouses (+18%), oils and fats industry (+22.2%), bread and pastry bakeries (+24.9%), and the fish processing industry (+27.6%) saw less substantial growth.

Rise of Smaller Businesses

The growth is largely attributed to the emergence of smaller businesses. Companies with just one employee have seen a 66.1% increase since 2020, going from 2,700 to 4,485. Businesses with two employees also experienced significant growth at 16.4%. Interestingly, larger businesses haven't seen an increase in numbers. In fact, businesses with 3-10 employees saw a decline of 6.3% since 2020. And the number of companies with 5 to 10 active workers decreased even more, dropping by 13.1%.