F&B’s Leadership Pipeline Breaks Before the C-Suite

October 20, 2026 — The functions that lead to the C-suite in food and beverage are the ones where women are fewest and where they report the most bias, according to the 2026 State of Women in Food & Beverage report released today by Females in Food, a leadership development and connection platform for women and allies across the food and beverage industry (femalesinfood.community). Only 12% of the 462 women surveyed work in supply chain, operations, or purchasing. Among women in sales, the largest function in the survey, 44% report gender bias often or very often. 

Nearly half of respondents, 49%, are weighing whether to stay with their current employer. The report draws on 462 women across every function, job level, sector, and U.S. region, nearly double the 234 who responded in 2025. 

Nine in 10 respondents (90%) believe women in leadership strengthen company culture, yet 63% work at companies where women hold 40% or less of leadership roles. What the data describes is a leadership pipeline that has stalled well short of what the industry itself says it wants. 

“We asked 462 women across every function and level of food and beverage about the last twelve months, and half of them are deciding right now whether to stay with their employer. A disproportionate share of general managers in this industry come up through supply chain and commercial functions. Those are also the functions where women are fewest and where they report the most bias. This industry sells to women and is led mostly by men, and the cost of that gap shows up in the business. The women weighing whether to stay have not left yet, and that is the opportunity in front of every leader reading this,” said Angela Dodd, founder and CEO of Females in Food. 

Key findings 

• Promotion access. Women say men at their company have close to twice their access to promotion: 70% describe promotion opportunities as quite or very accessible for men, against 37% for women. A majority, 61%, agree women in the food and beverage industry must outperform men to be considered for equal advancement. 
• Sponsorship. Women are more likely to select executive sponsorship than mentorship as the initiative that would most improve their careers, 24% compared with 15%. Only 8% say their company offers an executive sponsorship program. 
• Mid-career. Women aged 35 to 44 report gender bias often or very often at 45%, the highest of any age group. More than half of them, 54%, are unsure whether they will stay with their current employer or currently plan to leave, also the highest of any age group. 
• The cost of bias. Of women who have experienced gender bias, 42% have already left an employer over it and 38% are considering it now. 
• AI. More than two-thirds of respondents, 68%, say AI has already improved their work. Women under 35 are the most concerned about long-term job stability. 

Why this matters more in food and beverage 

Women are more likely than men to do their household’s grocery shopping on their own: 56% of women say they do, compared with 43% of men, according to YouGov. Leadership in this industry is mostly men, and the women in this survey work mostly outside the functions that lead there. When the people deciding what gets made are not the people deciding what gets bought, the cost shows up on the bottom line: products that miss the mark, and consumer and market insight that must be bought. 

Running a food business requires command of supply chain, operations, procurement, and commercial work. Among respondents, 39% work in R&D, marketing, quality assurance, and food safety, functions central to how this industry makes its products and peripheral to how it selects its senior leaders. 

Cross-functional experience decides who advances 

In the food and beverage industry, cross-functional assignments can help women build the operational and commercial experience needed to advance to the C-suite. Companies can expand access to those opportunities through staffing, development and sponsorship decisions. 

What employers can do now 

The findings point to practical steps food and beverage companies can take to strengthen their future leadership bench. The report closes with eight actions for 2027, including: 

• Map the leadership pipeline by function as well as by gender, and count how many women in the high-potential pool sit in supply chain, operations, procurement, and commercial roles. 
• Audit how commercial relationships get built, including trade show rosters, customer entertainment, key account staffing, and who gets invited to the dinner. 
• Treat mid-career retention as a board-level metric. 
• Make sponsorship a structured program, and sponsor women into visible, revenue-adjacent work. 
• Run a compensation audit. 

The full report, State of Women in Food & Beverage: Before the C-Suite, is available at https://www.femalesinfood.community/state-of-industry-results-2026/