After initial hype, many food and beverage IPOs are underperforming

“I think over time, investors will see that this is a stock that really represents the future of consumers as it relates to beverages.” Such was the prediction from The Vita Coco Company’s co-CEO on the day of his company’s initial public offering. Instead, like so many food and beverage companies that have gone public recently, the coconut water maker’s stock prices didn’t rise steadily. In fact, they dropped 10 percent within two weeks of its listing. A review by FoodDive found that out of 13 food and drink companies that went public through a conventional IPO or special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) as of July 31, 2020—among them the much-hyped Swedish oat milk brand Oatly and Dole—only one is trading above where it first entered the market (Sovos Brands, which owns Rao’s Homemade pasta sauces and Noosa Yoghurt). The reasons for the deflated prices are myriad: These companies might have been overpriced; investors might have simply sold off their shares soon after the initial IPO pop; and others, worried that the market was due for a correction, might have cashed out and reinvested in bitcoin or real estate. Still, don’t expect these tanking prices to deter other food and beverage companies from trying to go public in the near future. “If I can start a SPAC right now and get valued at some of the multiples we’ve seen, why wouldn’t I?” asked Brian Choi, the CEO of a food industry media and market research company.