Fountain Valuation Multiples

Founded in 1886, Atlanta-headquartered Coca-Cola is the world’s largest nonalcoholic beverage company, with a strong portfolio of 200 brands covering key categories including carbonated soft drinks, water, sports, energy, juice, and coffee. Together with bottlers and distribution partners, the company sells finished beverage products bearing Coca-Cola and licensed brands through retailers and food-service locations in more than 200 countries and regions globally. Coca-Cola generates around two thirds of its total revenue overseas, with a significant portion from emerging economies in Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

With a 150-year-plus history, Nestle is the largest food and beverage manufacturer in the world by sales, generating roughly CHF 90 billion in annual revenue. Its diverse product portfolio includes brands such as Nescafe, Maggi, Nespresso, and Purina. The company employs 270,000 people around the world and has a vast portfolio of global products, with more than 30 brands each achieving more than CHF 1 billion in sales annually and a geographic presence that spans 185 countries.

PepsiCo is a global leader in snacks and beverages, owning well-known household brands including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lay’s, Cheetos, and Doritos, among others. The company dominates the global savory snacks market and also ranks as the second-largest beverage provider in the world (behind Coca-Cola) with diversified exposure to carbonated soft drinks, or CSD, as well as water, sports, and energy drink offerings. Convenience foods account for approximately 58% of its total revenue, with beverages making up the rest. Pepsi owns the bulk of its manufacturing and distribution capacity in the US, but uses bottlers overseas for beverages. International markets made up 40% of both total sales and operating profits in 2024.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is the largest brewer in the world and one of the world's top five consumer product companies, as measured by EBITDA. The company's portfolio contains six of the top 10 beer brands by volume, according to Euromonitor, and we estimate it distributes 23 brands with retail sales over $1 billion. AB InBev was created by the 2008 merger of Belgium-based InBev and US-based Anheuser-Busch. The firm holds a 62% economic interest in Ambev, an 87% stake in Budweiser APAC, and in 2016 it acquired SABMiller.

Unilever is a diversified beauty, wellbeing, and personal care (44% of 2024 sales by value), homecare (20%), and packaged food (36%) company. Its brands include Dove personal-care products, Knorr soups and sauces, Hellmann's mayonnaise, Axe and Rexona deodorants, and TRESemme haircare. The firm has been acquisitive in recent years; notable purchases include Paula's Choice, Liquid I.V., Horlicks, and Wild deodorants. The company derives 58% of its sales from emerging markets and 42% from developed markets. The US is its largest market, accounting for around 20% of sales, followed by India, which accounts for 11% of sales.

Parker Hannifin started out in 1917 as Parker Appliance, selling pneumatic brakes. Through the acquisition of branded components, the firm has expanded into aerospace engines, agricultural and construction machinery, freight and passenger vehicles, and industrial automation equipment. Within these larger systems, Parker sells a wide array of small, critical pieces such as hydraulic, electromechanical, climate control, and filtration components. Many of its products are designed to work together, resulting in a high rate of cross-selling.

McKesson Corp is one of three leading pharmaceutical wholesalers in the US engaged in sourcing and distributing branded, generic, and specialty pharmaceutical products to pharmacies (retail chains, independent, and mail order), hospitals networks, and healthcare providers. Along with Cencora and Cardinal Health, the three account for over 90% of the US pharmaceutical wholesale industry. Outside the US market, McKesson engages in pharmaceutical wholesale and distribution in Canada. Additionally, the company supplies medical-surgical products and equipment to healthcare facilities and provides a variety of technology solutions for pharmacies.

Monster Beverage is a leader in the energy drink category within the nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverage market, generating two thirds of revenue in the US and Canada. The well-known Monster trademark includes brands such as Monster Energy, Monster Ultra, Java Monster, and Juice Monster. The firm also owns other energy drink brands, such as Reign, NOS, Burn, Bang and Mother, and brews and distributes beers and flavored malt beverages following the acquisition of a craft brewer in 2022. Monster controls branding and innovation but outsources beverage manufacturing and packaging to copackers and finished goods distribution to bottlers in the global Coca-Cola system (pursuant to a 20-year agreement inked in 2015). Coke is the largest shareholder of Monster with a 19.5% stake.

Mondelez has operated independently since its split from the former Kraft Foods North American grocery business in October 2012. The firm is a leading player in the global snack enclave with a presence in the biscuit (49% of sales as of the end of fiscal 2024), chocolate (31%), gum/candy (11%), beverage (3%), and cheese and grocery (6%) aisles. Mondelez's portfolio includes well-known brands like Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Halls, and Cadbury. The firm derives around one-third of its revenue from developing markets, more than one-third from Europe, and the remainder from North America.

Rheinmetall is an international group active in various markets with leading technological products and services. The sales focus is on the security technology and mobility segments. Since February 2021, the group structure has been made up of five divisions-vehicle systems, weapons and ammunition, electronic solutions, sensors and actuators, and materials and trade. The vehicle systems, weapons and ammunition, and electronic solutions divisions are among the defense and security industry's leading suppliers of innovative products to German and international defense forces. The sensors and actuators and materials and trade divisions' core area of expertise is the reduction of emissions, pollutants and fuel consumption.

Founded in 1996, Nongfu Spring is a leading beverage producer with products primarily in the packaged water, ready-to-drink tea, juice, coffee, and functional beverages sectors in China. It holds the number-one share in the bottled water market; this segment contributed approximately 40% of the firm’s revenue and EBIT in 2024.

Founded in 1927, W.W. Grainger originally distributed various motors via a mail-order catalogue. Over the course of the 20th century, the firm expanded into new industrial product categories and launched its first digital catalogue in 1995. Today, the company organizes itself into two segments focused on different customer bases. Its larger segment, high-touch solutions, offers a vast array of maintenance, repair, and operations, or MRO, supplies and bespoke inventory management services to larger businesses. Its smaller segment, endless assortment, operates two online platforms, Zoro and MonotaRO, that offer comprehensive catalogues of MRO supplies to smaller businesses. Grainger has operations throughout the world but primarily generates sales within the US.

Cencora is one of three leading domestic pharmaceutical wholesalers. It sources and distributes branded, generic, and specialty pharmaceutical products to pharmacies (retail chains, independent, and mail order), hospital networks, and healthcare providers. It and McKesson and Cardinal Health hold over 90% share of the US pharmaceutical wholesale industry. Cencora also provides commercialization services for manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, global specialty drug logistics (World Courier), and animal health product distribution (MWI Animal Health). Cencora expanded its international presence in 2021 by purchasing Alliance Healthcare, one of the leading drug wholesalers in Europe.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd is an Indian consumer goods company. The firm offers different brands from distinct categories, from cosmetics and hygienic items, including detergents, soaps, shampoos, skincare, toothpaste, and deodorants, to food and beverages (tea, coffee, packaged foods). Its product portfolio contains household brands such as Lux, Lifebuoy, Pepsodent, Closeup, Pureit, Axe, Brooke Bond, Bru, Knorr, Kissan, Pond's, Vaseline, Lakme, Dove, Clinic Plus, Sunsilk, Kwality Wall's, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, and Fair and Lovely. The company's segments include Home Care, Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Foods, and others. Geographically, it generates a majority of its revenue from India.

Fastenal began as an industrial retailer, expanding its product portfolio from nuts and bolts to cutting tools, safety equipment, and janitorial supplies. It transitioned into a distributor by building out a dense network of branches close to its business customers. Once a customer becomes large enough, Fastenal installs vending machines and its own personnel on-site. Today, these on-site locations exceed Fastenal’s branch count and remain the firm’s main focus for expansion. Fastenal acts as a one-stop outsourcing partner for its industrial customers, offering value-added services along with a wide breadth of maintenance, repair, and operations supplies.

Cardinal Health is one of three leading pharmaceutical wholesalers in the US, engaged in sourcing and distributing of branded, generic, and specialty pharmaceutical products to pharmacies (retail chains, independent, and mail order), hospital networks, and healthcare providers. Cardinal, Cencora, and McKesson hold well over 90% of the US pharmaceutical wholesale industry. Cardinal Health also supplies medical-surgical products and equipment to healthcare facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Danone is a global food and beverage industry leader with more than EUR 27 billion annual revenue. Its operations are organized into three broad segments: essential dairy and plant-based products, representing just over half of group revenue; specialized nutrition; and bottled water. The firm's portfolio includes well-known brands such as Danone/Dannon dairy products, Alpro plant-based dairy, Aptamil infant milk formula, Evian and Volvic bottled water, and leading medical nutrition brands.

Sumitomo Corp. is a general trading house, or sogo shosha, a type of conglomerate unique to Japan. Its core role is that of a trading intermediary in a variety of industrial sectors, including resources businesses such as energy and metals as well as nonresources businesses, both industrial ones like machinery and non-industrial ones like food, media, and retail. In addition to acting as a trading intermediary (including midstream processing functions to convert inputs into final products), Sumitomo also participates in upstream production businesses and downstream distribution businesses.

Ferguson distributes plumbing and HVAC products to North American repair, maintenance and improvement, new construction, and civil infrastructure markets. It serves over 1 million customers and sources products from 36,000 suppliers. Ferguson engages customers through approximately 1,800 North American branches, over the phone, online, and in residential showrooms. According to Modern Distribution Management, Ferguson is the largest plumbing distributor and second-largest HVAC distributor (next to Watsco) in North America. The firm sold its UK business in 2021 and is now solely focused on the North American market.

CCEP is the second-largest bottling partner in the Coca-Cola system by volume, behind Coca-Cola Femsa, and primarily operates in developed Europe, Australasia, and Southeast Asia. In 2025, CCEP sold 3.9 billion unit cases of beverages, which we estimate equates to roughly 9% of the global Coke system volume.TCCC owns 19% of the equity of CCEP, Olive Partners, a holding company of bottling operations, owns a further 36%, and the remaining 45% is free float.

Keurig Dr Pepper was established in 2018 following a merger between Keurig Green Mountain Coffee and Dr Pepper Snapple. The company manufactures and distributes coffee systems (including coffee brewers and single-serve coffee pods) under the Keurig and Green Mountain brands, as well as ready-to-drink beverages including flavored (non-cola) sparkling soft drinks under well-known brands such as Dr Pepper, Snapple, and Canada Dry. The company controls production and route to market for its own brands through in-house manufacturing plants and distribution infrastructure and leverages these facilities to manufacture and distribute for third-party coffee and beverage brands via licensing and partnership agreements. The US and Canada make up 95% of revenue, with the rest from Mexico.

Grupo Nutresa SA is a processed food company that operates through eight business units: Cold Cuts, Biscuits, Chocolates, Tresmontes Lucchetti, Coffee, Retail Food, Ice Cream, and Pasta. The company's revenue comes from food products, Beverage, and others. The majority of the company's production and sales take place in Colombia.

Sysco is the largest US foodservice distributor with 18% share of the highly fragmented $377 billion domestic market. It distributes roughly 500,000 food and nonfood products to restaurants (60% of fiscal 2025 revenue), education and government buildings (8%), healthcare facilities (8%), travel and leisure (7%), and other locations (17%) where individuals consume away-from-home meals. In fiscal 2025, 70% of the firm’s revenue was derived from its US foodservice operations, while its international (18%), quick-service logistics (10%), and other (2%) segments contributed the rest.

Spun off from Roche in 2000, Givaudan is one of the world's leading flavor and fragrance manufacturers, with a presence in more than 80 countries. It sources more than 11,000 different ingredients from over 100 countries. The company serves end consumer markets with fragrances for personal, home, and laundry care brands, including prestige perfumes. In flavors, customers are in beverages, savory, snacks, sweet goods, and dairy. Givaudan has nearly 10,000 employees, and its perfumery team is the largest in the industry.

Hershey is a leading US confectionery manufacturer (around a $54 billion market, according to Euromonitor), controlling around 36% of the domestic chocolate aisle. Beyond its namesake label, the firm's portfolio has expanded over the last 85 years and now comprises 100 brands, including Reese's, Kit Kat, Kisses, and Ice Breakers. Hershey's products are sold in about 80 countries, albeit with just a high-single-digit percentage of sales coming from markets outside the US, including Brazil, India, and Mexico. The firm has sought inorganic opportunities to extend its reach beyond its core confectionery business, adding Amplify Snack Brands and its Skinny Pop ready-to-eat popcorn to its portfolio, as well as Pirate Brands and Dot's Pretzels over the past few years.

Ajinomoto was founded in 1909, and it began manufacturing the world’s first umami seasoning, MSG, made from amino acids. It has since grown to be one of the top manufacturers of sauces and seasonings and has diversified into frozen foods and the manufacture of other amino acid-based materials. Its sauces and seasonings are sold across Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas and are found in most supermarkets, making up approximately 60% of its revenue. The remaining 40% is roughly divided into the healthcare and others segment and the frozen food segment. Its healthcare and others segment also includes functional materials, which include an organic resin material, Ajinomoto Build-up Film, which is currently the industry standard for ABF substrates for semiconductors.

Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food Company was founded in 1955 through the consolidation of 25 condiment producers in Foshan, Guangdong province of China. The company mainly manufactures soy sauces, oyster sauces, dipping sauces, and seasoning sauces. It is the leading condiment producer with number-one market share in soy sauces and oyster sauces in China.

In July 2015, Kraft merged with Heinz to create one of North America's largest food and beverage manufacturers. Beyond its namesake brands, its portfolio includes Oscar Mayer, Velveeta, and Philadelphia. While the retail channel drives around 85% of its total sales, the firm also maintains a growing foodservice presence. Outside North America, Kraft Heinz's global reach encompasses a distribution network in Europe and emerging markets, which accounts for around 25% of its consolidated sales base. The company's products are sold in more than 190 countries and territories.

Nestle India Ltd is a subsidiary of Nestle of Switzerland with business divided into milk products and nutrition, beverages, prepared dishes and cooking aids, chocolate and confectionery, and vending food services. Milk products and nutrition consist of nutritional products for infants and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. The Powdered and Liquid Beverages product division sells tea and instant coffee under the Nestea, Nescafe Classic, and Nescafe Gold brands. Prepared dishes and cooking aids comprise food-enriching flavors under the Maggi brand. The Confectionery products in chocolate and confectionery are KitKat, Munch Nuts, and Nestle Alpino. The company's business activity falls within a single operating segment, namely Food.

Swiss-based Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Spruengli is a manufacturer of premium chocolate. Key brands include Lindt, Lindor, Ghirardelli, Russell Stover, Whitman's, and Caffarel. The company bought US-based Russell Stover, its largest-ever acquisition, in 2014. It derives the bulk of its sales from Europe (47% of its consolidated base) but also competes in North America (40%) and the rest of the world (13%). The company operates 11 manufacturing plants in Europe and the United States. Its distribution network includes more than 550 own stores.

Bunge Global SA is an agribusiness solutions company, connecting farmers to consumers and delivering essential food, feed and fuel to the globe. The company segments include Soybean Processing and Refining; Softseed Processing and Refining; Other Oilseeds Processing and Refining; Grain Merchandising and Milling; and Corporate and Other. It generates maximum revenue from the Soybean Processing and Refining segment, which includes integrated business principally involved in the purchase, storage, transportation, processing, distribution, refining, marketing, and sale of soybeans and soybean related products, as well as biodiesel and fertilizer production and distribution. Geographically, the company operates in United States, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Rest of the World.

Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group is the largest dairy products producer in China, with the majority of revenue (around 70%) coming from the liquid milk segment. The company also manufactures ice cream, milk powder, and cheese products. Some flagship lineups include Satine, Yili Pure Milk, Ambrosial, and Changqing. The company also expands its overseas presence through setting up R&D centers and acquiring foreign dairy brands such as Westland in New Zealand and Chomthana in Thailand.

Church & Dwight is the leading global producer of baking soda. Its portfolio extends beyond its legacy category to include laundry products, cat litter, oral care, deodorant, and nasal care, all sold under the Arm & Hammer brand. Its brands also include Batiste, OxiClean, Vitafusion, Hero, and TheraBreath, which, together with Arm & Hammer, account for around 70% of its annual sales and profits. Most recently, the firm added Touchland and its hand sanitizer business to its fold. Even as it works to expand its product reach, Church & Dwight still derives around 80% of its sales from its home market in the US.

Coca-Cola HBC is the third-largest bottling partner in the Coca-Cola system by volume, behind Coca-Cola Femsa and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. In 2025, CCHBC sold 2.9 billion unit cases of beverages. There is a long tail of Coca-Cola distributors, including brewers and independent operators with very small distribution territories.CCHBC is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Kar-Tess, a Luxembourg-based holding company, owns 23% of the equity of CCHBC, and Coca-Cola holds a further 21%. The remaining 56% is free float.

Arca Continental is a major bottler for Coca-Cola, generating 94% of sales and nearly all profits by manufacturing and distributing sodas and nonsparkling drinks under Coca-Cola brands, which it sells to retailers and foodservice providers in the US and Latin America. Food and snacks under Arca’s own brands make up the rest of its revenue. By region, Mexico remains the largest beverage market, contributing 43% of sales, followed by the US (34%), Peru (8%), Ecuador (4%), and Argentina (5%). Coca-Cola has a 20% stake in AC Beverages, the entity that holds Arca’s beverage assets in the US and Latin America.

Yihai Kerry Arawana Holdings Co Ltd is engaged in research and development, production, and sales of kitchen food, feed ingredients, and oil technology products. The company operates through three segments: Kitchen Food; Feed raw materials and oil technology; and Others. The Kitchen Food segment covers household and industrial products, including edible oils, rice, flour, noodles, condiments, and related raw and auxiliary materials. The Feed raw materials and oil technology segment provides soybean meal, bran, rice bran meal, along with oil-based and oil-derived chemicals, nutritional products, and daily chemicals from palm oil and other oils. The Others segment is engaged in other businesses. It generates the majority of its revenue from the Kitchen Food segment.

US Foods Holding Corp is a U.S. food service distributor that distributes food and nonfood products to the healthcare and hospitality industries, restaurants, education, government facilities, and grocers. It has various customer locations across the United States, with a vast network of distribution facilities, a fleet of trucks, and cash and carry locations offering food and non-food products, and a comprehensive suite of e-commerce, technology, and business solutions to its customers. The company operates in one business segment in which it markets, sells, and distributes fresh, frozen, and dry food and non-food products to foodservice customers throughout the U.S.

Tyson Foods is a protein-focused food producer, selling raw chicken, beef, pork, and prepared foods. Chicken and beef are its two largest segments, composing about 40% and 30% of sales, respectively. Prepared foods constituted 18% of fiscal 2025 sales and include brands like Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, and Sara Lee. However, most of these are in product categories rife with competition where Tyson does not have a massive market share lead. Tyson sells some products overseas, but the international segment accounts for just 4% of total revenue. The company is an active acquirer, with more recent years' purchases focused on international and food-service markets.

Varun Beverages Ltd is engaged in manufacturing, selling, bottling, and distribution of beverages of the Pepsi brand in geographically pre-defined territories of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Zambia, Morocco, and Zimbabwe. Its brands include Seven-Up, Mountain Dew, Mirinda, Nimbooz, Tropicana Slice, and other related products. The firm generates a majority of its revenue within India.

General Mills is a global packaged-food company that produces snacks, cereal, convenient meals, dough, baking mixes and ingredients, pet food, and superpremium ice cream. Its largest brands are Nature Valley, Cheerios, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Blue Buffalo, and Haagen-Dazs. In fiscal 2025, 81% of its revenue was derived from the United States, although the company also operates in Canada, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Latin America. Although most of General Mills' products are sold through retail stores to consumers, the company also sells products to the foodservice channel and the commercial baking industry.

Associated British Foods is a diversified international food, ingredients, and retail group with 138,000 employees and operations in 56 countries across Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. The group sells branded groceries, grows and processes sugar, supplies farmers with crop input and animal feed, and runs the multinational Primark clothing retail chain. It also supplies ingredients like bakers' yeast, enzymes, lipids, and cereal specialties. In fiscal 2025, approximately 36% of sales came from the UK, and Primark accounted for around 60% of operating profit.On Nov 4, 2025, ABF announced it has been conducting a strategic review to potentially separate the Primark and Food businesses. A final decision is expected within 12-18 months.

Bollore SE is an infrastructure company domiciled in France. The company organizes itself into four segments: transportation and logistics, oil logistics, communication, and Electricity storage and systems. The transportation and logistics segment offers freight forwarding and logistics services. The oil logistics segment distributes oil and fuel. The communication segment provides advertising, cinema, and telecommunications services. The electricity storage and systems segment is engaged in the production and sale of electric batteries and their applications. The firm generates most of the revenue from the communications segment.

The product of a merger between Jacobs Douwe Egberts and Peet’s Coffee in 2019, JDE Peet’s is the world’s largest pure-play coffee and tea group by revenue, with operations in more than 100 developed and emerging countries. Its portfolio of over 50 brands is the largest in the coffee and tea categories and includes global labels such as Peet’s, Jacobs, L’OR, Senseo, and Tassimo, regional brands like Douwe Egberts, Stumptown, Kenco, Moccona, Intelligentsia, OldTown, and Super, and local marks such as Maison du Cafe in France, Harris in Australia, and Mighty Leaf Tea in the US. The group has a diverse go-to-market approach across the consumer packaged goods, out-of-home, retail, and online sales channels. JDE Peet’s was listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange in 2020.

Wesco can be traced back to the late 1800s but was officially founded in 1922, acting as the distribution arm of Westinghouse Electric. Throughout the 1900s, Wesco entered and subsequently exited the consumer electronics, transit, bottling, and nuclear plant distribution markets. It was sold to a private equity firm in 1994 and then went public in 1999, and numerous acquisitions have since been made to fill the gaps in Wesco’s geographical and product coverage. Today, the firm primarily distributes electrical, networking, security, and utility equipment used in the construction and repair of structures such as offices, data centers, power transmission lines, and manufacturing plants. Wesco has operations around the globe but generates the majority of its revenue in the United States.

Performance Food Group Co , markets and distributes national and company-branded food and food-related products. The company also specializes in distributing candy, snacks, beverages, cigarettes, other tobacco products, health and beauty care products and other items to vending distributors, box retailers, theaters, convenience stores, drug stores, grocery stores, travel providers, and hospitality providers. The company has three reportable segments: Foodservice, Vistar, and Convenience.

Watsco is the largest HVAC and refrigeration products distributor in North America with approximately 13% market share. The company primarily operates in the United States (90% of revenue) with significant exposure in the Sunbelt states. Watsco also has operations in Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The company's customer base comprises more than 120,000 dealers and contractors serving the replacement and new-construction HVAC/R markets for residential and light-commercial applications. As much as 20% of residential HVAC units are distributed through Watsco in any given year. Revenue is approximately 75%-80% residential HVAC and 20%-25% commercial, with relatively small exposure to more complex “applied” solutions.

Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV is an international baking-products manufacturer. The company operates in over 22 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The firm's key product categories are packed bread, sweet baked goods, salty snacks, cookies, solutions (tortillas, pitas, wraps), prepacked foods, confectionery, and others. The key brands are Bimbo, Ideal, Ricolino, Oroweat, Arnold, Thomas, and Sara Lee. Grupo Bimbo has a large direct distribution network that allows the company to distribute products from its plants (based in Uruguay, Rio de Janeiro, China, Santiago de Chile, and Argentina) to sales centers and warehouses.

WH Group is a holding company and the world’s largest vertically integrated producer of pork and related packaged meat products. Its revenue is mainly derived from activities undertaken by its China and US operations, which are respectively via 70.3%-owned Henan Shuanghui Investment & Development Company and wholly owned Smithfield Foods Inc. In the US, its key packaged meats brands, in which it has a 6% market share, include Nathan’s hot dogs, Armour, John Morrell, and Curly’s, while in China, products are mainly under the Shuanghui brand, where it also has a 25% market share. We expect the company’s operating profit to be split almost equally between the US and China in the future with a small contribution from Europe.