What long-term money likes in Food & Restaurants

Research evidence excerpt

What long-term money likes in Food & Restaurants

Consumer | Food & Restaurants

May 14, 2026

David Palmer What long-term money likes in Food &

212-497-0836

David.Palmer@evercoreisi.com Restaurants

John Quartarolo, CFA In this quarterly note, we describe the changes in positioning among

646-784-4638 the top 25 mutual funds in S&P 500 Food and Restaurant stocks from

john.quartarolo@evercoreisi.com December 31 to March 31 (as reported in 13F filings). The weightings

Elliott Simon, CFA by top funds relative to the S&P 500 weighting (and changes in that

212-497-0820 weighting over calendar 1Q) are summarized in Figures 1–4.

Elliott.Simon@evercoreisi.com

James Donnelly Key conclusions include:

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Long-term investors are losing their taste for Hershey chocolate. James.Donnelly@evercoreisi.com

Mutual funds entered 2026 overweight HSY and MDLZ to similar

degrees. However, since then, these investors have added to MDLZ

(+8pp to 186% relative weighting) while significantly reducing exposure

to HSY (–70pp to 112%). MDLZ stock has outperformed YTD (+14%

vs. HSY +7%) with relatively heartening sales trends and European

pricing commentary (1Q recap HERE). Hershey's soft Easter and

market share trends may be causing concern ahead of a more active

calendar (investor day takeaways HERE and 1Q recap HERE).

Center-store food names remain an afterthought. Long-only

investors continue to show little interest in KHC (48% relative

weighting), GIS (20%), and CAG (20%). This group continues to lose

share in underperforming categories (latest scanner trends HERE). The

most meaningful incremental cut was GIS (–11pp), reflecting another

round of revisions (F3Q recap HERE). We continue to monitor base

(non-promoted) volume trends—an indicator brand health—as dividend