Net 30, July 2026: Capital questions after Fancy Food

Fancy Food was awesome again this year. The floor is always the widest snapshot of the industry you’ll find. Almost every conversation I had, regardless of the brand’s size or stage, bent toward the same question: if a raise isn’t the near-term plan, where does the capital come from?

In a lot of industries, talking about your capital stack is table stakes. In CPG, people still whisper about it. The founders asking the hard capital questions out loud at a trade show are the ones I’d bet on.

Here’s the TLDR for this month’s update:

1. Interest rates haven’t moved, and they won’t anytime soon.
2. Our Fancy Food experience.
3. State of equity and debt in CPG.

What we’re seeing this month

1. From the desk: Prime hasn’t moved, and it’s not moving to bail anyone out

Prime has been sitting at 6.75% for about six months now, ever since the Fed’s last cut in December 2025, and Warsh’s first meeting in June basically told us not to expect cheaper money anytime soon. The odds of a near-term hike bounced around after that, but the practical takeaway for early and mid-stage CPG brands is pretty straightforward: Prime isn’t moving, and the market isn’t really pricing in lower bank or credit-card rates before year-end, so you should plan as if borrowing stays this expensive for a while.

2. Coming straight off Fancy Food

We’re coming straight off Fancy Food, one of the premier food and beverage trade shows. We had a wonderful time meeting with ecosystem partners, brands, and manufacturers. Our booth was in the international area, which is what makes Fancy Food unique, exploring food products from all parts of the world that are breaking here in the United States. What sets it apart from other retail shows is how global it is, and how wide the range of brands is. You may find 100-year-old heritage brands on the floor right next to companies that launched last year. It’s less about a single category or movement and more a snapshot of everything happening in food, old and new, all over the world.

Thank you, Doss, LockedIn, Glimpse, VHS Ventures, Maazah, Coefficient Capital, and Snobase for throwing fantastic events. It was wonderful to have our team participate.

Beyond the show floor conversations, one topic followed us into every meeting: capital. Here’s what we’re seeing on equity and debt.

3. State of equity and debt markets in CPG

Are the equity markets back in CPG? The honest answer is mixed, not “back.”

PE deal volume in food and beverage CPG held at an estimated 144 deals in Q1 2026, the fifth-highest quarterly count in nine years, and fresh capital is still forming. For example, Great Circle Ventures closed a new $20M fund this year aimed squarely at early-stage food and beverage brands. But the real story is on the exit side: Q1 exit value annualizes to roughly half of 2025’s pace. Deals are still happening. Getting paid out on them is taking longer.

On debt: the bank conversation keeps getting shorter.

The other side of the same question we were asked by brands at the show: where does a brand our size go for working capital or production financing if a raise isn’t the near-term plan? We kept landing in the same place. Banks continue to tighten on smaller, earlier-stage credits, and a brand with a new retail commitment but no multi-year track record increasingly doesn’t get past the first bank conversation. That’s the gap specialty and alternative lenders are filling: underwriting against the PO or the retail relationship instead of three years of financials, with terms in days instead of the standard 30 to 60 day bank timeline.

Tools you can use

Free, no login, actually useful. Whether you’re a founder, a broker, or a fractional CFO, these are the tools we built specifically for CPG:

1. Loan Payment Calculator: estimate monthly payments and total interest before you call anyone. Open the calculator
2. AR Financing and Better CPG: analyze your revenue projections against what’s actually fundable against receivables. See the financing tools

About Bridge

Bridge specializes in production financing for brands in retail. We cover 100% of the COGS for your upcoming orders and, thanks to our partnerships with Walmart, Sam’s Club, Dollar General, Best Buy and Chipotle, we’re able to get brands the best rates in the market.

We funded over $500M for brands in 2025 and only have one goal: making sure the capital stack never becomes the reason you lose the win. Talk to our financing experts about your upcoming order.

Where we’re heading next

• Newtopia Now, Denver, CO, August 18 to 20
• Consumer Impact Summit, Bentonville, AR, September 15 to 17
• PLMA’s Private Label Show, Chicago, IL, November 15 to 17

Bridge Pantry Update

We gave our office dog a taste of DogSauce this week. She loved it. Posting about it soon, and it’s adorable.

Regards,
Mike