FOOD + BEVERAGE

Savor Your Success in Memphis

When food and beverage companies choose Memphis they join the hundreds of restaurants, producers, processing plants and culinary artists making names for themselves here.

Food + Beverage in Memphis

Get a snapshot of Memphis's Food + Beverage sector.

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Food + Beverage Snapshot

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Food + Beverage

BY THE NUMBERS

6878

Workers in the Food and Beverage Industry

+4.7

Job Growth

$2.2

Economic Presence

The Flavors of our Food and Beverage Industry

Memphis brings the heat to the food and beverage industry. From our diverse supply chain of raw materials and our unmatched water quality, our food and beverage industry is thriving. Memphis food and beverage companies come in a variety of flavors, but we have strong specializations within Grain and Oilseed Milling, Dairy Product Manufacturing, and Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing. With the second-largest concentration of transportation and warehousing employees in the United States and located within a two-day drive of 75% of the U.S. population, companies here have a competitive advantage in distributing products.

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Industry Presence and Specialization

Industry Description2015 Jobs2019 Jobs2023 JobsJob Growth 2015 to 2019 (%)Projected Job Growth 2019 to 2023 (%)2019 Location Quotient
Grain and Oilseed Milling1,4901,4151,403-5.0%-0.8%5.47
Beverage Manufacturing1,0751,058937-1.6%11.4%0.92
Dairy Product Manufacturing1,0061,0101,0300.4%2.0%1.58
Other Food Manufacturing7219081,00225.9%10.4%0.95
Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing819 8649325.5%7.9%2.67
Animal Slaughtering and Processing190439599131.1%36.4%0.2
Fruit/Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Foods504430409-14.7%-4.9%0.59
Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing11417823156.1%29.8%0.13
Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging201171147-14.9%-14.0%1.15
Tobacco Manufacturing25616890-34.4%-46.4%3.65
Animal Food Manufacturing6610510959.1%3.8%0.39
Food+Beverage Processing Total6,4416,7456,8914.7%2.2%
Industry Description2015 Jobs2019 Jobs2023 JobsJob Growth 2015 to 2019 (%)Projected Job Growth 2019 to 2023 (%)2019 Location Quotient


Shown in the table above, industries that comprise food and beverage processing are highlighted with historical, current, and projected employment. In addition to strong employment across a variety of industries, the Greater Memphis region hosts strong specializations within Grain and Oilseed Milling, Dairy Product Manufacturing, and Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing.

Note: Employment estimates derived from Economic Modeling Specialists International, Q2 2020 dataset QCEW Employment.

Location Quotient: Measured against the Nation, location quotients (LQ) are a useful way of quantifying how concentrated a particular industry, cluster, or occupation is in a region as compared to a larger geographic area. An LQ of 1 is equally concentrated within both areas. An LQ of 1.5 indicates that the smaller geographic region is 50% more concentrated regionally, and an LQ of 2 indicates the geographic region is twice as concentrated regionally. An LQ of 0.5 indicates the smaller geographic region is 50% less concentrated against the larger geographic area.

Workforce Presence

Occupation Description2022 JobsAvg. Hourly Earnings
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand33,638$18.49
Packers and Packagers, Hand4,802$16.12
Inspectors, Testers. Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers 4,114$18.48
Production Workers, All Other 3,078$15.00
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers 2,931$29.18
Food Batchmakers 642$22.02
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers 262$13.77
Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters and Operators 139$19.51
Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders 138$20.81
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders 285 $18.03
Regional Employment, Primary Food + Beverage Occupations 55,846
Occupation Description2022 JobsAvg. Hourly Earnings


Analyzing critical mass and growth by occupations helps paint a robust picture of regional labor presence and workforce supply. Shown in the table above, the top ten primary occupations employed through a food and beverage processing facility are highlighted. Shown within, Greater Memphis has over 55,000 residents employed in these occupations. Collectively, these occupations grew 13.2% from 2015 to 2019 and host competitive wage rates 7.5% less than national averages.

Successful Memphis Brands

Meet the brands who are making big strides in their business and taking advantage of Memphis's innovation, talent and strategic location.

Success Stories

Success Stories

Why Industries Thrive Here

Between Tennessee's business-friendly environment and Memphis's strategic location, exceptional talent and history of innovation, doing business here is a brilliant move.

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