Food for Thought: New Report Explores Chicago’s Food Ecosystem

Overall employment in the food ecosystem in the Chicago region has grown by 10.39 percent from 2010 to 2020. Some food industry subclusters such as the Malt Beverage subcluster, experienced dramatic increases, growing from 140 employees in 2010 to 2,116 in 2020, a whopping rate of 1,411.43 percent. This increase in employment has propelled the subcluster to jump from the 44th largest to the fifth largest region for Malt Beverage employment. As of 2020, there were 82 Malt Beverage companies in the Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The largest employer is Molson Coors Beverage Company USA LLC., a brewery headquartered in Chicago. Understanding such trends helps companies and policymakers to capitalize on industry growth, and job seekers to identify where job opportunities are available.

More trends like this are highlighted in the Food for Thought: Food Ecosystem of the Chicago Region report, a report inspired by the Chicagoland FOOD, Seizing the Opportunity to Grow Chicagoland’s Food Industry report.

To analyze recent changes in employment, establishments, and median annual salary, food ecosystem establishments were categorized into five clusters:

• Local Food and Beverage Processing and Distribution
• Food Processing and Manufacturing
• Agricultural Inputs and Services
• Livestock Processing
• Fishing and Fishing Products

The Local Food and Beverage Processing and Distribution cluster has the largest number of employees across the food ecosystem clusters with 136,925 employees in 2020. The report provides a profile of each of the five clusters and their respective subcluster categories.