MINNEAPOLIS — Equality remains elusive for some women seeking management-level positions in the food and beverage industry, according to the “State of Women in Food and Beverage,” a survey published by Females in Food (FIF), an organization that supports the development and advancement of women in the industry.  

Specifically, the survey of 234 women working in management positions in the food and beverage industry found leadership programs must evolve beyond existing programs and improve their quality and relevance; work-in-life balance must go beyond flexibility and include paid leave and caregiving support; company cultures must focus on its impact on people rather than being a set of policies; and gender bias must be named, tracked and eliminated.

“At the surface, things may look okay — but when you peel back the layers, another storyline unfolds,” said Angela Dodd, founder of FIF. “This report offers four key takeaways with actionable insights directly from women in our industry.

“It’s a clear roadmap for where companies can start. If we want to retain and elevate female talent, we have to stop assuming progress is enough and start addressing what’s still being overlooked.”

Dodd founded FIF six years ago as an organization that reaches across different categories that span the food and beverage industry and offer not only community to women in the fields but also resources for things like leadership development.

“A lot of women, because of the size of the company they work for, don’t have an affordable way to access the leadership development they want and need,” she said.

Notable places where the industry has improved for women: Companies and employees are aligned on values. Most women who participated in the survey felt they were respected by their peers. Half of survey respondents said their company’s diversity and inclusion efforts translate to real, measurable outcomes. Most women reported their companies offered leadership development programs and flexible work policies are widespread, with 72% of women reporting that their companies offer flexible working hours and 83% offer remote work options.

“The low-hanging fruit has been picked,” said Tracy Bargman, FIF board member. “Now there is the deeper and harder-to-understand-and-solve work. That’s what this study brings to light.”

While most women said their companies offered leadership development, 44% said their companies could offer better leadership development programs. Nearly half said they had limited growth opportunities in their companies.

“I think this begs the question: Is the right programming being offered?” Dodd said. “Is leadership development just a checked box and not being offered at the breadth and depth that’s required. Companies cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach to leadership development, and I think we need more qualitative and quantitative work around this issue.”

Thirty-five percent of women said work-life balance was a barrier to accessing higher leadership positions. While most women have access to remote work and flexible working hours, only 5% said they had access to paid family leave. Just under half said they had access to generous paid time off. A third said their companies should offer paid parental leave benefits, and 26% said flexible work policies would improve their company’s or industry’s support of gender diversity.

“In my own experience, getting to that first rung of leadership has gotten easier as a woman, but moving past that rung is very difficult,” Dodd said. “We have to address the parental and family leave part of this as well as the company culture.

“It’s one thing to have the flexibility as a policy but is it culturally acceptable to use it or will a woman be missing out on a promotion if she uses the flex time? Some of those decisions are being made for us.”

Dodd and Bargman said while the study shows most women feel aligned with their company’s values and find their work engaging and fulfilling, many still report not feeling truly valued — citing issues such as unequal pay, being talked over, and exclusion from key decision making. Fifty-two percent of women said their companies should conduct a pay audit for the purpose of equalizing pay.

Thirty-five percent of the women surveyed said work-life balance was a barrier to accessing higher leadership positions in the industry.

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“We’ve lost that finesse of speaking kindly toward each other, noticing and appreciating each other’s contributions,” Bargman said. “It’s taking a minute to say thank you or job well done, especially in a public setting, and then you have to buck that up with real action like a day off, bonus, raise or promotion.”

The study also revealed the extent to which women still experience gender bias in the workplace. Sixty-three percent feel undervalued or overlooked. Fifty-three percent reported lower pay than male colleagues, while 48% reported pay disparity.

The most alarming finding in the study: 39% of women reported that they had experienced verbal or physical abuse in the workplace.

“That was shocking to me in the year 2025,” Bargman said.

Dodd added: “Even as someone who has experienced this during my career, I thought we had moved into a time when this is not as common, but almost 40% of women are experiencing this.”

While companies have laid strong foundations to encourage women to enter the food and beverage industry, challenges persist in helping those women reach key leadership positions. Much of that remaining work exists in the nuances of culture, both at work and in society.

“There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done,” Dodd said. “I hope leaders and organizations start asking the hard questions internally of what we can do better. This study reveals that it’s not one industry sector or company but very much the industry as a whole. With this study, we’re peeling back the onion to see that we’ve made progress, but we can still do better.”

Females in Food aims to partner with companies and other organizations to help bridge that gap and advance women’s careers in food and beverage. The study was conducted between November 2024 and January 2025.

“Our mission has always been to advance and connect women in the food and beverage industry,” Dodd said. “But we knew that to drive real change, we needed data — something to move us beyond assumptions and into actionable insight.”

Bargman added: “This study brings indisputable facts to the table.”