The $378 billion U.S. food industry is experiencing significant disruption. Shifting economic cycles, growth of private-label brands, changing family structures and demographics, and evolving tastes and preferences have all rewritten the rules on where growth is coming from. Consumers today, led by millennials, are rejecting many of the mass-produced, anonymous heritage brands in favor of healthier, more innovative products with an authentic purpose for being. In this paper, Houlihan Lokey's Consumer, Food & Retail Group describes the shifting trends redefining the food and beverage industry, shares its view on how to build an emerging brand the “right” way, and expounds on factors that entrepreneurs should consider in an eventual exit.