Across all our placements, beer looks like the best-paid sector in consumer brands and restaurants the worst. Control for seniority and most of the gap closes. A Director is a Director, whether the product is a snack, a seltzer or a spirit.
Salary benchmarking by sector is a staple of budget season. It is also where mix effects do the most damage, because sectors hire at different levels. Beer searches skew toward distributor-facing sales managers. Food searches skew senior. Compare the averages and you learn more about who was hiring than about what the job pays. This is the third finding in The Price of Talent 2026, from 1,335 Protis Global placements since 2007.
Median first-year cash for Director placements:
Food and snacks: $209,000 (n = 24)
Non-alcoholic beverage: $205,500 (n = 25)
Wine and spirits: $198,000 (n = 23)
Beer: $195,000 (n = 18)
Restaurants and hospitality: $110,000 (n = 11)
The four consumer-brand sectors land within $14,000 of each other, a 7 percent spread. At the VP level and above the spread is similar: beer $320,000, food $332,250, wine and spirits $345,000, non-alcoholic beverage $348,250, with 10 to 16 placements in each.
Hold level at Manager and Senior Manager and beer does pay more: $168,375 against $149,500 for food and $135,000 for non-alcoholic beverage. That is about 13 percent over food and 25 percent over beverage. The roles behind it are distributor-facing sales and brewery operations, where the comp structure carries a richer target bonus (25 percent of base at the median, against 20 percent in food and beverage).
Restaurant and hospitality groups are the exception at every level. Their Director median of $110,000 sits about 45 percent below the consumer-brand Director median. The sample is small (11 placements), so treat it as directional, but the direction is consistent across levels. Operators who cross from hospitality into brand-side roles often see the largest raise of their careers, because the skills transfer: P&L ownership, multi-site operations, distributor and supplier management.
Do not budget by sector. Budget by level and scope, then adjust for the two real premiums: distributor-facing beer roles at the manager level, and the hospitality discount everywhere else. If your offer is losing finalists, your sector is rarely the reason. Your level calibration usually is.
Does beer pay more than food in CPG?
At the manager level, yes: about 13 percent more at the median, driven by distributor-facing sales and brewery operations roles. At the Director level the gap disappears; beer Directors median $195,000 against $209,000 in food.
Which CPG sector pays Directors the most?
In 2019 to 2026 placements, food and snacks ($209,000), followed by non-alcoholic beverage ($205,500), wine and spirits ($198,000) and beer ($195,000). The spread is 7 percent.
How does hospitality pay compare with consumer brands?
Director placements at restaurant and hospitality groups median $110,000, roughly 45 percent below consumer-brand Directors. The sample is 11 placements, so the figure is directional.
The full report, The Price of Talent 2026, is free to download at protisglobal.com/price-of-talent-2026. If you want the analysis run against your org chart, your offer, or your next search, talk to our team.