FuelCell Energy’s FCEL relevance to the food and beverage market lies in a basic operating need — steady access to carbon dioxide (CO2), whichis essential for carbonated drinks, beer, food processing, refrigeration, dry ice and preservation. When supplies tighten or transportation costs rise, manufacturers can face higher input costs and even production delays. That makes CO2 availability a business continuity issue, not just an environmental concern.
In other words, CO2 availability is often discussed in environmental terms because it is associated with emissions, climate impact and sustainability. But for food and beverage companies, CO2 is also a critical operating input. For operators running high-volume production lines, even short disruptions in this input can affect schedules, inventory planning and customer commitments.
FCEL’s fuel cell technology addresses this challenge by allowing manufacturers to produce useful energy and recover CO2 at the same site. The system converts hydrogen-rich fuel into electricity and heat, while generating a concentrated CO2 stream that can be reused in production. For food and beverage plants, this creates a more integrated setup, as power, heat and a critical raw material can all come from one on-site platform. This can reduce exposure to outside CO2 suppliers, trucking constraints and price swings, while giving plant managers greater control over a resource that is often treated as externally dependent.
The key insight is that FuelCell Energy’s food and beverage application is not simply about clean power. Its stronger value proposition is operational resilience. Facilities that consume large volumes of CO2 may benefit from bringing part of that supply in-house, especially if they also need reliable electricity and usable heat. The model turns CO2 from a purchased commodity into a recoverable resource, helping manufacturers improve uptime, manage costs and support sustainability goals without changing the core purpose of their production lines.
FCEL is not alone in recognizing that CO2 has become an important operating input for food and beverage producers. Other industrial gas and equipment companies are also serving this market by helping customers store, supply and use CO2 more reliably across carbonation, freezing, chilling and packaging applications.
Expanding Role of CO2 in Food and Beverage Operations
Chart Industries GTLS supports the food and beverage industry with bulk CO2 carbonation and storage systems used for soft drinks, beer and food freezing. Chart Industries offers Carbo-Mizer, Carbo-Mite, Carbo-Max and Perma-Max tanks as safer, lower-cost alternatives to high-pressure cylinders. Chart Industries also combines CO2 and nitrogen technology to help brewers manage dispensing needs, reduce run-outs and support consistent quality from small brew pubs to stadiums and larger breweries today.
Meanwhile, Air Products and Chemicals APD serves the food and beverage industry through food-grade gases, including CO2, used for freezing, chilling, packaging, fermentation and process optimization. Air Products’ Freshline solutions help manufacturers improve product quality, extend shelf life and support food safety. Air Products also offers testing through food labs and mobile services, helping customers see how CO2 or nitrogen can improve yield, quality and efficiency. Air Products emphasizes reliable supply through bulk, microbulk and on-site options.
The Zacks Rundown on FCEL
Shares of FuelCell Energy have nearly tripled over the past six months, breezing past the industry's growth.
FCEL currently has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) of 3.44 on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell), calculated based on the actual recommendations (Buy, Hold, Sell, etc.) made by nine brokerage firms.
The chart below shows FCEL’s earnings over the past four quarters.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).