2 Magnificent Consumer Stocks Down as Much as 30% to Buy and Hold Forever

The consumer staples sector has had a rough stretch. Between stubbornly sticky input costs, cautious consumers, and a market that rotated hard into technology and artificial intelligence, many of the most recognizable brand portfolios in the world got left behind. That has created something genuinely rare: deeply discounted entry points into businesses that, over any meaningful time horizon, tend to be among the most resilient in the market.

These two companies sell products that people buy when times are good, and keep buying when times are hard.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Mondelēz International

Mondelēz International (NASDAQ: MDLZ) is one of the most globally distributed consumer brands on Earth. Cadbury. Oreo. Ritz. Triscuit. Chips Ahoy. Milka. Toblerone. The company sells in more than 150 countries and generates about 40% of its revenues from high-growth emerging markets -- Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America -- markets that have been growing at a compound annual rate of 13.4% over the past five years.

Most investors think of Mondelēz as a U.S. snack company. It is really a developing-world growth story wearing a Cadbury wrapper.

The reason the stock has been punished (down more than 30% at times) is simple and worth understanding clearly. Cocoa prices surged to historic highs in 2024 and 2025, and since chocolate is one of the company's core categories, that hit margins hard. In 2025, adjusted earnings per share (EPS) declined roughly 14% at constant currency -- a bad number that sent the stock down more than 30% from its recent highs. Shares currently trade around $60 to $61, and the stock is off significantly from the levels it held just two years ago.

But here is what the sell-off misses: Cocoa prices have already started falling sharply. By early 2026, cocoa was down more than 50% from its highs. That cost tailwind has not yet shown up in the income statement, but it will. Mondelēz has already reaffirmed its full-year 2026 outlook, projecting organic net revenue growth of flat to 2% and free cash flow of $3 billion or more. The business is not broken. It ran into a commodity supercycle that is now reversing, and the stock is still priced as if the pain is permanent.

The dividend tells the other part of the story. Mondelēz has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years, with the most recent quarterly payment set at $0.50 per share. At current prices, the stock yields around 3.2% -- not eye-popping by itself, but layered on top of a business with a 13-year growth streak and $3 billion in annual free cash flow, it represents a very durable income stream.

2. General Mills

General Mills (NYSE: GIS) is not a flashy story. Cheerios, Nature Valley, Annie's, Pillsbury, Häagen-Dazs, Progresso -- these are the products people grew up with and keep buying on autopilot. The company generates more than $18 billion in annual revenue across dozens of countries, has paid dividends continuously for more than a century, and has raised that dividend three times in the past three years.

And yet, the stock is down roughly 40% from its 52-week high. The reasons for the decline are real: Volume has been soft as consumers traded down to private-label options, organic sales declined in recent quarters, and management has been cautious with guidance. None of that is fun to sit through as a shareholder. But General Mills is also not a business losing its relevance -- it is a business in a cyclical soft patch, pricing through a period of post-pandemic inflation fatigue, in a category where consumer preferences almost always snap back.

The more interesting angle that rarely gets coverage is the pet food business. General Mills owns Blue Buffalo, one of the dominant names in premium natural pet food, and in mid-2025, the company moved into the fast-growing fresh pet food category with Love Made Fresh, a new line entering a $3 billion market. Blue Buffalo was acquired in 2018 for $8 billion and has been the company's strongest growth engine. Pet food is a category where consumers are emotionally motivated and brand-loyal in a way that is very difficult for private label to disrupt. A Cheerios buyer might switch to a store brand. A pet owner who believes Blue Buffalo keeps their dog healthy does not.

At a market cap of around $18 billion and a dividend yield now approaching 7% -- a level that, if you pull up any historical chart of General Mills, has always represented a buying opportunity -- this is the kind of setup where the income alone makes the position worth starting.

Micah Zimmerman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.