Agri-food relations are often either overlooked or marginalised within the discipline of international political economy (IPE).1 This is despite the constitutive role that these relations have played historically in the construction of the inter-state system and their substantive significance in contemporary global political economy (McMichael 2013b). The current restructuring of the global food system and its sociopolitical and economic coordinates has significance for comprehending the broader configuration and transformation of the contemporary global political economy. This paper examines the emergence of neomercantilism and its role in the evolving global food regime, and evaluates the question — ‘To what extent does this emergent paradigm contradict or reaffirm a neoliberal food regime?’ It explores the conceptual linkages between the rise of state capitalism and the advent of neomercantilism and its implications for the global food regime.2 The implications of the proliferation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and their nascent role in securing global supply chains for food, feed and fuel through the acquisition of foreign land and natural resources are examined. It is critical to situate this contemporary conjuncture in the global food regime within the context of a transition towards a multipolar international order and a multipolar global food system. This transition is characterised by the rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs);3 state-led capitalism and the development of a new type of mercantilism in the agri-food sector.