Mintel, a global leader in market intelligence, shared three opportunities for food and drink brands to strengthen consumers’ resolve to endure adversity now and in the years ahead.
In 2030 and beyond, expect to see a newfound respect for resourcefulness take the spotlight leading to a resurgence in acceptance of cans, frozen food and other long-life products. Meanwhile, health-focused consumers will use AI—as they do with their digital music libraries—to “shuffle” their weekly diets to ensure they’re diverse, while inclusive product development will stretch to multisensory innovations for that empathetically address the needs of underserved groups of consumers.
The Mintel 2026 Food and Drink Predictions are:
What’s new and next for food, beverage and retail trends in 2026
Retro Rejuvenation: Brands that incorporate, preserve or modernize traditional wisdom with innovations that satisfy consumers’ needs to feel more emotionally and culturally connected to their food and surroundings will be seen as cultural custodians.
“For consumers in 2026, nostalgia for ‘the past’ does not mean rewinding to a specific year or era. Rather, they are seeking refuge from a volatile and artificially intelligent world in an idealized view that life in the past was simpler,” said Jenny Zegler, director of Food and Drink at Mintel. “Seeking comfort from nostalgia is needed amid the recent ‘polycrisis,’ which is a term for a series of consecutive, interlinked shocks or disasters.
“Consumers have gravitated to ancient medicines and ‘Grandma hobbies’ for stress relief, mindfulness and a pressure-free way to achieve fulfillment,” she added. “This solace is especially sought by Millennials, ages 28-45, who are seeking a higher purpose in the ‘extended middle’ decades of life.”
Zegler concludes, “The shocks and disasters that consumers will have survived by 2030 will inspire them to prepare themselves and their pantries to be able to endure whatever surprise is next. Brands that ground themselves in heritage ingredients will benefit from the trust consumers place in history. By 2030, a newfound respect for resourcefulness will inspire a fresh look at cans, pouches, freeze-dried, frozen and other long-life product formats. Retailers will invest in center aisles that improve ‘dwell time’ and inspire discoveries of a new generation of versatile, innovative gourmet ambient brands like Heyday Canning Co. or Fishwife in the US.”
“Maxxing” Out, Diversity In: Consumers will be hungry to expand their diets beyond just the benefits of protein and fiber. The cultural principle of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), will be applied to nutrition, leading to a desire for “DEI-ts” that defy the “comfort” of eating the same foods.
“At a time when there’s an abundance of instantly available health advice, protein and fiber are cutting through the clutter in 2026 and going mainstream as easy to understand, accessible and essential nutrients,” said Zegler. “By 2030, consumers will shift away from rigid nutritional goals toward more inclusive, diverse diets. The focus is moving from maximization to balance, and from single-function ingredients to holistic, culturally rooted formulations.
“Just like hitting shuffle on their digital music libraries, health-focused consumers will use AI to ‘shuffle’ their weekly diets to ensure they are diverse, include a range of ingredients and inspire excitement with new combinations. AI also will encourage trial of new foods with ‘if you like this, then you’ll like that’ recommendations of fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, spices or proteins that are new, but familiar.”
“In the coming years, expect to see parents set their children up with the right nutrients not only for ideal growth and development, but with the foundation of a healthy gut microbiome,” she concludes. “We also could see precision nutrition boosts, or custom combinations of seeds, herbs and spices, that help consumers amp up the variety in their diets.”
Intentionally Sensory: Sensory features beyond taste will evolve from being a performative and whimsical element in food and drink to more practical and pragmatic. Creative, yet evidence-based, uses of texture, aroma and appearance will be central to creating innovations that offer inclusive experiences for under-served consumers.
“Whether it’s ‘dirty sodas’ or Dubai chocolate, multi-sensory innovations have become synonymous in recent years with playfulness, novelty and viral sensations. In the future, brands will be more intentional with their use of color, texture or aroma to create food and drink that stimulates the senses and reinvigorates experiential eating and brand positioning,” said Zegler.
“Innovations that engage several senses will serve as antidotes to increasingly virtual, repetitive and isolated daily lives. By 2030, multi-sensory inspiration also will come from empathetic explorations of how to formulate for the unique sensory needs of underserved consumer groups, including the elderly, neurodiverse individuals or GLP-1 medication users, while remaining enticing to mainstream consumers.
“Brands have an opportunity not just to reimagine traditional food and drink, but also to reimagine the consumption occasions where they can be applied, providing a whole new way to remain relevant to Generations Z and Alpha,” she concludes. “Opportunities will emerge for food and drink brands to use multi-sensory elements such as aroma, audio or video to modernize consumption occasions that were iconic for previous generations. For example, social occasions like clubbing that would previously have lasted into the early hours of the next day will translate into morning DJ dance parties in cafes focused on coffee and tea. Understanding the sensory expectations of consumers, from texture to aroma to emotional payoff, will be key to creating products that resonate.”
About Mintel:
Mintel Group Ltd. is the expert in what consumers want and why. As the world’s leading market intelligence agency, our analysis of consumers, markets, new products and competitive landscapes provides a unique perspective on global and local economies. Since 1972, our predictive analytics and expert recommendations have enabled our clients to make better business decisions faster. Our purpose is to help businesses and people grow.
