Mintel has released its 2025 Global Food and Drink Trends report, said to highlight two significant dualities: how consumers traverse between health and indulgence, and how the global and local food supply chain will need to adapt to disruptions from extreme weather, geopolitical events and technological innovations. Within Mintel's report, each of the four trends outlined below is expanded upon with examples of brands that are tapping into the growing/predicted consumer demands.
Behind Mintel's Forecast
The 2025 predictions are built on the foundations of Mintel’s seven Trend Drivers: Well-being, Experiences, Surroundings, Rights, Technology, Identity and Value. The trend predictions are further supported by Mintel’s extensive libraries of global consumer data, new product innovations and inspiring marketing campaigns. Mintel explains, [the trend predictions] also developed around buzz-worthy topics that have the potential to upset the status quo in the food and drink industry in 2025 and thereafter, such as GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and artificial intelligence (AI).
The 2025 Global Food and Drink Trend Highlights
1. Fundamentally Nutritious: The emergence of weight-loss medications like Ozempic will redefine consumer perceptions of ‘food as medicine’ from added functional ingredients to meeting daily essential nutrient needs.
- Mintel shares, "Food and drink brands will have opportunities in the coming years to complement fibre and protein claims with stats on former diet villains but key macronutrients: fat and carbohydrates. More complete macronutrient claims will appeal to health-conscious consumers, weight-loss drug users and former weight-loss drug users who are in need of convenient options to help them maintain any health improvements they gained while on the drugs."
2. Rule Rebellion: Embrace consumers as ‘perfectly imperfect’ beings who are hungry for brands that help them ‘break the rules’ in food and drink.
- One of the highlights Mintel mentions for brand opportunity is by "appeal[ing] to times when consumers feel less than perfect. Brands will seek to break down continued social stigmas surrounding lesser-talked-about health issues. For example, less-seen on-pack and marketing messaging that directly mentions the role of food and drink in mental health management will become more commonplace.
3. Chain Reaction: As disruptions to the food supply become more frequent, the industry will need to encourage consumers to welcome and trust the new origins, ingredients and flavors that will emerge locally and globally.
4. Hybrid Harvests: Food and drink companies will need to illustrate how technology and agriculture work together to benefit consumers, farmers and the environment.
- Mintel shares, "It will be imperative that new technology is humanized, particularly AI. For example, German juice brand EckesGranini has partnered with Microsoft to integrate intelligent data into its supply chain. The marketing video announcing the partnership draws attention to how this technology makes a positive difference in their producers’ lives, not just making production more efficient."
