From shifts in eating and personal care to social media trends and the adoption of AI, the CPG category is moving fast.
The evolution of food culture and diet trends is doing more than influencing CPG food and beverage, it is creating new categories. Expect CPG food categories to evolve even further in 2026, as consumers respond to culture, be it a desire for healthier products to meet nutritional needs or jumping into social media trends.
“The food & beverage industry is at a tipping point,” says Linda Bethea, chief marketing officer at Danone. “One in four Americans is on a weight loss journey and over 12% have tried GLP-1 medications, which is driving a lasting shift in how people shop and eat. As usage increases, we will see a surge in demand for nutrient dense food and beverages that offer higher quality protein, fiber, hydration, as well as lower-sugar options. People are eating less but we need to ensure that fewer calories doesn’t mean fewer benefits. The opportunity for Danone and the entire industry is to deliver functional foods that meet consumers evolving health and nutrition needs.”
For The Magnum Ice Cream Company, shifts in consumer eating behaviors means looking beyond ice cream and instead at the entire future of frozen snacking. “We are beyond just a frozen treat for a reward,” says Lisa Vortsman, chief marketing and innovation officer at The Magnum Ice Cream Company, North America. “The notion of snacking and after school has shifted. Ice cream has the right to play versus the idea of a savory or a sweet snack, or even a refreshing snack.”
“The category is ripe for leveraging technology and creating disruptive new formats beyond just sandwiches and the sticks,” continues Vortsman. “Novelties continue to be a strong growing format in the category. Bringing technologies into that format to truly drive disruption and create those new occasions, incremental occasions is a big opportunity for us.” Think Jake Shane-specific Popsicles – a product born out of social media – and Yasso Poppables –a new form factor for snacking.
Through social media Gen Z is creating new snack occasions that go beyond traditional meals.
“Food is no longer just confined to the eating occasion – it has become a storytelling device across categories like sports, fashion, beauty and retail to quite literally make these categories more palatable,” says Brent Lukowski, senior director of marketing, U.S. condiments at Unilever.
“From fashion cafés to sportswear brands serving gourmet bites or cuisine-inspired couture, food is bringing a layer of relatability and sensory appeal to industries that can often be perceived as transactional,” he continues. “For CPG brands, this shift signals a move from consumption to connection – where products must deliver not just on quality, but on experience, identity and shareability. As humans, we can all relate to food – and brands are signaling that they want everyone to feel like they have a seat at the table.”
Sports & entertainment
The CPG category has long had a presence at the Super Bowl – considered the largest snacking day of the year – but with the growth of the WNBA, the Winter Olympics and the FIFA Men’s World Cup in North America, 2026 is gearing up to be a big year in sports. Expect to see CPG brands – from snacks and beverages to personal care and essentials – showing up at these tentpoles.
“2026 is packed with major cultural moments – think of sport’s biggest stages – which mean brands have a huge opportunity to show up in ways that are both bold and memorable in real life and online,” says Ryu Yokoi, Unilever’s chief digital officer for personal care North America and U.S. Media. “For Unilever, it’s not just about being present at these events, but about creating campaigns that truly resonate and drive relevance for our brands in those moments.” The rise in popularity of women’s sports is also driving a rise in brands looking to cultivate relationships with girls and women. In 2026, expect to see more brand initiatives and storytelling inspired to keep a generation of girls in sports.
“We see growth for women’s health and partnerships through women’s sports,” says Patricia Corsi, chief growth officer at Kimberly-Clark. “We know that many women will stop playing sports because of periods and period-related pain. But sports helps you to build leadership and collaboration skills, so there is an opportunity to support women’s health to keep girls in sports.”
Entertainment is another key platform for CPG brands to connect with consumers through their fandoms. Think celebrity partnerships and product development within culture. “For CPG brands to continue to win with celebrity partnerships, authenticity must go beyond an endorsement,” says Unilever’s Lukowski. “True impact comes when talent is genuinely embedded in the product or brand story – whether that means contributing to product development or a brand tapping into their viral cultural moments.”
For example, Hellmann’s partnership with Lindsay Hubbard and West Wilson, inspired by Lindsay’s viral “make me a sandwich” moment. “The collaboration resonated deeply with consumers, many noting it ‘just made so much sense,’” Lukowski continues. “These kinds of authentic, timely connections are what help CPG brands stay top of mind and culturally relevant for consumers.”
Artificial intelligence
AI will play a larger role in the world next year and for CPG marketers that will show up in various ways from social listening and AI shopping agents to creative ideation and asset development.
Magnum’s Vortsman says that AI will help brands stay on top of trends. “Leveraging AI as a key enabler to get ahead of trends or potentially drive some of the trends for how consumers engage with our brands is very exciting,” she says. “The ability to basically scrape what’s out there and use predictive listening is really going to continue in innovative ways.”
“We can’t talk about 2026 without mentioning the rapid adoption of AI,” says Unilever’s Yokoi. “It will transform every stage of the marketing cycle, from how we create and test content, to how we buy media and measure performance. We’re seeing AI tools become more deeply embedded in our platforms, boosting productivity and enabling smarter, faster decisions and allowing the humans behind our brands to make their ideas come to life and measure performance with a speed not possible before.”
“With the rise of AI-powered shopping agents, the way people discover and buy products is changing fast,” Yokoi continued. “This has the potential to transform the way our products are discovered and purchased, and we are actively working on ways to make sure our brands are relevant in these channels. In this new landscape, creativity is the through line: the brands that can win both hearts and algorithms will be the ones that stand out.”
