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Market Coverage
This Nextin™ Packaged Food Report spans key demand signals that forecast food industry trends. Navigate consumer demand, perception, and where tomorrow’s food industry trends are headed.
Packaged Food Market Outlook: consumer attitudes around ultra-processed foods, consumers’ willingness to pay more for select attributes and ingredients, and how to spot the early adopters who show us which food industry trends are ready for consumer trial.
Food Colors and Dyes: natural and synthetic color and dye trends, consumer insights demystifying Artificial Color Avoiders, and the factors consumers most want see more—and less—of in packaged foods.
The Next Wave of Food Flavor Trends: flavor dimensions shaping the market, how today’s core trends point to the sweet and savory flavors consumers are eager to try in packaged foods.
Natural and Artificial Sweeteners: national and regional sweetener preference, and how to connect with each consumer segment defined by sweetener preference: Real Sugar Loyalists, Naturally Low-Cal Sweet Seekers, and Artificial Sweetener Enthusiasts.
Tomorrow’s Protein Trends: motivators for choosing high-protein packaged foods, preferred protein sources in packaged foods, and the lifestyle factors that indicate emerging protein trends.
The Fiber Forecast: the fiber sources consumers are looking for in packaged foods, the GLP-1 effect, and how other lifestyle factors are influencing the direction of fiber trends in packaged foods.
Path to Purchase and Decision-Drivers: Packaged food trial factors, the sustainability sway, claims that command a premium, plus the sources and influencers that consumers turn to for information and inspiration.
Food Retail Channels: how and where consumers purchase foods across brick-and mortar retail, online, and curbside pickup. Explores foodservice and CPG retail to uncover the cross-channel connections and conversion levers that turn trial-driven tasters into routine consumers.
Table of Contents
A forward-looking, comprehensive analysis of packaged food trends across food colors and dyes, flavor, protein, fiber, plus sugar and sweetener trends.
Report includes dynamic charts and data tables, plus Nextin Demand Signals that allow you to toggle and explore white space within food consumer trends. Product innovation concepts and visualized protocepts demonstrate how Nextin food market insights can be put into action.
Nextin Packaged Food Insights Report
Introduction
Nextin™ Protocept
Executive Summary
Methodology and Reading Guide
Food Market Outlook
Trends with Tension: Packaged Food Demands
10 Food Industry Insights to Help You Stay Ahead
The Next Wave of Clean Label
Ultra-Processed vs. Minimally Processed
Attitudes on Ultra-Processed Foods
What Consumers are Willing to Pay for “Minimally Processed”
Food Category Insights
The U.S. Consumer at a Glance
Packaged Food Purchases, Prior 12 Months
Purchase-Driving Packaged Food Trends, Prior 12 Months (Lift ≥1.5x)
Stopped or Reduced Purchase of Packaged Foods
AI & Food Discovery
Audience Segmentation
Demand Signals Navigator: Engaged Experimentalists
Early Adopter Demand Signals
Food Color Factors: Food Colors, Dyes, and the U.S. Consumer
How Colors & Dyes Influence Packaged Food Purchases
The Power of a Name: How Food Color and Dye Names Affect Consumer Perception
Influence of Specific Food Color and Dye Names on Purchases
Artificial Color Avoiders and What They Want Beyond Natural Colors
Conventional Color Consumers and What They Prioritize in Packaged Food Purchases
Food Color Demand Signals
Flavor Angles
Flavor Dimensions Shaping the Market
Anticipating Sweet Flavor Trends
What Sweet Flavor Trendsetters Have a Taste For
Lifestyle Factors and Sweet Flavors
Co-Occurring Flavor Factors in the Sweet Space
Sweet Flavor Demand Signals
Projecting Savory Flavor Trends
What Savory Flavor Trendsetters Have a Taste For
Lifestyle Factors and Savory Flavors
Co-Occurring Flavor Factors in the Savory Space
Savory Flavor Demand Signals
Sugars and Sweeteners
Sweetener Preferences and Profiles
Geographic Heatmap: Sweetener Preference by Region
Real Sugar Loyalists (RSLs)
Sweet on Sugar: RSLs’ Preferred Types of Sugar and Other Sweeteners
Sweet Flavors That Drive Trial Among RSLs
RSLs’ Preferred Product Categories and Attributes
Naturally Low-Cal Sweet Seekers (NLCs)
Naturally Sweet: NLCs’ Preferred Sweeteners
Sweet Flavors That Drive Trial Among NLCs
NLCs’ Preferred Product Categories and Attributes
Search Interest in Sweetener Terms
Demand Signals Among Naturally Low-Cal Sweet Seekers
Artificial Sweetener Enthusiasts (ASEs)
Naturally Sweet: ASEs’ Preferred Sweeteners
Sweet Flavors That Drive Trial Among ASEs
ASEs’ Preferred Product Categories and Attributes
The Protein Play
Motivators for Choosing High-Protein Versions of Packaged Foods
Protein Trends x Lifestyle Factors
Preferred Sources of Protein in Packaged Foods
Protein Demand Signals in Packaged Foods
The Fiber Factor
Need-States Aligned with Fiber Demand
Preferred Fiber Sources in Packaged Foods
Fiber Trends x Lifestyle Factors
Protein Plus Fiber: Where Demand Intersects
Fiber Demand Signals
Nextin Innovator’s Toolkit
Ready-to-explore food innovation concepts grounded in fresh consumer data and evolving food consumer trends.
Appendix
Consumer Demographics
What’s Next?
Glossary
About Nextin Research
About MarketPlace
Innovator's Toolkit
Your source of inspiration, guided by Nextin Research. Interactive tools and visualized product concepts display more than consumer data—they show where today’s demand has the momentum to become tomorrow’s food market trends.
Demand Signals: dynamically navigate the consumer demand driving food trends with factors like purchase-driving behaviors, in-demand ingredients, and flavors that motivate trial
Innovator’s Toolkit: accelerate your next ideation with ready-to-explore product concepts grounded in consumer data, with a vision for the food market trends across the next 1–3 years
Exploratory Protocepts: see food and beverage product innovation concepts that help you visualize tomorrow’s food trends today
Dynamic Charts
Content
INSIGHTS PREVIEW
Intelligence You Can Act On
What’s next in packaged food trends?
18% of the 2,104 packaged-food purchasers surveyed are Engaged Experimentalists (n=373)—the youngest, most novelty- and weight-management-driven segment. They’re also among the first to try new food trends.
Engaged Experimentalists are more than taste-testers, they’re dramatically more engaged across the market:
1.89x more likely to consume packaged foods featuring restaurant- or chef-collaborations
1.61x more likely to consume imported packaged foods than the average U.S. consumer
Convenience-driven, 1.5x more likely than average to eat food on-the-go
83% more likely to have packaging influence their purchase decisions
Strategic implication: Engaged Experimentalists are the trial-drivers for food applications, flavor trends, and ingredient demand. They drive velocity for new products, giving them a chance to gain broader traction as trends mature. On-the-go formats, chef-collaborations, imported products, and packaging-forward positioning are early indicators worth tracking.
WHO IT'S FOR
This Nextin Packaged Food Insights Report is designed for food industry professionals who need current, validated consumer insights to anticipate food trends and inform high-stakes decisions.
Forward-looking Packaged Food Trends for Strategic Decision-Makers
Product Development and Innovation Teams
Identify which need-states, ingredients, and applications are gaining consumer traction to prioritize formulation and format strategies grounded in demand data.
Brand and Marketing Teams
Validate new packaged food concepts and refine product positioning with consumer-backed packaged food insights.
Ingredient Suppliers
Identify which functional ingredients (protein, fiber, sweeteners) are gaining traction, and which ingredients packaged food shoppers are seeking but not yet finding on shelf.
Retailers and Buyers
Understand cross-category purchase behaviors and the omnichannel mix to optimize packaged food assortment and drive new product trial.
Investors and Analysts
Assess growth potential in the packaged food category with primary consumer data on adoption curves, conversion gaps, and willingness to pay.
Executives and Innovation Leaders
Inform long-term vision and growth strategy with packaged food trends that futurecast demand before it reaches shelves.
Our Reports are Cited and Sourced by Leading Brands and Organizations in Food, Beverage, & Ingredients
METHODOLOGY
This Nextin Report features proprietary data from a June 2026 survey conducted by Nextin Research. The online panel comprised 2,104 U.S. adults aged 18 and older who report having personally shopped for and purchased food in the prior 12 months (“packaged-food purchasers”). Panelists, also referred to as “packaged-food purchasers,” were screened to include only respondents who reported making food purchase decisions. Behaviors such as “purchases” are self-reported and reflect the prior 12 months unless otherwise noted.
Research design, programming, fieldwork, and analysis were conducted by Nextin Research, the syndicated research arm of strategic advisory and brand activation firm MarketPlace. Samples for these studies are sourced through Dynata, the world’s largest first-party data provider. Original sampling is balanced for gender and region according to the U.S. census. All data is reported in the aggregate except where otherwise noted.
Results reflect a balanced, non-probability sample. For directional reference, a probability sample of equivalent size would carry a margin of error of approximately ±2.1% at the 95% confidence level for the total sample (n=2,104). Differences between consumer groups are tested for significance at p ﹤ 0.05.
KEY CONTRIBUTORS
Nicole Hill, VP of Strategy, Insights, & Innovation
Jake Klinghammer, Strategy Director
Jon Copeland, Research Manager
Shelby White, Group Creative Director
