Mintel’s global food and drink trends for 2025

London | Leading market intelligence agency Mintel has announced key trends that will shape the global food and drink industry in the years ahead. In 2025 and beyond, expect to see more focus on blood sugar and hormone health, while food and drink will play an increasing role in mental health management. There will be an increase in diversified ingredient sourcing, while technology and agriculture will have to be more closely interlinked.

Food and health

The emergence of weight-loss medications like Ozempic will redefine consumer perceptions of ‘food as medicine’ from being an added functional ingredient, to necessary to meeting daily essential nutrient needs.

Alex Beckett, Mintel Food & Drink Director, explains, “Starting in 2025, brands must streamline their health claims to the critical nutrients they contain. Simplified claims that highlight protein, fibre, vitamins and mineral content will appeal to people who are using weight-loss drugs, as well as the majority of consumers who define their diets based on their individual needs and how food makes them feel. Expect to see an increase in nutrient-dense product innovations to improve short- and long-term health. […] Rising interest in blood sugar could increase the demand for low-glycemic formulas, as well as blood sugar monitoring beyond just diabetics. For hormone health, brands can support men and women as they navigate hormonal changes brought on by ageing.”

Rule rebellion

On the other hand, consumers are embraced as ‘perfectly imperfect’ beings who are hungry for brands that help them ‘break the rules’ in food and drink.

Beckett adds, “As society increasingly accepts imperfections, food and drink brands can target these ‘perfectly imperfect’ consumers with innovation that breaks the invisible rules around food and drink consumption. Brands can lean into how consumers want to, or actually, consume food and drink rather than how they feel they ‘should’. By supporting these rebellious tendencies, brands can help consumers feel more represented by the outside-the-norm food and drink choices available to them. […] Innovative brands can create new norms by developing products with unfamiliar sustainable ingredients that can be marketed on their unique taste.”

In the near future, brands will seek to break down continued social stigmas surrounding lesser-talked-about health issues. For example, currently less-seen on-pack and marketing messaging that directly mentions the role of food and drink in mental health management will become more commonplace.

Challenges in production due to climate change and geopolitical events

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 flavours that will emerge locally and globally.

Beckett concludes, “In an increasingly volatile world, food and drink brands must clearly communicate how adjustments from local to global sourcing were made to benefit consumers. Cross-industry, multinational collaboration and scalable tech solutions will be required, but they are not without complications. More importantly, consumers will feel the consequences of these challenges personally, and brands must be ready with solutions. Looking ahead, more ingredients will be sourced from alternative and potentially more reliable growing regions, such as olive oil from Algeria or Peru. Brands can highlight the benefits of diversified sourcing, such as nuanced flavour variations. Many consumers’ local-centric identities will be transformed by social media, immigration and travel.”

In addition, food and drink companies will need to illustrate how technology and agriculture work together to benefit consumers, farmers and the environment.

The free report can be downloaded from www.mintel.com.