As we move past the ‘free from’ era, consumers are favouring products that do more with less, bringing flavour and fun back into functional nutrition. In The Future Laboratory’s latest Food & Drink Futures 2024-2025 report, the strategic foresight agency explores how consumers find solace in little treats, as putting food on the table has become more challenging. The definition of comfort food is broadening, taking the shape of anything from protein-spiked chocolate to gourmet tinned fish.

The report breaks down food and drink analysis across key markets, with case studies and consumer insights combined to help brands and retailers understand and grasp business success in the years ahead. In the future, consumers will seek solutions allowing them to have their cake and eat it too, prompting the sector to reconcile pleasure and practicality, fun and function, hedonism and health. Here are four key trends:

When it comes to diet, one-size-fits-all approaches are being replaced with personalised solutions, and it is expected that these will become the norm. Nearly one in five Americans (18 percent) name the health benefits of their food and drink when they sit down to eat (source: Tastewise), and health tech wearables are giving us more insight into our bodies than was available to previous generations.

Blood sugar monitors, once a vital tool for those with diabetes, are now being used by wellness fiends without the condition, but who want to keep an eye on their glucose levels, leading these monitors to be labelled as a status symbol by Dazed.  

“In a world inundated with health trends, personalisation offers clarity among the noise, empowering individuals to make food choices aligned with their specific needs and goals,” Lifesum’s lead nutritionist Signe Svanfeldt told LS:N Global. The demand for made-to-measure nutrition gave rise to apps such as Zoe, Day Two and Youniq, which are using predictive AI to create personalised nutritional advice. According to Spherical Insights, the global personalised nutrition market was valued at £8.8bn (€10.3bn) in 2022 and is expected to reach £36.2bn (€42bn) by 2032.   

San Francisco-based Sunrise is on a mission to become a better, smarter alternative to supermarkets as we know them. Currently a concept, which is at the pilot stage, this integrated solution will combine AI, curated products, a smart supply chain and circular logistics. An app will provide users with hassle-free meal planning and shopping that they can tailor to their tastes and goals. “The idea is to build an autonomous health model that just optimises your life in the background,” CEO and founder Ruben Smit told The Future Laboratory.

Food innovators are turning sugary food into family-friendly functional treats adjusted to changing palates and dietary preferences. Indulgence innovator Resugar has developed a molecule with the sweetness profile and disaccharide structure of sucrose, giving it the same taste and industrial properties but with zero calories.

Smarter treats are not just about reworking foods to be clean. The communication around re-engineered indulgence breaks away from the alignment of guilt with tasty foods and highlights that these are snacks that pack good ingredients but which are, first and foremost, palatable, fun and flavourful.

Launched in July 2023 in the US, Blobs are soft and chewy candy. Coming in wonky ‘blobs’ to signify their uniqueness, the sweets are plant-based, GMO-free and contain only 2 grams of sugar in every pack. Another example is Flings, an American brand which reworked toaster pastries to meet the nutritional demands of health-conscious consumers. Unlike the mass-market versions, Flings are high-protein, low-carb, low-sugar and keto-friendly. Similarly, Magic Spoon has replaced sweet cereal bars with ones that are high in protein and have no added sugar

The future of the snacking segment is far short of being bite-sized. The ‘girl dinner’ TikTok trend from 2023 hints at a wider shift, considering that globally six in 10 people prefer to eat a number of small meals throughout the day, as opposed to a few large ones (source: Mondelez). The snackification of eating habits comes down to a rebrand of snacking as convenient, appetising and healthy – rather than as a bad habit.

“Snacking does not need to be a negative habit but rather a strategic opportunity to enhance nutritional intake throughout the day,” agrees Signe Svanfeldt.
Snackers favour on-the-go bites that do more with less and pack in essential macro and micronutrients without compromising on flavour or convenience: enter the supersnacks. According to Mondelez, consumers want snacks to boost energy (75 percent), improve mood (74 percent) and align with fitness goals (70 percent). Future snacks will even work as edible supplements with tangible benefits for mental and physical health.

Rivalz, self-described as an ‘exciting snack with purposeful calories’, is an example of a health-supporting supersnack, with its crunchy, protein- and fibre-filled puffs containing seven essential vitamins and minerals in each serving. Another is Little Spoon’s Lunchers. Launched in October 2023 in the US, the grown up and nutritionally elevated take on Lunchables swaps processed snacks for whole foods. The range includes a deconstructed pizza and chicken nacho chips with 10 grams of protein and hidden vegetables.
The portion control, nutrient density and convenience of complete snacks also mean they are a food of choice for semaglutide users, which will further push demand as GLP-1 adoption continues to grow

The growing importance of emotional care and mood-boosting products to younger generations is opening the way for innovation in the food, drinks and supplements sectors, which are focusing on how they make people feel. Brown’s Hotel’s Donovan Bar in London has introduced a menu of 12 cocktails, each mixed to provoke a physical or emotional response, such as adrenaline or wonder. LS:N Global explored how functional drinks are focusing on supporting emotional states alongside providing physical health benefits in Emotional Support Sips.

Take California-based Emotional Utility Beverage which, in 2023, launched two ranges of sparkling drinks: Euphoric to boost mood and Focused to boost cognition. They contain natural and synthetic ingredients including GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), lion’s mane mushrooms, alpha GPC and vitamin B.

Other solutions are also available to help people manage emotional states. Biochemist and author Jessie Inchauspé, known as The Glucose Goddess, introduced Anti-Spike in January 2024, a supplement intended to be taken before eating sugar or other carbs, which is supposedly able to reduce the glucose spike that ensues by up to 40 percent. Empowering people to be in control of how dietary choices make them feel is a challenge for food and drink producers as they race on to crack recipes for emotional regulation.

The Future Laboratory is one of the world’s leading strategic foresight consultancies. From its offices in London, São Paulo and Melbourne, The Future Laboratory offers a range of strategic foresight products and services.

The Future Laboratory’s Food & Drink Futures 2024-2025 report is available here