Before we talk about 2026 food trends, we need to talk about the disruption driving them.
The thing that struck me most listening to Charles Banks and Shokofeh Hejazi’s walk through of the top ten new and rising food and drink trends for 2026–27 at this year’s thefoodpeople annual summit, was not the trends themselves. It was the disruption sitting behind them.
Food trade is turning into food power. Climate shocks are rewriting what resilience means. Economic volatility is now the norm. Health and diet are under the spotlight. And technology is shaping everything from genomes to grocery aisles.
When the system is under that much pressure, consumer behaviour shifts. It stops being about preference, but becomes about adaptation. This is where their core driver ‘my new reality’, really resonated for me.
People are quietly adjusting to heavier days.
They are creating ease wherever they can.
And using food as comfort, focus, structure and joy.
For brands, this means responding in two ways: offering joyful escapism and back to basics good value. Here, tools like AI will play a role, removing friction and improving experiences.
Seen through that lens, the top ten trends stop being a list and start becoming a map of how people cope.
💉 The GLP 1 effect: shifting appetite is reshaping how we eat, altering rhythms and the definition of what ‘enough’ looks like. Smaller eating windows, less noise, more satiety, and a shift towards food that works harder nutritionally.
👩 Food therapy: reflects emotional fatigue and the search for steadying rituals. Eating becomes a way to cope and find joy with calming drinks, mood led menus and nostalgic formats anchoring us when the world feels difficult.
🍫 Snack-tails: snacking takes centre stage, showing how fixed mealtimes are dissolving into flexibility. Snacks stepping into the space meals used to occupy. Fast, flexible, often playful, but still deliberate.
🥩 Butcher’s cut: turns value into creativity and gourmet heights rather than compromise. The no-frills cuts and minced meat has it’s time to shine. Consumed less often, but more considered.
🍮 All day dessert: anytime, anywhere! Gives people small, accessible comforts exactly when they want (and need) it. Retro puddings and late night comfort food reimagined with modern twists. Expect to see pudding, pavlova, 'swavoury' puds, boozy bakes and viral mashups.
🍞 Bread and batter: carbs are back! Bringing grounding and affordable pleasure. From crumpets to sweet focaccia, crepes, pancakes and waffles, used as canvases for indulgence, innovation, warmth and flavour.
🛒 Convenience 2.0: removes the friction people no longer have energy for. The reinvention of the local store, AI powered shopping, self-serve tech and next generation vending making reclaiming time and energy possible.
🥦 Keep it fresh: moves waste from something to fix to something to prevent. Smart antimicrobial packaging, edible films and coatings, and freshness sensors to tackle waste before it happens.
🐄 Edit and enhance: reframes gene editing as a tool for resilience, rather than a taboo. Better nutrition, extended shelf life, animals with more resilience to disease, with transparency being the key to acceptance.
📍 Cuisines rediscovered: adds depth and meaning to the familiar. Regional dishes and richer storytelling within the global cuisines people already love. Lesser-known ingredients and flavour journeys that elevate comfort into discovery.
Taken together, the top ten point to something bigger than trend watching.
People aren’t seeking the next big thing, They’re searching for stability, clarity and small pockets of joy.
In a world that feels noisy and uncertain, people are choosing food that gives them back a sense of control, ease and pleasure.
For brands and communicators, that is more than insight. It’s a very real brief for the years ahead.
