Looking to the future, Mintel’s global food and drink experts embarked on an exploration of the key paradoxes that influence consumer behaviors, values and attitudes toward food and drink.

Their research identified four crucial themes that they predict will be influential in 2025 and beyond: a modified approach to “food as medicine,” an enduring interest in the feel-good factor of breaking food rules, the challenge to maintain consistent food supplies in an increasingly volatile world, and the potential advantages of blending traditional agriculture with cutting-edge technologies.

The 2025 Global Food and Drink Trends highlight two significant dualities: how consumers traverse between health and indulgence, and how the global and local food supply chain will need to adapt to disruptions from extreme weather, geopolitical events and technological innovations.

“Starting in 2025, brands must streamline their health claims to the critical nutrients they contain,” notes Jenny Zegler, director of Mintel Food and Drink. “Simplified claims that highlight protein, fiber, 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.”

Mintel’s 2025 Global Food and Drink Trends are:

Fundamentally Nutritious: The emergence of weight-loss medications like Ozempic will redefine consumer perceptions of “food as medicine” from added functional ingredients to meeting daily essential nutrient needs.

Rule Rebellion: Embrace consumers as “perfectly imperfect” beings who are hungry for brands that help them “break the rules” in food and drink.

Chain Reaction: 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 flavors that will emerge locally and globally.

Hybrid Harvests: Food and drink companies will need to illustrate how technology and agriculture work together to benefit consumers, farmers and the environment.

As with Mintel’s previous Global Food and Drink Trends, officials say its 2025 predictions are built on the foundations of Mintel’s seven Trend Drivers: Wellbeing, Experiences, Surroundings, Rights, Technology, Identity and Value.

The trend predictions are further supported by Mintel’s extensive libraries of global consumer data, new product innovations and inspiring marketing campaigns. They’re also developed around buzz-worthy topics that have the potential to upset the status quo in the food and drink industry in 2025 and thereafter, such as GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and artificial intelligence (AI).

About Mintel

Mintel is the expert in what consumers want and why. As the world’s leading market intelligence agency, our analysis of consumers, markets, new products and competitive landscapes provides a unique perspective on global and local economies. Since 1972, our predictive analytics and expert recommendations have enabled our clients to make better business decisions faster. Our purpose is to help businesses and people grow. To find out how we do that, visit mintel.com