Health and indulgence will continue to be among the factors that influence consumer behaviour next year but the ways they affect what shoppers buy is changing, according to a new report.
The rise of GLP-1 drugs and an increasing interest in the gut will determine how health impacts buying habits in 2026, research from Ai Palette, GlobalData’s innovation and consumer insights platform, suggests.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
However, shoppers still want to indulge, the report says, and are looking for products that offer “textural richness” and “craftmanship” through recipes and ingredients.
Ai Palette, which, like Just Food, is part of data and analytics group GlobalData, has released a report it says “identifies the forces shaping how people will eat, shop and care for themselves in 2026”.
In the report – The 2026 Consumer Blueprint: Indulgence, Integrity & Inner Balance – Ai Palette analyses product innovation and online consumer conversations and sets out five trends to watch next year.
The impact of GLP-1 drugs
The increasing use of GLP-1 medication to help weight loss is eating into sales in some product categories (and boosting others). Industry boardrooms are watching closely, trying to forecast how their businesses might be affected, although exactly how far the use of the drugs could grow remains an open question.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataHowever, what is clear is the speed in the uptake of the drugs and the introduction of pill variants in the new year will be a challenge for food manufacturers.
“The ripple effects of GLP-1 lifestyles are reshaping appetite, wellness routines and product choices, influencing everything from portion expectations to beauty’s focus on stress and inflammation reduction,” Somsubhra Ganchoudhuri, the co-founder and CEO of Ai Palette, says.
What Ai Palette dubs “the Ozempic effect” is leading to demand for smaller portions and interest in lower-calorie, reduced-sugar and protein-packed options. While categories like dairy appear to be benefiting (at least looking at the US data available), product areas like savoury snacks are coming under pressure.
The report, for example, says there has been an almost 10% rise (on a CAGR basis) in the last two years in the number of “consumer interactions” tied to discussions about snacks and the GLP-1 drug semaglutide in the US. These interactions are based on publicly available X and Instagram posts.
According to Ai Palette, that suggests GLP-1 use is reshaping how consumers think about snacks, with interest shifting from indulgence to blood sugar management and satiety. “It shows consumers actively sharing guidance on pairing everyday foods with protein or fat to manage eating while on GLP-1 drugs, which is the kind of snack-related semaglutide and GLP 1 interaction captured in our data,” Neha Goyal, associate director for growth consulting at GlobalData, says.
Notably, the report highlights how the trend is moving into more markets, with Ai Palette’s researchers calling out countries including Brazil, India, China and South Korea. “The widening presence of GLP-1 themes across new geographies and sub-categories signals consumer awareness and thus rising demand for healthier, lighter and more convenient product choices,” the report adds.
Digesting the interest in gut health
Gut health has moved from niche science into the mainstream, with fibre, protein, prebiotic and microbiome-friendly ingredients becoming more important factors in buying habits.
Gut-friendly dairy is nothing new but there is increasing scientific research into – and growing awareness – of the microbiome. Industry watchers believe interest in gut-health is more than just a fad and is reaching beyond dairy into other product areas.
“Consumers increasingly believe the gut is the control centre of overall wellbeing, influencing immunity, mood, digestion and even skin health,” the Ai Palette report reads.
The rising interest in gut health is part of what Ai Palette’s researchers call “the calm science”, one of their five trends to watch in food, drinks and personal care in 2026.
“Growing awareness of inflammation and gut health pushes consumers toward products that restore balance and strengthen daily resilience,” Ai Palette’s report reads.
“Consumers increasingly connect inflammation, digestion, immunity and energy as part of a single wellbeing equation. This creates rising demand for turmeric, ginger, probiotics, polyphenols, omega-3s and high-fibre solutions that help restore internal balance.”
The study highlights five markets where the trend is prominent, including the US, France and India and points to product innovation not just in food but also in drinks categories like soda, where, of course, there has been significant M&A activity this year.
Indulgence gets an upgrade
But it’s not just about health. Consumers still want to indulge, even if in a more considered way.
The Ai Palette researchers say there is a “richness revival” brands can tap into next year, with consumers having a “renewed desire for multisensory indulgence driven by depth, layers and richer taste-texture experiences”.
The trend presents opportunities for food manufacturers and their ingredient suppliers to look at products that offer velvety textures, dense-yet-light formats and notes of kokumi, a Japanese word that explains when food and drinks give a sense of richness, body and complexity.
“Consumers are redefining pleasure through richer textures, layered flavours and multisensory experiences, driving demand for kokumi-forward foods and sensorially immersive beauty products,” Ganchoudhuri explains.
This trend could even overlap with the interest in gut health, with Ai Palette pointing to fermented products. “Fermented foods, with their lingering taste and depth of flavour, are a natural fit for kokumi and our data shows a growing trend of products in this space. As consumers seek more complex and satisfying flavours, kokumi is poised to become a key driver of innovation,” the report reads.
Again, the report points to the US and the UK but also calls out Australia and the Philippines as markets where the “richness revival” trend is marked, pointing to product areas including bakery, confectionery, cooking oils, cocktails and coffee.
For more from The 2026 Consumer Blueprint: Indulgence, Integrity & Inner Balance or to find out more about GlobalData’s Ai Palette innovation and consumer insights platform, please contact the company here.
