FMCG Gurus -FMCG Gurus – From Sustainability to Integrity – How Consumers are Redefining Trust in Food and Drink – Trend Report 2026

FMCG Gurus – From Sustainability to Integrity – How Consumers are Redefining Trust in Food and Drink – Trend Report 2026

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FMCG Gurus – From Sustainability to Integrity – How Consumers are Redefining Trust in Food and Drink – Trend Report 2026

 Geographies: Global  Industries: Sustainability, Trend Reports, Trend Resources  Published Date: 2026

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FMCG Gurus – From Sustainability to Integrity – How Consumers are Redefining Trust in Food and Drink – Trend Report 2026

Report Description:

Sustainability is being redefined. Consumers are moving beyond environmental responsibility as the primary measure of a brand’s credentials and are now evaluating sustainability through a personal lens — one centered on ingredient integrity, sourcing transparency, naturalness, and trust in how products are made. This report explores how the relationship between sustainability and wellness is evolving, why consumers are connecting clean label credentials and provenance with both personal health and environmental responsibility, and how growing skepticism toward food manufacturing is raising the bar for brands seeking to build credibility in this space.

The Challenge / Problem for Brands:

Environmental sustainability messaging is losing traction. Consumers are becoming more skeptical of broad or vague claims, and brands that rely on purpose-led storytelling without product-level evidence risk being seen as inauthentic. At the same time, rising scrutiny of ultra-processed foods, complex ingredient labeling, and supply chain opacity means that brands face a dual trust problem — questioned on both their environmental commitments and their ingredient integrity.

Proposed Solution / Problem It Solves:

This report outlines how brands can reposition sustainability as a story of integrity — grounding environmental credentials in ingredient quality, traceability, provenance, and formulation simplicity. It shows how connecting sustainability with personal wellness creates more compelling and commercially durable propositions, and how tangible trust signals such as named-origin sourcing, heritage ingredients, and clean label formulation can replace abstract environmental messaging.

Risk of Getting This Wrong:

Brands that continue to lead with broad sustainability claims without product-level evidence risk accelerating consumer distrust. Positioning that feels disconnected from ingredient quality or personal health will struggle to justify premium pricing, and any gap between stated values and visible brand behavior — in formulation, sourcing, or supply chain — carries significant reputational exposure.

This Report Helps You Decide:

How to position sustainability through ingredient integrity rather than environmental messaging alone, how to validate which provenance and transparency claims carry genuine commercial weight in your category, and how to develop innovation and communication strategies that make sustainability feel credible, personal, and aligned with consumer expectations around health and naturalness.

Who this is for:

Food and beverage manufacturers, supplement brands, ingredient suppliers, and innovation teams looking to build or strengthen sustainability positioning — particularly those competing in clean label, natural, or premium segments where consumer trust and ingredient credibility are central to purchase decisions.

FMCG Gurus – From Sustainability to Integrity – How Consumers are Redefining Trust in Food and Drink – Trend Report 2026

Report Description:

Sustainability is being redefined. Consumers are moving beyond environmental responsibility as the primary measure of a brand’s credentials and are now evaluating sustainability through a personal lens — one centered on ingredient integrity, sourcing transparency, naturalness, and trust in how products are made. This report explores how the relationship between sustainability and wellness is evolving, why consumers are connecting clean label credentials and provenance with both personal health and environmental responsibility, and how growing skepticism toward food manufacturing is raising the bar for brands seeking to build credibility in this space.

The Challenge / Problem for Brands:

Environmental sustainability messaging is losing traction. Consumers are becoming more skeptical of broad or vague claims, and brands that rely on purpose-led storytelling without product-level evidence risk being seen as inauthentic. At the same time, rising scrutiny of ultra-processed foods, complex ingredient labeling, and supply chain opacity means that brands face a dual trust problem — questioned on both their environmental commitments and their ingredient integrity.

Proposed Solution / Problem It Solves:

This report outlines how brands can reposition sustainability as a story of integrity — grounding environmental credentials in ingredient quality, traceability, provenance, and formulation simplicity. It shows how connecting sustainability with personal wellness creates more compelling and commercially durable propositions, and how tangible trust signals such as named-origin sourcing, heritage ingredients, and clean label formulation can replace abstract environmental messaging.

Risk of Getting This Wrong:

Brands that continue to lead with broad sustainability claims without product-level evidence risk accelerating consumer distrust. Positioning that feels disconnected from ingredient quality or personal health will struggle to justify premium pricing, and any gap between stated values and visible brand behavior — in formulation, sourcing, or supply chain — carries significant reputational exposure.

This Report Helps You Decide:

How to position sustainability through ingredient integrity rather than environmental messaging alone, how to validate which provenance and transparency claims carry genuine commercial weight in your category, and how to develop innovation and communication strategies that make sustainability feel credible, personal, and aligned with consumer expectations around health and naturalness.

Who this is for:

Food and beverage manufacturers, supplement brands, ingredient suppliers, and innovation teams looking to build or strengthen sustainability positioning — particularly those competing in clean label, natural, or premium segments where consumer trust and ingredient credibility are central to purchase decisions.

Files included in this report:

  • FMCG-Gurus-From-Sustainability-to-Integrity-How-Consumers-are-Redefining-Trust-in-Food-and-Drink-Trend-Report-2026.pdf
  • FMCG-Gurus-From-Sustainability-to-Integrity-How-Consumers-are-Redefining-Trust-in-Food-and-Drink-Trend-Report-2026.pptx
  • If you are a user, click here to login and download the report.

Report Agenda and Insights available:

Executive summary
  • [SU223] Do you look out for any of the following claims/pledges when buying food, drinks or supplements? Please select all that apply - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
  • [CN194] We would now like you to think about natural food and drink. How important is it to you that groceries are 100% natural? Please select the answer that best fits - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2023, 2025
  • [SU604] In the last two years have you become more or less trusting of environmental claims made by products and brands? - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
  • [SU223] Do you look out for any of the following claims/pledges when buying food, drinks or supplements? Please select all that apply - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
  • [CN605] Why is it important that groceries are 100% natural? Please select all of the answers that best fit - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2023, 2025
  • [SU601] To what extent do you agree with the following statements? - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
  • [FCT437] How appealing are traditional/nostalgic flavors? By traditional flavors we mean flavors that remind you of the past - 2022, 2020, 2025
  • [CN038] Are you concerned about “hidden” ingredients in food and drink that is disguised via complex labeling? - 2021, 2023, 2025
  • [SU804] Did you associate these dietary changes with any other benefits besides helping the environment? Diet changes were… - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
  • [CN985] How important are the following when choosing what food and drink to buy? - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2023, 2025
  • [DA268] How favorably do you view the following types of dairy products? - 2021, 2023, 2025
  • [SU627] Why have you become less trusting? Please select all that apply - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
  • [CN602] We would now like you to think about the following product claims. Typically, how influential are these claims when choosing what food and drink to buy? Please select the answer that best fits - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2023, 2025
  • [SU635] Would you like brands/products and retailers to provide more information about environmental pledges? - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
  • [UPF311] How do you think the food and drink you buy have changed over the last ten years? Please select the answer that best fits - 2025
Context & Consumer Priorities
  • [CN194] We would now like you to think about natural food and drink. How important is it to you that groceries are 100% natural? Please select the answer that best fits - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2023, 2025
  • [CN605] Why is it important that groceries are 100% natural? Please select all of the answers that best fit - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2023, 2025
  • [CN605] Why is it important that groceries are 100% natural? Please select all of the answers that best fit - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2023, 2025
  • [CN602] We would now like you to think about the following product claims. Typically, how influential are these claims when choosing what food and drink to buy? Please select the answer that best fits - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2023, 2025
  • [CN985] How important are the following when choosing what food and drink to buy? - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2023, 2025
  • [CN602] We would now like you to think about the following product claims. Typically, how influential are these claims when choosing what food and drink to buy? Please select the answer that best fits - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2023, 2025
  • [UPF311] How do you think the food and drink you buy have changed over the last ten years? Please select the answer that best fits - 2025
  • [CN038] Are you concerned about “hidden” ingredients in food and drink that is disguised via complex labeling? - 2021, 2023, 2025
  • [CN314] To what extent do you agree with the statement “Over the last twelve months, I have been more attentive to the ingredient listings on food and drink products that I buy” - 2021, 2023, 2025
  • [CN791] What does the word “natural” mean to you when it comes to food and drink? Please select all that apply - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2023, 2025
  • [CN701] What types of claims do you like to see on product packaging? Please select all that apply - 2021, 2023, 2025
  • [FCT437] How appealing are traditional/nostalgic flavors? By traditional flavors we mean flavors that remind you of the past - 2022, 2020, 2025
  • [DA268] How favorably do you view the following types of dairy products? - 2021, 2023, 2025
  • [SU223] Do you look out for any of the following claims/pledges when buying food, drinks or supplements? Please select all that apply - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
  • [SU604] In the last two years have you become more or less trusting of environmental claims made by products and brands? - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
  • [SU627] Why have you become less trusting? Please select all that apply - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
  • [SU635] Would you like brands/products and retailers to provide more information about environmental pledges? - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
Case studies
  • [SU601] To what extent do you agree with the following statements? - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
  • [SU804] Did you associate these dietary changes with any other benefits besides helping the environment? Diet changes were… - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2024
  • [CN605] Why is it important that groceries are 100% natural? Please select all of the answers that best fit - 2021, 2020, 2019, 2023, 2025

Files included in this report:

  • FMCG-Gurus-From-Sustainability-to-Integrity-How-Consumers-are-Redefining-Trust-in-Food-and-Drink-Trend-Report-2026.pdf
  • FMCG-Gurus-From-Sustainability-to-Integrity-How-Consumers-are-Redefining-Trust-in-Food-and-Drink-Trend-Report-2026.pptx
  • If you are a user, click here to login and download the report.