Sustainability and Consumer Choice

FMCG Gurus – Sustainability and Consumer Choice – Trend Digest 2026

Sustainability remains an important consideration for food and beverage brands, but this does not always translate into purchasing decisions. While consumers expect businesses to demonstrate environmental responsibility, factors such as price, quality, and taste often take priority. This trend digest explores the gap between consumer expectations and purchasing behavior, examining how trust, transparency, and perceptions of product value shape attitudes toward sustainability.

Drawing on FMCG Gurus’ global consumer insights, it explores the role of naturalness in connecting environmental responsibility with personal benefits, alongside opportunities to use sustainability to strengthen product positioning.

This resource highlights how brands can communicate environmental initiatives more clearly, build credibility, and make sustainability more relevant to everyday consumer choices.

Inside this digest:

• Why sustainability credentials do not always influence purchasing decisions.
• How consumer skepticism and transparency concerns affect trust in environmental claims.
• Why naturalness connects sustainability with health, quality, and personal wellbeing.
• How environmental responsibility can influence perceptions of premium products.
• Why clear and credible communication matters when discussing sustainability initiatives.
• How brands can align sustainability messaging with consumer priorities and expectations.

How this helps brands:

• Communicate sustainability initiatives in a clear and credible way.
• Connect environmental responsibility with consumer priorities, including naturalness and product quality.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen product positioning through meaningful sustainability credentials.