Brand Landscape 2026: Trust and Value
The food and beverage marketplace is reaching an inflection point. Inflation has heightened price sensitivity, skepticism toward marketing claims continues to grow and consumers are holding brands to higher standards. Store brands are playing a more consequential role in this changing landscape, recalibrating consumer expectations for what brands must deliver.
Brand Landscape 2027: Trust and Value will examine how consumers evaluate national brands, store brands and emerging challengers, revealing the standards and signals that determine which brands earn attention, credibility and continued investment.
The study will capture consumer attitudes and usage across 14 private brands and six pace-setter categories to reveal foundational insights on emerging expectations, shifting behaviors and new opportunities for brands to remain relevant and competitive.
A streamlined Executive Brief is also included with your purchase of the full report, highlighting the most critical insights for your C-suite.
Publishing January 2027 | U.S. market coverage
- Executive Brief with key insights (PDF)
- General report (PowerPoint and PDF)
- Demographic data tables (Excel)
Quantitative research: Nationally representative online survey of U.S. food shoppers aged 18-80, with a minimum total sample of n=2,000 and readable samples across key demographic groups, including generation, race/ethnicity and income.
Qualitative research: Multi-day engagement with demographically and regionally diverse consumers using journaling, prompts, photos and video, supplemented by in-depth virtual interviews.
Cultural analysis: Review of marketing, consumer publications and food and beverage discourse; engagement with cultural informants; social listening across key consumer platforms.
- Methodology
- Executive summary
- Primary report content, including charts, graphs and in-depth analysis of key findings
- Implications and recommendations
The meaning of brand today:
- Is brand importance rising or fading?
- Do consumers still see brands as reflections of who they are, what they value and how they want to be seen?
- What makes a brand feel distinctive, relevant or worth seeking out?
- How do consumers symbolically and objectively differentiate between brands? Small and large? National and store?
Consumer trust and value creation:
- What attributes build trust, loyalty and “stickiness” when consumers have more choices than ever?
- What drives consumers to stay, switch, forgive or walk away from a brand?
- How can brands create meaning, preference and loyalty in categories where products are increasingly seen as commodities?
The changing competitive landscape:
- How are shifting expectations of trust, transparency and value reshaping national versus store brand competition?
- In which categories and contexts are brands still perceived as meaningfully different, and where are they becoming interchangeable?
- Where will brands create value and earn trust and loyalty next?
Categories included:
- Bottled water
- Yogurt
- Cold cereal/granola
- Frozen entrees
- Canned vegetables
- Condiments and dressings
Brands included:
- Great Value, bettergoods (Walmart)
- Market Pantry, Good & Gather (Target)
- Kirkland Signature (Costco)
- 365 (Whole Foods Market)
- Kroger, simple truth (Kroger)
- Signature Select, Signature Reserve (Albertsons)
- Trader Joe’s
- ALDI (e.g., Friendly Farms, Burman, Clancy’s)
