It seems the days of flashy, in-your-face ‘Gen-Z’ dominating the aisles are falling behind us.

↗ It's obvious consumers have lost trust in the food and beverage industry with many people are realising the risks of ultra-processed foods and ingredients like seed oils, just take a look at the search data below 🔎

With social media and the fear mongering it produces; rumours (and often truths) about ingredients can spread like wildfire.

and it's clear the industry is – to politely put it

SH*TTING THEMSELF... 💩 

↗ In response, brands are stripping down their ingredient lists, opting for simplicity with bold, clear messaging.

So is Less really Less?

RXBAR rocketed into popularity (from $2 million to $160 million) after rebranding in 2015 with the key change of having straightforward listing of core ingredients on the front of their packaging 🍫 

And even more recently, Marks and Spencer seem to have adopted the same approach with their cereal packaging rebrand.

(a 'food' that's always been heavily criticised for it's lack of nutritional benefit and a target audience of children ...very questionable) 🥣 

Room of the little guys?

So with the big brands scrambling to gain back trust is their room for the little guys? yes but also maybe not.. 👋 

↗ While mistrust for big companies grows, this does open the door for small businesses to enter the chat but even the little guys are under the mistrust microscope.

Just this week, start-up Ovrload, a creatine supplement gummy brand, was called out by a competitor for including 0.00002g of creatine compared to the 5g they claimed to consumers. 🍬 

They halted sales overnight, and the 20 year old founder dropped off the face of the earth, unfollowing the brand he build. THEN competitors like Known and Puresport started running ads with digs at their HUGE misstep and lack of honesty.

Moving on from food...

↗ If the food and beverage industry has started to shift this dramatically

what does this say about consumers in general and will this mistrust affect other industries...

well I think it already has. Consumers just don’t trust ANY brands the same anymore. Consumers are at maximum suspiciousness 😵‍💫 

↗ The rise of founder and employee "influencers" across industries feels in direct response to this.

So, companies are betting on the power of personal connection – but is pinning your brand's credibility on individuals really sustainable?

I think we all know the answer in this era of cancel culture…if you go down so, does your brand and vis-versa.

So, do we agree? I want to know everyone's opinions.

How do you think brands will start to win back consumer trust again?