Trends to know
Four food and beverage trends shaping the holiday season
The big shifts behind what shoppers, buyers and operators are paying attention to right now, plus what we'd do about them.
01Meet the GLP-1 household
Circana's latest receipt panel shows 30% of U.S. households now report a current GLP-1 user, and those households account for 32% of food and beverage units bought. Their carts keep shifting: by year two on treatment, pork rinds are up 16.1 index points and jerky is up 12.4, while salads are down 14.6. Circana projects these homes could reach 40% of units by 2030, though it calls that a conditional outlook.
30% of households32% of F&B units+12.4 jerky
Sunny's take: This shopper isn't niche anymore. Think protein dense, portion smart and satisfying, and make sure your pack says so in plain words.
02Benefits beat "GLP-1 friendly" labels
Gallup says around 11% of U.S. adults now take GLP-1 medications for weight loss, so brands are racing to talk to them. Conagra added a "GLP-1 friendly" callout to Healthy Choice and Nestlé built a whole new brand. Danone went another way with Oikos Fusion, a yogurt drink pitched as "muscle + digestive health support". Experts at Food Dive's event say the jury is still out on the label itself.
~11% of U.S. adultsProtein + fiberBenefit-led claims
Sunny's take: Lead with what your product does, not which prescription it pairs with. Protein, fiber and fullness travel to every shopper, on or off a GLP-1.
03Drinks are getting weirder
Oatly's 2026 Future of Taste report, built on 200+ interviews with baristas and beverage pros in 21 countries, says 40% see herbs and botanicals shaping the future of flavor, 56% brought up fermentation and 72% say mouthfeel now matters as much as flavor. Google searches for coffee jelly are up 90% year over year, and ube got mentioned twice as often as the flat white.
40% botanicals72% mouthfeel+90% coffee jelly searches
Sunny's take: Texture is the new flavor. If your drink has a fun bite, chew or fizz, film it up close and make it the hero.
04Holiday value is the headline
PwC expects Thanksgiving to cost the average family about $90, up from $88 last year, with turkey up nearly 8% and cranberries up nearly 15%. Retailers are answering loudly: Walmart has a meal for 10 at $35, Aldi's basket for 10 is under $39 and Lidl's loyalty bundle for 10 is $35.86. Lidl also brought back 89 Preferred Selection items for a little holiday luxury.
~$90 Thanksgiving$35 Walmart meal for 1089 Lidl holiday items
Sunny's take: Shoppers want a treat and a deal at the same time. Show the per serving math, or a gift-worthy moment, right on your holiday creative.
The creative lens
What's trending on socials right now
The formats and moments food and beverage brands are winning with in the feed, and how to borrow the idea for your own brand.
Show the finished bite first
Volume's daily tracker of food posts found that opening on the finished dish was the most used breakout format this week, with 51 accounts beating their usual reach by a median 14x. Holding back the dish name until the end hit a median 26x, and putting exact calories and protein on screen in second one hit 20x.
Steal this: Open every recipe or product video on the payoff shot, then rewind to how it's made. Add your protein or fiber number in the first second.
Mystery drops that make people guess
Chips Ahoy! sold a Mystery Cookie in a box wrapped in caution tape and saved the flavor reveal for social on Halloween. Fanta launched Ghost Face Punch as the first of four characters in its "Haunted Universe." Both turn a launch into a story people follow.
Steal this: Tease your next limited edition before you name it, and let your comments guess the flavor.
Collectibles on a calendar
Starbucks' holiday menu landed November 5, Bearista Glass Cold Cup mystery characters drop November 10 and Red Cup Day is November 17. There's even a new pup cup starring a beagle named Junie. Every date is another reason to post.
Steal this: Map your holiday content to a few small, dated moments instead of one big launch.
Black Friday is coming to the feed
Pepper Agency expects TikTok's Black Friday activity to ramp up from November 11, ahead of Black Friday on November 27 and Cyber Monday on November 30. Shoppable video is where a lot of holiday deals will be found.
Steal this: Get your TikTok Shop bundles, gift sets and creator codes ready now so they're live before the rush.