Over the next 12 to 18 months, Mintel predicts that food and drink brands will increasingly compete beyond traditional category boundaries as consumers build personalised systems around outcomes such as better sleep, sustained energy, healthy ageing and weight management.
As consumers gain access to more products, services, health technologies and personalised guidance than ever before, what was once primarily a food and drink opportunity is now attracting competition from supplements, beauty, personal care and technology businesses seeking to support the same consumer outcomes.
As a result, the next growth opportunity may not come from winning a meal, snack or beverage occasion. It may come from earning a role within a broader consumer system designed to achieve a specific outcome.
Food and drink are already part of bigger systems
Among UK consumers who use functional food and drink to manage their health, 66% also take vitamins or supplements, 54% use an exercise tracker and 37% use a diet or nutrition app, indicating how food and drink increasingly sits within a wider system.
The emergence of solutions for GLP-1 users offers an early indication of how products, services and categories can re-organise around a desired outcome. Where once only weight-management food and drink supported those looking to shed the pounds, they are now increasingly being joined by vitamins, supplements, skincare and digital tools to enhance results and help manage side effects.
From owning an occasion to earning a role
Mintel predicts that consumers will become more strategic in constructing personalised systems around how they want to feel and function. In this environment, brands will increasingly position products according to the role they play within an outcome, rather than the occasion they serve.
Food and drink brands will also increasingly collaborate with businesses across supplements, beauty, healthcare, media and technology to create more complete solutions around consumer needs.
Partnerships will become more outcome-focused. Waitrose recently announced a UK supermarket-first introduction of dedicated premium in-store wellbeing bays, collaborating with boutique wellness brands, such as Ancient + Brave and TRIP.
The most valuable partnerships will go beyond generating short-term attention. They will help consumers navigate increasingly complex choices, clarify how different solutions work together and provide stronger evidence that an outcome is being achieved.
Alice Pilkington, Mintel Food & Drink Associate Principal, said:
“Consumers are increasingly starting with the outcome they want and working backwards. That could be a busy parent seeking stress-free, tasty nutrition for their family, or an Oura Ring-wearing gym-goer combining drinks, supplements, technology and lifestyle products to improve performance and sleep.
“For food and drink brands, this changes the basis of competition. A protein drink is not simply competing with another beverage, but with anything consumers believe can deliver the same result. Brands that understand how they fit alongside non-food solutions, and make those systems easier to navigate, will build stronger long-term loyalty.
“The food and drink sector also has a unique advantage: it is the one essential, non-negotiable part of these increasingly complex systems. That gives it the potential not merely to participate in them, but to become their foundation.
“The key strategic decision is no longer which category to win, but which consumer outcomes a brand has a credible right to support. The winning brands will be the ones that define their role clearly and prove the contribution they make.”
More from Mintel’s 2027 Global Food and Drink Predictions
Authority Shifts: As AI advice expands, climate and geopolitical threats grow and influencers and wearables accelerate information overload, authority will shift to the people behind the brands who can inform, reassure and connect.
The Segmentation Reset: Segmentation is shifting from who consumers are, to how they cope – as food hacks to help households navigate financial pressure and personalisation helps individuals maintain a sense of identity in increasingly shared households.
