FuturistU > Consumers > Unpacking Consumer Behavior > Module 2 / 5

The Mind

Instructor: Shelby Walsh
Emerging Foods
Download the Emerging Foods Trend Report
In this final module on consumer behavior, we’ll be looking at the changes occurring in the consumer mindset today. Through the lens of trend tensions, this module explores individualism versus collectivism and what this means in terms of business opportunity.

Case studies will uncover where consumers are turning to better get a better understanding of themselves and how they are expressing their individuality as well as how “tribes” are coming together collectively to help individuals find meaning and communal support.
Related Trend Report: Emerging Foods
Workshop Questions:
1. What would change about your business if it was considered a tech company?
2. What would change about your business if scarcity was its paramount value?
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Featured Insights

Regional Alcohol-Free
Non-alcoholic beverages incorporate the flavor nuances of local regions
Implications - In recent years the growth of the non-alcoholic beverage category reflects a shift in drinking habits. To better cater to these preferences, brands are crafting alcohol-free products that take inspiration from the flavors of popular regional cocktails.
Workshop Question - Consider how the incorporation of local elements could impact the perception of your brand. What elements could you incorporate?
5
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Cultured Creamery
Ice Cream is used as a step towards experiencing global palette
Implications - By leveraging ice cream as an exploratory platform, brands are allowing consumers to experience new cultures via regional flavors, but with the security of the familiar dessert concept. This combination speaks to the consumer desire for experimental foodie experiences, coupled with a refusal to limit their palettes to their own geographic experiences.
Workshop Question - How can your brand combine the security that comes with familiarity, with an experimental product or experience?
2.3
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Insights by Trend Hunter AI

Candy Migration
Seasonal treats recast familiar snack tastes in new dessert forms

What's Happening - Seasonal dessert launches are increasingly built around recognizable candy, snack, and confectionery cues, helping new products feel approachable from the outset. By translating familiar flavors, textures, and layered formats across frozen treats, baked goods, and chocolate, brands can create novelty without sacrificing familiarity, reducing trial friction while keeping limited-time offerings relevant and easy to understand.

Workshop Question - How could your brand turn familiar flavors into a limited-time format that still feels easy to understand?
8.9
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Modular Desserts
Brands turn classic sweets into customizable novelty platforms

What's Happening - Dessert brands are treating familiar bases like cookies, sweet breads, and ice cream as flexible platforms for add-ons, fillings, and limited variations. The product innovation cycle is thus shifting from inventing new categories to reworking formats shoppers already recognize through layers, texture, toppings, and fillings.

Workshop Question - How could your brand make experimentation feel low-risk by building novelty into recognizable formats?
7.8
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Treat Transfer
Brands use familiar sweets to shape new packaged food formats

What's Happening - Packaged food and drink makers are building new launches around recognizable sweet-shop and bakery cues rather than creating entirely new flavor ideas. Confectionery cues are being used as a flexible launch framework for adjacent food categories as they allow brands to translate a known indulgent idea into multiple eating occasions, from snacking to sipping and beyond.

Workshop Question - How could your brand turn a traditionally occasional indulgence into a format that fits more everyday moments?
8.9
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Cultural Confections
Brands refresh familiar treats with timely crossover cues

What's Happening - Dessert and frozen treat innovation is increasingly driven by cultural references as much as flavor, with brands drawing on seasons, lifestyle moments, rituals, and adjacent food occasions to create relevance. Through themed launches, storytelling, sensory experiences, and more, brands reframe comfort food foundations as shareable, cultural indulgences that feel both novel and recognizable.

Workshop Question - How could your brand use a familiar core product as a canvas for a timely cultural reference?
7.8
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Playful Chilling
Brands are reworking iced snacks into more nostalgic, texture-led experiences

Trend - Frozen snacks makers are pairing familiar sweets with unexpected textures and forms, such as candy-inspired mochi or fruit products styled with retro cues, to make cold treats feel newer without becoming unrecognizable. These launches lean on nostalgia, while contrasting through flavor and texture, which aims to help simple treats feel more distinctive in crowded food and beverage assortments.

Workshop Question - How could your brand use familiar cultural cues to make a new format feel approachable?
8.8
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Dessert Stunts
Brands are using dessert menus to turn seasonal moments into playful interactions

Trend - Brands and quick-service restaurants are promoting new dessert offers as event-like moments through limited-run giveaways, unexpected campaign inspirations, and seasonal tie-ins. In this category, companies are pairing food promotions with adjacent experiences such as branded merchandise, humorous service concepts, or complementary indulgences to drive foot traffic.

Workshop Question - How could your brand turn a routine seasonal offer into a moment people feel invited to join?
6.3
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Sweet Soda
Soft drink brands recreate familiar dessert flavors in sparkling soda formats
Trend - Brands are introducing dessert-inspired sodas that translate familiar sweet treats into sparkling beverages—from flavors such as frozen desserts to dirty soda varieties, these sodas reimagine indulgent desserts as refreshing drinks that encourage flavor exploration and limited-time trial.
Workshop Question - How can your brand reinvent familiar flavors to create new moments of consumer excitement?
8
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Sociable Scoop
Brands are embracing ice cream pop-ups to drive experiential marketing
Trend - Brands are launching immersive ice cream pop-ups where limited-edition treats, custom flavors, playful branding and interactive environments transform a familiar summer indulgence into a memorable experiential activation that strengthens consumer engagement and encourages in-person participation.
Workshop Question - How can your brand transform an everyday indulgence into an immersive experience that builds lasting consumer affinity?
8.6
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Revisited Cake
Brands are creating black forest desserts to appeal to nostalgic consumers
Trend - Black Forest cake, an iconic German dessert layered with chocolate, cherries, and whipped cream, is resurfacing across modern bakeries, cafes, and dessert items. Once viewed as a nostalgic indulgence, it is now experiencing a resurgence in popularity, fueled by consumer interest in retro trends.
Workshop Question - How can your brand use its product to evoke fond memories in its target consumer?
5
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