2026
9
UK Mood and Food/Drink: 2026
2026-02-25T10:01:17+00:00
REP4879282E_5515_4A90_B928_2E55159A909A
2195
191443
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Report
en_GB
Exploring mood-boosting in-store features remains firmly warranted, as half (48%) of adults and two thirds (64%) of under-35s say these make supermarkets more appealing, with strong potential to harness the…
UK
Food
Drinks
simple

UK Mood and Food/Drink: 2026

"Multi-sensory elements, delayed gratification and mood-enhancing in-store features can boost engagement by harnessing and elevating food/drink's emotional power."

Emma Clifford, Associate Director - Food and Drink

Emma Clifford, Associate Director - Food and Drink

Exploring mood-boosting in-store features remains firmly warranted, as half (48%) of adults and two thirds (64%) of under-35s say these make supermarkets more appealing, with strong potential to harness the link between heightened emotions and impulse purchasing.

Healthy eating, indulgence, saving money on food/drink and sharing food/drink with loved ones lead on what consumers most see as boosting their mood, making these key areas for brands to align with to resonate. Products with mood-related claims lag far behind these for consumers, echoing the limited activity in this space. However, this area of functionality, and the trend for ingredients rooted in ancient wisdom, continues to offer opportunities.

Food/drink that engage multiple senses offers huge potential, widely seen by consumers to boost mood more effectively than those that engage only taste. Sensory touchpoints – sight, texture, aroma and sound – offer rich opportunities for brands to boost mood, deepen emotional connection and turn everyday consumption into a more immersive, memorable experience.

Tight constraints on the mood-related claims allowed for food/drink are the biggest barrier to NPD in this area. Consumer expectations for noticeable results from functional food also mean brands must tread carefully not to overpromise on implied mood benefits.

This Report Looks at the Following Areas:

  • How often consumers seek out different mood benefits from food/drink
  • The food/drink behaviours that have the most positive impact on consumers’ mood, mood-boosting ingredients playing a limited role
  • The ability for multi-sensory elements, delayed gratification and ‘mindful’ preparation and consumption to create more emotionally-rich eating/drinking experiences
  • The strong appeal of mood-enhancing in-store features, and ways supermarkets could implement these
  • Food/drink product launches linked to mood. This includes NPD featuring functional ingredients and those with benefits based on ‘ancient wisdom’, the gut health trend and the strong nostalgia theme
Collapse All
  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    • What you need to know
    • Opportunities
    • Explore multi-sensory elements
    • Explore mood-boosting in-store features
    • Mine the “looking good, feeling good” mentality
  2. THE MARKET

    • Weak financial confidence supports demand for mood benefits
    • Graph 1: the financial wellbeing and confidence indices, 2019-25
    • Stress is rife, especially among under-35s and those with money troubles
    • Graph 2: experience of stress and fatigue in the last 12 months, by gender, age and financial situation, 2024
    • Balance and moderation approach to diets endures
    • Various health trends interlink with mood
    • Limited scope for mood claims from a regulatory perspective
  3. THE CONSUMER

    • Mood benefits sought from food and drink
    • Mood benefits play an ingrained role in food/drink
    • Graph 3: how often consumers use food/drink for different mood benefits, 2025
    • Under-35s most driven by mood benefits
    • Graph 4: consumers using food/drink for different mood benefits very often or often, by age, 2025
    • Food/drink ingredients linked to mood play a limited role in mood management
    • Graph 5: food/drink behaviours seen to have the most positive impact* on mood, 2025
    • Multisensory experiences
    • Multisensory elements heighten food/drinks’ mood-boosting appeal
    • Visually/texturally exciting food/drink holds potential for at-home occasions
    • Playful and surprising textures attract innovation
    • Aroma can create a more immersive, exciting and mood-boosting experience
    • Global products heroing aroma
    • Sound is being used in new ways to connect with consumers
    • Delayed gratification
    • Lean into delayed gratification and mindfulness
    • Build up anticipation to enhance enjoyment
    • Drum up anticipation for new/returning products
    • Mood-boosting in-store features
    • Mood-boosting in-store features spark appeal
    • Mood enhancing in-store features can encourage footfall and prompt impulse buying
    • Explore mood-driven in-store layouts
    • Many routes to creating more mood-driven retail experiences
    • Explore other feelgood elements through POS materials
    • Mood-focused in-store concepts
    • Food/drink to make you look and feel good
    • ‘Beauty from within’ trend drives a feelgood factor
    • The ‘beauty from within’ trend is still underexplored in food/drink
    • Collagen gains momentum
    • Link up with other benefits associated with ‘beauty from within’
    • Forge links to health and beauty routines
    • Health and fitness campaigns tap the link between wellness, physical appearance and mood
  4. PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING

    • Functional mood-related claims are limited beyond energy provision…
    • Graph 6: share of non-alcoholic drink launches featuring mood-related functional claims, 2021-25
    • …especially in food
    • The trend for ingredients rooted in ancient wisdom continues
    • Magnesium leaps ahead, CBD trend loses steam
    • Graph 7: share of non-alcoholic drink launches featuring selected mood-related ingredients, 2021-25
    • Gut health trend gains momentum
    • The nostalgia trend goes from strength to strength
    • Launches link virtuous elements to the feelgood factor
    • Flavours and premium credentials being linked to mood enhancement
    • Emotions continue to feature at the heart of advertising campaigns
  5. APPENDIX

    • Report scope
    • The consumer
    • Consumer research questions
    • Consumer research methodology
    • UK generation groups
    • Other data source methodologies
    • Mintel Spark
    • Abbreviations

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