The New Food and Beverage Consumer

Two separate consumer studies, run in March 2026. One on what people trust when a pack makes a health claim. One on inflation and comfort food.

Both produced findings that pushed back on the questions we asked.

What’s Inside

• Why the nutrition panel is both the most trusted thing on a pack and one of the biggest triggers of brand distrust
• What happened when we screened for people who care about fiber and then asked them why
• How consumers actually define ultra-processed food, including the two who defined it backwards
• Comfort food as emotional regulation, and who it is really attached to
• Eight distinct consumer groups across the two studies, with how each decision unfolds
• Full sections on where the evidence is mixed in both studies

Method

Two studies. 41 US consumers on trust and health claims, and 20 on inflation and comfort food. Fielded March 2026 on the Voxpopme platform. Qualitative and directional. The two samples are reported separately throughout and never combined into a single figure.