Tattoos and M&Ms
Plus: Fibermaxxing, Banana Lattes, and the end of cheap cocoa
Here is what’s in today’s edition (and the last edition, in case you missed it):
Banana Lattes and Sardines: How real food is retaking wellness
Cocoa Catastrophe: Can chocolate brands innovate their way out of expensive cocoa?
Tattoos and M&Ms: What an apparent contradiction tells us about food dye
Fibermaxxing: Social media’s fiber obsession says a lot about today’s wellness
Signals from the Shelf: Launches that represent signs of things to come
Gut Reaction: My hot takes on new offerings
Tidbits: The latest in food industry news, from the profound to the funny
Products: Holsem Instant Banana Bread Oatmilk Latte; Bake Me Healthy Dark Chocolate Cookies; Stonemill Kitchens Cottage Cheese Dips; Noire Red Rose Whisper; Forest Feast Chocolate Covered Dates; Hola Mija Beef Tallow Tortilla Chips; Hot Girl Date-Sweetened Bread and Butter Pickles; Brand Out Crispy Brussels Sprouts; Pur Spices Bold & Airy Bites
Banana Lattes and the Rise of Pantry Wellness
Last week’s July 2025 Yelp Trend Tracker landed in my inbox, and one stat jumped out: consumer mentions of “banana latte” are up over 1,500% y/y, “banana bread latte” over 6,000%y/y!
At first blush, you might chalk this up to nostalgia or (if you are really trend savvy) assume this is another cultural import (i.e., the viral Korean trend of banana milk and banana milk lattes). And sure, that’s probably how it started. But as I dug into it (and thought about Starbucks’ recent announcement of a banana protein cold foam, promising 15g of protein atop your iced drink), it became clear this is part of something much bigger.
The turn to bananas isn’t an isolated phenomenon. Just in the past few years we’ve seen sardines spike in popularity among wellness influencers, cottage cheese, broth, oatmeal, pickles, honey and dates, and now beef tallow. These aren’t just one-off fads, they’re all signs of a bigger consumer shift I’m calling Pantry Wellness.
Pantry Wellness is about health-conscious consumers swapping exotic powders and hyper-technical functional ingredients in favor of the simple, trustworthy foods they grew up with (or what their grandmas swore by). For years, shoppers chased health through complexity and exoticism: ashwagandha, BCAAs, nootropics, and adaptogenic mushroom blends. Don’t get me wrong, these ingredients are still growing, but there is a noticeable pull toward the humble foods that have stood the test of time. Not only are these ingredients perceived as authentic, grounded and easy to understand, but in today’s economy they’re also more affordable.
Consumers, wary of over-engineered powders and gummies, feel better reaching for foods that feel closer to “real,” but still support their modern health goals.
What’s next from the pantry?
If canned sardines, bananas, and cottage cheese are already here, what else is waiting in the wings? A few ingredients poised to ride the Pantry Wellness wave that I’m seeing:
Prunes and dried plums: long associated with gut health and healthy aging but still under-leveraged (see the Noire non-alcoholic sparkling drink above with prune juice)
Cabbage/Brussels sprouts: anti-inflammatory, affordable, and boosted by the popularity of pickling and fermentation (see Branch Outs Brussels above)
Beans, lentils: plant-based protein with fiber and a clean label (see Absurd Snacks trail mix in the Gut Reaction spectrum below)
Molasses (especially blackstrap): a mineral-rich sweetener with an authentic wellness story (see TikTok)
Apple (and apple peels): as research on the benefits of prebiotic fiber in the peels of apples continues to make news, this perennial favorite may have a new lease on popularity (see Pur Spices Bold & Airy Bites or Rind Snacks).
Winning at Pantry Wellness
For brands looking to tap into Pantry Wellness, the playbook is straightforward:
Start with a recognizable ingredient, then reimagine its usage (like banana cold foam on iced coffee).
Tell a benefits-focused story but keep it approachable and grounded in the knowability of the pantry (i.e., no intimidating jargon).
Appeal to the long history of the ingredient in comparison to the unknown
Keep price points reasonable. Premium is fine, but it still needs to feel within reach.
Pantry Wellness isn’t about going backwards, it’s about modern consumers finding confidence in the foods they already trust, presented in ways that fit their lives today.
Products: Tony Chocolonely + Hot Take Cookies with S’More Lil Bites; Raaka Pizza Sauce Unroasted Chocolate Bar; Figa Foods Cupuaçu Bar; Seedly Seed Bark; Ruani Functional Brownies; Elemental Superfood Adaptogen Seedbars; Cartwright-Butler Dubai-Style Truffles; Popcorn Kitchen Popcorn Bark.
The End of Cheap Chocolate? How Brands Can Innovate to Stay Relevant
The bad news first: cheap chocolate may soon be a memory. If you haven’t been watching the cocoa markets, prices have only recently dipped from a record high (now $8,700/ton versus $10,211/ton). However, cocoa futures continue to creep up. Bad weather, disease, global instability and tariffs all threaten the future of cheap cocoa.
Manufacturers are already face thinning margins, so we could soon see significant price hikes at retail or product downsizing (***cough, cough*** shrinkflation).
But brands are not without other options and I’m already seeing some creative innovation to compensate for rising cocoa prices. These tactics aren’t just for chocolate brands but for any food and beverage manufacturer to consider as ingredient prices continue to rise across the board.
1. Premiumization
OK, let’s get this one out of the way because it’s the one everyone defaults to, for good reason. Consumers are willing to pay more for perceived quality. Brands can emphasize rare single‑origin beans, artisanal techniques, sustainable sourcing, and elevated packaging. This is about making chocolate feel like a craft product, one worth savoring and worth the higher price. The problem is you must really deliver on premium, not just window dressing.
2. Novelty
Novelty is the most theatrical of strategies. Chocolate is a playful category at heart, and there’s an opportunity to charge more by surprising (or even shocking) consumers. Think outrageous Dubai‑style chocolates dusted with gold, exotic origin blends, or LTOs featuring flavors no one expected: chili–mango, blue cheese, or even pizza sauce (see Raaka above). Novelty works because it creates buzz, drives trial, and makes chocolate feel like an experience rather than just a product.
But be warned, novelty is fleeting. The “wow” factor wears off quickly, and it’s hard to build repeat purchase behavior around shock value alone. Use it as part of a broader strategy to drive attention and justify price points, not as your whole business model.
3. Cause-Related Positioning
Chocolate already has a built-in guilt factor (and not just from calories). Issues like child labor and deforestation in cocoa supply chains are well-documented. Brands like Tony’s Chocolonely have shown that consumers will pay a premium for chocolate that also makes them feel like good global citizens. Organic, fair trade, direct trade, these could all see renewed emphasis.
4. Cocoa Substitutes
Here’s where it starts to get really innovative. Startups and research labs are exploring cocoa alternatives made from barley, carob, and even upcycled grains (see Ardent Mills Cocoa Replace, Cellva upcycled coffee, California Cultured, Figa’s Cupuaçu, and Kokomodo). They mimic cocoa’s flavor and texture surprisingly well, and in an era of $10,000/ton beans, they start to make economic sense. There’s an opportunity here to reimagine what chocolate is without completely alienating consumers.
5. Dilution
An oldie but a goodie! This is the most practical but least glamorous approach: stretching cocoa further. Products like Nestle Crunch bars have been using this strategy for almost a century. By mixing chocolate with inclusions like puffed rice, cookie chunks, pretzel bits, or even air (see Aero), you reduce the amount of cocoa per serving while maintaining consumer satisfaction.
If done creatively (and messaged as added value or texture variety rather than a cost‑cutting tactic), this can actually improve the eating experience while protecting margins.
6. Functionalization
This is the strategy that intrigues me the most (and the one I think has the highest ceiling). By making chocolate functional, you turn it from an indulgence into a purposeful product. Here’s what happens when you do that:
Higher perceived value: Chocolate becomes a delivery mechanism for wellness, not just a treat. Consumers don’t mind paying more when the product promises to help them de-stress, sleep better, or focus at work.
Increased consumption occasions: Functional chocolate creates new use cases. A piece of dark chocolate before bed to help you sleep? Why not. A midday square to improve focus? Sure. This moves chocolate into entirely new dayparts.
New channels: When chocolate becomes a wellness product, it opens up distribution beyond the candy aisle (think pharmacies, spas, and fitness studios).
Stronger brand equity: Functional benefits can help a brand stand out in a crowded category, while also helping protect against pure price comparison.
On top of these, functional products also build a kind of permission to eat more chocolate. That’s not nothing.
Where Do We Go From Here?
I think functionalization is still early days in chocolate, but I expect to see explosive growth over the next 3–5 years. Consumers are already primed for functional foods, from collagen coffee creamers to immunity gummies. Chocolate is perfectly positioned to be the next platform.
If you’re a chocolate brand, here’s my advice:
Start by identifying functional benefits that align with your consumer base and brand DNA: sleep, mood, energy, immunity are just the beginning.
Keep the indulgence intact. Don’t let the product become so utilitarian that it loses its emotional appeal (remember, people still want chocolate to taste good).
Test formats beyond bars and truffles. Think snackable bites, panned pieces, and even drinking chocolate that can fit into more routines.
Collaborate with functional ingredient suppliers early. Many have proven science-backed claims and can help with formulation and regulatory hurdles.
In other words: chocolate doesn’t have to be cheap to thrive. But to stay relevant and profitable, brands will have to think beyond “more cocoa, better taste” and instead offer chocolate that does something for me.
A few years back, I was sitting in a consumer’s kitchen as part of a wellness innovation project I was running for a client. The consumer was sharp, articulate, and meticulous about what he put in his body. When the conversation turned to food dyes and artificial additives, he didn’t hesitate:
"I avoid that stuff... I don’t want it in me."
But as he spoke, I couldn’t help but notice his arms were covered with bright, intricate tattoos.
Now, understanding that contradictions are often the key to finding the best insights, I made a point to carefully direct the conversation to his tattoos. Specifically, I tried to understand how he reconciled injecting synthetic dyes into his skin while refusing to eat them.
"I willingly chose these," he said without missing a beat, running his hand over the designs. He explained how each one carried personal meaning (e.g., a memory of a loved one, a special event, etc.). Then he added:
"The problem with food dyes is I’m not willingly part of that choice. Did you know hamburger buns have dye in them to make them yellow? I didn’t ask for that, I didn’t even know about it until I read about it online."
That moment has stuck with me all these years later because I realized that the debate over food dyes isn’t just about safety concerns, it’s about trust.
For many consumers, artificial colors and flavors feel like a trick. A way to mask mediocre ingredients, to make a product seem fresher, more real, or more appealing than it is. Food ingredients used this way validate all the negative beliefs consumers have about Big Food.
I’ve talked to a lot of die-hard clean-eating advocates over the years, and I’ve found that, while they don’t like to admit it, they eat their fair share of M&Ms, Skittles and Flaming Hot Cheetos on occasion. Maybe it’s on vacation, on a car trip, or after some alcoholic beverages, but they eat them. Interestingly, many don’t feel that guilty about this. The reason: the bargain is explicit. Nobody’s pretending these candies and foods are clean, but they are delicious. Would they rather the dyes weren’t in there? Yes, but just like their tattoos, the ‘chemicals’ can be momentarily overlooked because of the emotional bargain that has been made.
That insight has huge implications for brands:
You can rip the artificial colors out of your product and still fail to win over skeptical consumers if the underlying perception is you’re not being straight with them. On the flip side, some brands are learning that rushing to clean label at the expense of product experience alienates loyal buyers who never felt misled in the first place (I’m looking at Mars and the maker of DumDum suckers who have both pushed back on phasing out the use artificial food dyes).
The real work isn’t just swapping Red 40 for beet juice. It’s understanding what your consumers believe about you, your motivations, and earning their trust.
For brands, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Don’t assume natural equals better. If consumers believe you are loading up your product with natural dyes or flavors to cover-up inferior quality, you aren’t winning them over.
Transparency can matter more than the ingredient list. Many consumers will still choose artificial when they feel they’ve knowingly made that trade-off.
Know your category’s rules of engagement. What works in yogurt or bread may not resonate in candy or snacks.
Signal the choice clearly. Make consumers feel the decision is theirs, not something you slipped past them.
Products: King Arthur AP Baking Mix with Prebiotic Fiber; Keifer Cakes Prebiotic Pancake Mix; Fiber+ Cookies; Bloom Pop; Wonder Soft Multigrain+ Prebiotic Bread; Ferm Kombucha.
Why Is ‘FiberMaxxing’ In and ‘Cholesterol Counting’ Isn’t.
For decades, heart health was the gold standard of better-for-you messaging in food. Whole grains lowered cholesterol and omega-3s protected arteries. Cheerios and Quaker shouted in commercials and from shelves with claims that they were “clinically proven” to get your numbers down.
But sometime over the last ten years, the world has shifted. Today, consumers are far more likely to reach for something “good for my gut” than “good for my heart.” Why? Because gut health aligns more closely with how consumers see themselves, and how they want to feel.
Heart health is about prevention; gut health is about now
Heart health is the quintessential long-term benefit. It’s about avoiding disease decades down the road. That feels abstract for younger consumers and too long-term for even older consumers living increasingly in the now. Gut health, by contrast, promises the perception of immediate impact: improved digestion, reduced bloating, clearer skin, even better mood. (Yes, building a better microflora has future benefits but in my conversations with consumers that’s not the main reason they grab Poppi).
Consumers today are impatient. They want wellness that has the promise of making them feel something today. Gut health scratches that itch. (If heart health is like saving for retirement, gut health is like getting a bonus check.)
This is why and how ‘fibermaxxing’ is trending on TikTok. People are maximizing their fiber intake per meal and bragging about its effects (from bathroom visits to satiety and blood sugar control).
Gut health speaks to holistic well-being, not one organ
Research and media have tied the gut microbiome to everything from immunity to mental health. Consumers are starting to see their gut as a central command center that ‘magically’ fixes the body. That’s much more emotionally satisfying than the narrower claim of oatmeal being “good for your heart.”
Gut health also connects to holistic narratives around balance, mindfulness, and listening to your body, in comparison, heart health feels clinical and paternalistic.
Gut health is more personal and intuitive
Heart health is tied to numbers: cholesterol, blood pressure, triglycerides. Those numbers require a doctor to measure, and they don’t always feel tangible. Gut health, by contrast, is something consumers believe they can “sense.” They feel bloated or regular, heavy or light, foggy or clear, and attribute it to their gut. That feedback loop creates a tighter, more personal relationship with gut-focused products.
The cultural shift from fear to optimization
Heart health was born in a time when wellness marketing leaned heavily on fear of disease. Gut health lives in the era of optimization: biohacking, improving mood, maximizing your microbiome. It’s aspirational, not just preventative.
So, What’s a Brand to Do?
For brands, the rise of gut health is a lesson in meeting consumers where they are emotionally and culturally. People want health benefits that feel immediate, personal, and holistic. If you’re still leading with heart health claims (or other long-lens risk reductions like cancer or osteoporosis), you risk being tuned out by a generation that sees wellness as something to feel and live, not just something to measure.
The opportunity lies in finding ways to connect your category to gut health benefits or borrowing its lessons to reframe long-term health narratives in more immediate, experiential terms.
Signals from the Shelf
Products: GG Premium Energy; Van Holten’s+ Pringles Sour Cream and Onion Pickle; Rewind 9-Volt Battery Chips
GUT REACTION
Products: Bangers Energy Chips; Tastiez Triangles; Waffle House Cold Brew; Bubblas Alcoholic Bubble Tea; Absurd Snacks Crunch Mix.
TIDBITS
Food Industry
Watch out, Starbucks: China’s biggest coffee chain opens its first US locations
The Battle to Keep Consumers Means Smaller Packs of Cookies and Chips
RFK Jr.’s Battle Against Food Dyes Hits a Roadblock: M&M’s
Patrón’s ‘Additive-Free’ Claims Rattled Tequila Regulators. Its New Ads Poke Fun at Their Rules.
Why Jolly Ranchers Are Banned in the UK but Not the US
RFK Jr. promoted a food company he says will make Americans healthy. Their meals are ultraprocessed
Why pecan milk Is suddenly crushing it
Walmart opens first owned-and-operated beef facility
Olipop turns fans into influencers for pennies with PR boxes on Amazon
Interesting
GLP-1s elevating interest in chewy snacks
What happens when AI was put in charge of a vending machine? Nothing good
Is cheese giving you nightmares?
What’s In That Dessert? Vegetables.
‘Explosive increase’ of ticks that cause meat allergy in US due to climate crisis
Ghosts and ghouls are all over your favorite stores. It's time to embrace 'Summerween.'
Free breakfast is disappearing at popular hotel brands
WeightWatchers emerges from bankruptcy, and it’s now taking aim at menopause
The case that gripped Australia: the mushroom murder
Ranked: The Best Countries for Life-Work Balance in 2025
How Unilever Used AI to Make Soap Go Viral
Food Dyes are Lurking in Surprising Places
Stella McCartney debuted a compostable shoe made of castor beans, hemp and pineapple waste, and dyed with cinnamon.
Tomatoes in the Galápagos are quietly de-evolving
Older Adults Now Outnumber Children in 11 States and Nearly Half of U.S. Counties
Fun & Odd
What Do Climbers Eat at Mount Everest Base Camp?
The popcorn bucket trend is nuts: the $80 popcorn bucket and a Jurassic footprint one
Top-Trending Ice Cream Flavors in the U.S.
What Actually Is Yoo-hoo? (video)
The Best Pizzas in the World, According to 512 Global Experts
Wimbledon star Iga Świątek introduces the world to pasta with strawberries and yogurt
