Trend Bible's Anna Ward on What 2026 Looks Like for Brands, Behaviour & the Home

0:15Hello and welcome to the Tomorrow Brands podcast where we explore what it takes to build a brand of tomorrow. I'm your host, Ruth Vitock, and in today's episode, I welcome back Anna Ward from Trend Bible to dig into their just-released 2026 forecast. From your kitchen to tarot cards, we explore how cultural tensions are reshaping everything from grocery baskets to global brand strategy. Let's get into it. So welcome back. Hi. Our first return guest, actually. So last year, we had you on to talk about trends and forecasting generally and how brands could and should think about trends. This year, do a little check of what's coming up in 2026, what's happening and what FMCG brands should be thinking of in terms of the broader cultural context.

1:02So before we get into it, it'd be great to do a quick reminder of who you are, where you come from. Hi, I'm Anna. I'm from Brighton and I work for Trendbible who are experts in the future of life at home and I work on the consultancy department I'm the innovation lead there so working with bespoke briefs with brands and helping them to think to the future and what's next really and obviously yes I joined you last year which I can't believe was a year ago and it's really nice to be back we actually released a report at the very end of 2025 that was a real let's just have a look at what we think's emerging for 2026 which I think some of your readers probably listeners will probably find quite interesting but yeah we've been working on 2026 since 2024 so we usually work two years in advance but I guess this report is about saying okay this is what we think's emerging and things that we think are really important for brands to to pick up and listen to not going to talk about is how in a world of AI people are looking for human connection so I think that was in every single report yeah that has been for the last which is true and valid.

2:10It is, yeah, it's 100 % true. But what is it they're looking for? What are the little sort of indicators of human connection? I'm sure we'll talk about some of that today. So let's get into some of the themes from the report. And firstly, 2026, is it feeling different from 2025 and 2024, which is when you started thinking about it? Are there any kind of big shifts we're seeing? I do think we're all just feeling, we're in the age of overwhelm, aren't we? It is manic. and we're in a really polarized world geopolitical tensions and obviously ai you mentioned it first but it is massive and i think everyone's feeling very in flux and not really necessarily certain they're still finding their way and i think that's driving more intentional behaviors as people understand their own values their behavior is becoming a lot more intentional particularly as consumers we're buying into things that align not just with our purses and what we can afford but also with our values and our beliefs as well and if people are becoming more intentional do you think that's going to impact those sort of everyday brands as well as something more luxury or considered which would have been an intentional purchase anyway do you think we'll start to see that shift to intention across the board in how consumers are shopping like even in a supermarket whereas before it might have been like oh I'm gonna go into like John Lewis and that I'm in that mindset because I'm really thinking things through and researching that before I buy it.

3:43I think people are more researched than ever now and I think that also is like your fingertips all this information and people are also part of communities which are sharing information So I actually do think even your FMCG consumer purchases, your smaller things, they are more considered. Also, people on the whole have got less money to spend. So even those smaller purchases are much more considered. And I think in terms of luxury, that's also changed hugely because what is luxury now? I don't necessarily think that people are buying those big ticket luxury items. they're looking for luxury in smaller everyday purchases things that feel a bit more handmade that feel like they've got that and they said earlier that human touch they feel real they feel more artisan artisanal more creative but i think also what's interesting is the dupe culture as well so people are wanting that luxury but they can't necessarily afford it but what elements of it can they afford and if it's there's a huge dupe culture within scent and I think that's really interesting because actually it's a smell and if it smells like the luxury then the perceived value is there anyway it's yeah it's really interesting topic I think luxury this might be a bit of a side note but the redefinition of luxury into wellness is really interesting so So we were in Dubai over Christmas because my sister lives there.

5:14And I was struck by, obviously, they have all these luxury high-rises. And they always continue trying to think of new ways to market these things. And now it's wellness. So there was one that was like the world's first precision wellness residence. And it was interesting. They had pictures of these like luxury developments that had like sound bathrooms and ice baths in them. And it's like the commoditization of wellness or that being the thing that's now the most aspirational. It's not about hedonism in the same way it used to be and fine wine. It's about getting the perfect night's sleep. Yeah.

5:49Wellness takes time and time is money. And the average person doesn't have the money to take the time off to do the wellness practice. So that kind of makes sense. Wellness is a luxury. and it's about it's finding boredom being able to go offline all of those things really a luxury because you've still then got the privilege to tap back into life as and when it seeks you and whereas for the mainstream consumer it's about looking for wellness in smaller things and take going back to maybe going into Sainsbury's and buying a can of kombucha which you can see has got added functional benefits that is somebody's level of wellness I think it's a good reminder of beyond the bubble especially when you work in food and drink and you're so hot on all of these things and then for most people definitely that's I think that's something we look at in trends so much is looking at different lenses because we've got a bias like everybody is ingrained with a bias lens and I think it's so important for us to constantly be putting things on their head and saying okay hold on a second let's take this from the viewpoint of a single mum that's living on minimum wage you had this had a sheet up into this how does this trend affect her versus somebody who's earning a really great salary who's a very much sort of nuclear family unit how do they adapt this trend or childless millennials you know how are they adapting to it so I think definitely having those lenses is hugely important.

7:22I think marketers are generally quite bad at that in terms of being from a specific demographic and then finding it hard to look outside that demographic and you've got to get out of 1 % thinking because that's not a big enough audience unless you're like a very high end, that's not a big enough audience to grow a brand. It's interesting, we've been talking so much to brands about getting out of the habit of looking at your consumer as a demographic because it's a pointless task now you've got to think about your consumer as a mindset and a mindset can span alpha up to boomer it doesn't matter and lots of different sort of demographic breakdowns can have similar values and a similar mindset and it's not to say that it's only one mindset suitable for one industry it might be that I have a mindset over how I feel about beauty and wellness but I have a completely different mindset when it comes to climate change and travel for example so you've got to a know your mindsets but be be willing to clash them and be willing to say okay how does my consumer's mindset shift when i'm talking about something else so it's it's scary i think for brands like you said you don't want to see like gen z as a toolkit yeah exactly can you tell us more about the future of gen z no we can talk about the mindset that exist within the Gen Z community, but they're going to expand into millennials down to alphas and beyond.

8:53Yeah. Let's dive into a few of the things that you've called out in the report. So should we chat about celebration and seasonal behaviours? Yeah, definitely. I think celebration and season is, it's really interesting. So I think we went through that stage of dopamine chasing and people really seeking out joy and finding sparks of joy in everything really overboard and actually I think consumers have begun to realize that's not sustainable we can't be happy and joy seeking all the time we need that space and so people have started to shift into thinking about different ways of celebrating I also think it's really interesting to think about we have been living in a cost of living crisis people are finding things a lot harder and a lot of people haven't been able to move out of home and therefore haven't maybe got married at the point in their life that they saw themselves getting married maybe people are delaying having children or other things like going off to university graduating so these sort of more traditional milestones that maybe some of us grew up with actually don't exist anymore and it's people creating sort of new what we've been calling like inch stones instead of milestones like smaller reasons to celebrate that are quite unique to them and I think that's what we're seeing within season and celebration is unique inch stone must be all celebrated over these traditional milestones and they're quite niche and weird and it's great you know like I've seen hilarious viral posts from people that are saying things like I've paid off my student loan let's celebrate that because that is a massive achievement but it's not a traditional thing that we might celebrate but it's definitely very unique to that person trying to think of some other good inch stones what they might be and got through another year of having two children and a job it's really interesting because milestones anyone who's turned 30 40 50 those occasions are often not like super 100 joyful like terrifying terrifying joyful in equal mode yeah it's not always the most fun whereas like little things i think i think that's really interesting And how do you think brands can leverage that trend or play with that idea?

11:05I think it's about getting to know your community and your brand community. So like thinking about interesting ways that you can celebrate your consumers, your followers, your community. And just sparking joy in unexpected ways I think is really a nice way to look at it rather than constantly looking at it. And I think what's interesting, if you go into a smaller boutique stationery store at the moment and you look at some of their cards, you can send a card for, sorry, you were just feeling down today. Or, yippee, you made it to Friday. And it's those types of things we need to be creating brand connections about rather than Happy New Year and all of these.

11:47Happy 50th birthday. it's thinking about the smaller everyday treats the little luxuries or little wins in life or also commiserations like the smaller things that are making people peak and trough that's interesting isn't it it's a lot more you need a social content calendar where normally it's like April Fool's Day and Valentine's Day and instead it's what are the other little more niche or weird yeah things that you could look at which then just show that you really understand your audience and their lives yeah i think fandom communities are really driving this like knowing exactly what your community is doing that is pretty niche and often quite weird and that's really exciting because there's so much storytelling in that and yeah it's definitely something to be aware of so last time we talked about one of my favorite trends which was the premiumization of commoditized goods or fancy pantry.

12:43Oh yeah. I feel like this is still very much in full swing. Do you think it's evolving this year? Is it changing? Is it subsiding? Obviously, people aren't going to be knocking down their pantries. They've just invested thousands in creating their fancy pantries. And when we say fancy pantries, obviously there's people with walk-in incredible pantries, but a pantry can be a shelf. I'm just meaning a shelf mostly, or a drawer in my case. Exactly. a shelf but I think what we spoke about in the last year was about people moving from cupboards to more open shelves so that they could see what was on display we know that decanting was really popular people buying nice jars to elevate something that maybe was a bit cheaper like buying everyday pasta but putting it in a more fancy jar to make it feel more special and decadent I think obviously we're still seeing all of those pantries but I feel like there's a real push towards authenticity and a bit more chaos I think people are dropping the pretense of everything looking a bit perfect perfect is exhausting no one lives like that and we're seeing that constantly on social media the strive to be very curated very perfect and it's something aspirationally that we live up to whereas actually real life and authenticity and showing a bit of everyday chaos is much more genuine and I think that's what consumers are looking for is that sort of more genuine take on it I think obviously we're seeing AI as well everything we're questioning is that real is that AI is this a real image is this a real sort of portray of life or is this something that's been quickly whipped up so I think brands that are showing a bit more behind the scenes of what they're doing and how they're building their campaigns it's also a great example of behind the scenes this week actually from fern which is the scent and fragrance brand it's a real sort of disruptive brand within the scent market and they've produced this beautiful video of their behind the scenes of how they produce their campaigns and it's so emotive and it's so fascinating to see how they create an image in the sort of a story that some people if they just saw the end result might question like they just used ai but because they're showing us the behind the seems they're bringing the consumer on that journey on that narrative and that's really interesting as a viewer I mean I'm engaged in that I'm interested by how they've created that and all the different elements that have been part of it so premium can be messy is what we're saying and actually like a move to a bit more chaos and not so like carefully controlled curated brand look and feel and if we're not decanting anymore is that packaging more important than ever yeah I think creativity is hugely important we are spending a lot more of our social life doing creative things and I think packaging is such a good vehicle for creativity for people picking out something it resonates with them they're enjoying the colors the feeling of the packaging the way it opens what it can be used for afterwards how it looks within the decor of their home that's important and I think that is a really interesting way of thinking about how consumers can be creative it's not that we all need to be making clay pots and doing canvas painting in the evenings like creativity is about collecting and displaying of things that bring us joy and that we find interesting and i think packaging yeah is really key to that so we think there's still definitely lots of opportunity for like premium brands in commoditized categories so i think you talked about olive oil and beans and what else yeah but what's next salt yeah probably it's actually really funny because i was talking to a friend yesterday he's obsessed with chicken salt at the moment and adding it to everything including eggs i think definitely this moves into gifting as well who would have thought five ten years ago that you'd gift someone a bag of salt but i actually think it's the packaging it's maybe the the exclusiveness of the salt where it's been made the ingredients becoming really important thinking about luxury travel is a real luxury for many people but I think where travel meets food is really interesting and I think that's where you're starting to get these more luxury cross-cultural fusions that are really great gifting opportunities as well definitely we were in Selfridges food hall recently and they're like world food aisles was by far the most exciting and interesting and just I think in the US it's much better developed than it is here and I feel like that's going to be a really big trend and like different from different cultures so like less well travel newer things that we're not as used to and then like fusion like you say so combining things and that all plays into doesn't it the fact that we're going out less and you're wanting more interest when you are eating in at home yeah it's escapism isn't it you want to have these travel experiences restaurant experiences these cultural experiences but you're going to have to have them from home so let's create some things like that and that we can enjoy within the comfort of our own home so we talked a bit about wellness let's talk about it some more because obviously health and wellness is like a huge macro trend it's not going anywhere it's like very well established and i think the risk is that people go yes health there's a trend and then you leave it there.

18:16But obviously what that looks like is changing all of the time and evolving. How do you think health and wellness is evolving for 2026? I think for 2026, wellness actually is very unique. It's very personal to the user. I think we spoke about financial disparities as well. And so it's about finding how you can bring wellness into your life that's affordable, that fits with the other sort of time that you have. I think also we're looking to more alternative routes for wellness and things like spirituality is huge one of the things we mentioned obviously in the report was about the rise of tarot guidance people looking for pretty alternative what might have been considered quite woo-woo but people are actually really interested in these alternative guiders really in which to base decisions on around your life and it's about meaning around that and how it how it makes people feel seeing people turn to astrology I don't know how many people in early January were talking about moon phases to me as of really recognizing how they were feeling in conjunction with the sort of moon phase and I think particularly for women that's really relevant so yeah I think that looking for alternative wellness through spirituality is definitely going to be key for 2026 but I think also it's about unique what sort of what does wellness look like for you and for some people that is about bringing as much dopamine into their household and making themselves feel good and for other people it's about finding more balance and about having more stepping back maybe from tech we've spoken about the rise of analog I don't think that's going to be an overnight thing where everyone's suddenly going to come off social media but I definitely think people are putting more boundaries in place around social media and internet usage in its full sense.

20:05It's not to say they're switching off, but they're saying, okay, hold on a second, I'm going to step back. And I think that's a huge part of wellness as well. Yeah. It's interesting. We talked a bit about it before, but the tarot thing, Netflix's new ad campaign is tarot themed. So they're saying, what are you watching next? And they've done TV shows up as tarot cards. I saw it and thought, firstly I love it but secondly that shows how it is now and it's also interesting isn't it because on the one hand you've got people turning to like spiritual more woo-woo things and on the other hand you've got people biohacking and doing all this research like we said and getting really into the science and sometimes though that point about tension like sometimes those are the same people yeah they're being like very scientific and also very yeah open to alternative things and I think that's what it's about with consumers that's why it's so important to understand the mindset because the same person yeah like you said can be biohacking but also looking at the moon phases in terms of how they're gonna decide where they go away for the weekend or not it's the it's tapping into those unique markers and what people value individually let's talk about gut health because you called that out in your report and obviously that's been another mega trend how is that changing a few years in i think people really get gut health now and the impact of how it's really positive for the body the mind focus and that knowledge has become pretty mainstream i think where we might see a shift i spoke about before is that people may be going to start dabbling in that themselves so the kitchen counter is going to become a bit more of a sort of personal pharmacy to consumers so people might have a go at doing their own fermentation making their own kombucha pickling those types of things and again that goes back to our fancy pantries and our displaying of on our shelves of the goods that we've purchased but also the goods that we're making and I think people are getting the confidence a bit more experimental there I think brands that can offer advice again that's how behind the scenes can really come in handy but also tips or products that they can hack to have a go themselves.

22:16It also hugely helps build community. I think we spoke initially in the beginning about value spending and sometimes it's not just about the purchase, the monetary purchase, it's about the value exchange and the value of that is huge. I really like that kitchen apocryphal trend or food as medicine and it's modern but ancient, isn't it? It's like going back to like your grandma's bone broth when you're feeling sick. And there are brands now that are like moving into those spaces. I think there's huge amounts of research into looking at age old practices of how we ate, what kind of diet, how our diets have evolved.

22:56And as you spoke about before, there's going to be extreme maven people that are only eating a carnivore diet or only eating a plant based diet, which is slightly more mainstream now. But I think ultimately their age old practices, some of these things, and we're starting to revisit them with modern day knowledge and technology mine apple cider vinegar we work with brag with the original apple cider vinegar each time you feel like you're coming down with a cold shot of that sorts you right out i think that's interesting though because i think people are actually really valuing a little shot of something when they're starting to feel a bit under the weather the amount of people i see shotting just turmeric and ginger shots in fact i know this is very timely but if you notice on the traitors oh yeah they're doing they do shots shots in the morning i was like wow the amount of people are going to be googling what are they shotting in that kitchen and it is a little immune beast shot there you go that's when you know something's gone fully mainstream exactly it's even on the bbc do you know what i want to talk about a bit more because we touched on it right at the beginning and then we didn't get into it you mentioned that bold bean did that ceramic bean dish and that is a really interesting area that brands can look at or think about?

24:06I think it's interesting when brands diversify a little bit into different category that still very much links with what they're about. So that Bold Bean example that you're talking about, it's obviously Bold Bean, create beautiful beans that are presented. Packaging is very considered. We're looking at glass jars. You can see the product inside the packaging, which I think is important. But then they diversified into creating this beautiful handmade ceramic plate. I can't remember what it said. and it wasn't branded it had some like no it wasn't it had a little i love beans yes bean lover or something like that and i think that's really interesting because it's aligning your product into a different category but the same level point and it elevates the brand because luxury is very much where you can see the human fingerprints in something and with ceramics you can see the human fingerprints because it is you can physically see it and that was a really clever move I think we're seeing brands diversify into fashion brands that diversify into home particularly into more sort of kitchen and hosting wear particularly like Damson Madder we've seen there's a couple of other brands that have moved into that area shrimps I think have done a collaboration this year as well but yeah I think diversifying in a way that links and make sense to the consumer and there is some red thread there in terms of what the brand is ultimately about there's a new shop in brighton i don't know if you've been in i think it's called dinner and i found it the other day and it is mad because it's like a lifestyle and food shop but it really shows that like food brands becoming seen as a like as lifestyle brand so it's got like It displays colour-coded displays with like candles and vases and then like chilli sauces.

25:59And they all look really beautiful and really well like all together. It's a real edit and a curated experience. Do you know, this is reminding me because I read a really interesting article the other day about the living room is dead. From the perspective of someone living in a house share. And actually there is a lot of people, particularly young professionals who are moving into houses, house shares. But actually, they've just got their own bedroom and then a kitchen space. And actually, the kitchen is the real focus of the home. And that's why we are starting to see maybe more interior brands focus so much more on the kitchen and the dining space.

26:35Because that is now the 100 % communal space within the home. It's not the living room. Because a living room is a luxury. It's a space within the home that not everybody can afford. even families we're living working playing all at home actually the kitchen is becoming really focal and i feel like that's a real driver to why things like beautiful jars of sauces decantering products buying a candle to sit alongside a nice piece of packaging choosing a bold bean investing in the plate as well as the beans because the kitchen is the show-off space now. So there's definitely an opportunity for brands to lean into that and maybe more like fashion brands have moved into home, maybe food brands moving into homeware.

27:23And I wonder if there'll be home brands moving into food. So wrapping up, let's talk about what 2026 means for brands and makers. What do FMCG brand founders and marketeers absolutely have to have on their radar for 2026? Obviously, they can read the full report as well. yeah the report covers loads of different aspects and it's behavioral shifts products it's decor it's lots of different things but in terms of fmcg brands i think we've spoken a lot about intention during this this chat and balance as well like finding that balance but also hugely understanding your consumer mindsets who is your future consumer what do they look like and also key thing to mention there your future consumer because a lot of people understand their consumer now but what is this sort of future what does their future look like i think showing the process behind the scenes consumers want authenticity they want to know that it's real and they want to see human interaction with that and they really value creativity so i think throwing creativity at it really key i think as well to your earlier point about finding those weird niches like what other little weird tensions and definitely getting to know your brand community and finding out what the fandom community is doing and they are weird and almost the weirder the better and the more niche the better i'd say to any fmcg brand don't be afraid to slightly go against the grain and go pretty niche and obscure because i think people want that they want something that's really different and they're gonna make them feel a different way but just think about clashing intentions clashing values and working out actually where is somewhere that's really untouched and equally what should they watch out for i think targeting too wide i think we spoke about it before going i want to create a brand for gen z because gen z is massive who is it create for the mindset create for something that's really unique and targeted and purposeful that you're aligning your company and brand values with the consumer values.

29:35Don't be trying to cast your net too wide. Stay true to the community that you're trying to build. Final question we ask every guest. In your opinion, what makes a brand of tomorrow? I think a brand that values people. I don't know if we've spoken about this loads. A brand that values people and creativity. Humans are going to be the stories behind the brand and the stories are what really hook people in and make people fall in love and share their values. So I think that is hugely important being really playful but also being purposeful with what you're doing nice thanks so much for coming on thanks for having me i hope you enjoyed this episode of the tomorrow browns podcast if you did i'd love it if you could rate or leave a quick review it really helps other people find the show and if you're curious for more check out the other episodes we've had some brilliant founders and operators share their stories thanks for listening and see you next time

30:29Bye.