By Charisse Hughes, chief growth officer, Kellanova

Growth in consumer packaged goods will come not only from products, but also from how brands meet consumers where they spend time, earn trust, and use technology to make interactions effortless and relevant.

At Kellanova, one principle guides our work: growth begins and ends with the consumer. As habits and expectations evolve, so must we—becoming faster, more connected, and more intuitive. Data, digital innovation, and human creativity together are redefining what it means to be a consumer brand.

Here are five trends shaping winning CPG strategies in 2026—and how brands can respond:

1) Attention has moved—is your brand there?

Consumers are spending more time alone and online, using digital channels not just to browse but also to research and discover—actions increasingly central to purchase decisions. This shift changes where brands need to appear and how they capture consideration.

What to do: Focus on lightweight, content-forward experiences: short-form video, shoppable content, and micro-personalized landing pages. Connect online touchpoints seamlessly to in-store or e-commerce conversion and measure engagement to link attention to outcomes.

Case in point: Kellanova partnered with Vidmob and the MMA to evaluate creative effectiveness using AI. Predictive impact scoring forecasted 3-second view-through rates (VTR) with 83% accuracy, improved campaign performance by 2.16x, and contributed to an 11% increase in Profit ROI for scored assets. Data-informed creative doesn't just capture attention—it drives measurable business results.

2) The nuance of value: winning through maniacal measurement

Consumers want confidence that every dollar works harder. Value is defined by outcomes, not price. Brands that measure relentlessly and optimize in real time win.

What to do: Move beyond broad assumptions about "premium" and "value" shoppers. Adopt a maniacal approach to measurement—using granular segmentation, experimentation, and unified data to understand what truly drives behavior. This means quantifying which messages shift consideration, which promotions actually move volume, and which moments deliver the highest ROI. Precision comes from proving, not guessing.

Case in point: In the UK, a Special K clean-room pilot combined purchase data with attitudinal insights to identify segments with the highest value potential. By testing and measuring across segments, the team delivered a 9% sales lift among price-sensitive shoppers, a 36% increase from loyal buyers, and a threefold boost in brand consideration. The takeaway: when measurement is ruthless and real-time, value becomes an engine for growth—not just a pricing strategy.

3) Agentic commerce turns chat into checkout

The rise of agentic AI is reshaping how consumers discover and purchase products, posing new challenges for traditional CPG brands that rely on loyalty and shelf presence. AI can recommend alternatives, private-label items, or niche brands based on preferences, value, or availability, potentially shifting loyalties.

What to do: Invest in AI-enabled interfaces integrated with e-commerce and loyalty systems. Real-time recommendations, combined with purchase history, behavioral insights, and retail median data, allow brands to deliver personalized shopping experiences at scale. Optimizing for both the consumer and the AI agent ensures products are consistently surfaced in relevant contexts.

Case in point: Walmart's partnership with OpenAI and ChatGPT brings this to life. Customers can shop directly through ChatGPT with an "Instant Checkout" feature—planning meals, restocking essentials, and discovering products through conversation. The shopping interface is no longer just a website or app; it's a conversational channel.

4) Culture, creators, and community as growth engines

Consumers buy into purpose, values, and belonging—not just products. Creators are central, shaping culture, bridging brands to communities, and translating moments into trusted storytelling.

What to do: Culture is what people pay attention to—what they watch, share, laugh about, and rally around. To tap into that energy, brands must align investments with real behaviors and passion points, not demographic checkboxes. Creators are the connective tissue: they influence how people discover, engage, and participate in cultural moments. Winning brands partner with culturally fluent storytellers to show up where conversations are happening and build always-on creator ecosystems that can flex across platforms and formats.

Case in point: Based on consumer insights, we found that consumers doubt the nutritional goodness of cereal in AMEA, so we partnered with Celeste Barber who is known for her humor, transparency, and "keep it real" approach. Together, we developed social, digital, and native content, including myth-busting creator-led storytelling that highlighted how Kellogg's has been enhancing the health credentials of our cereals. The result: penetration lifts, volume and dollar share gains and improvements in brand health metrics, proving that creator-driven authenticity drives both relevance and performance.

5) Speed wins: coordinated teams outperform silos

Agility is a competitive advantage. Brands that move quickly, pivot based on real-time signals, and align marketing, insights, e-commerce, and operations outperform siloed approaches.

What to do: Build integrated workflows for seamless insight sharing. Enable rapid testing, iteration, and coordinated execution across channels. When creativity, data, and operations operate as a unified engine, campaigns don't just reach audiences—they resonate and convert.

Case in point: In our U.S. Away from Home business, coordinated teams delivered a $1 improvement in ROI while increasing trade investment, showing that smarter strategy—not just spending cuts—drives performance. Salty snack promotions alone saw a 91% increase in effectiveness from 2024 to 2025.

Looking ahead, Kellanova is integrating Agentic AI into key moments in the consumer journey. Chatbots and deep research agents will automatically surface insights, summarize complex analyses, and provide data-driven recommendations, enabling teams to make faster, smarter decisions with confidence.

Closing thoughts

The CPG brands that thrive in 2026 combine human understanding with technological precision. They meet consumers where they are, anticipate their needs, and respond in ways that are meaningful, relevant, and effortless.

At Kellanova, we blend advanced analytics, AI-driven innovation, and purpose-driven storytelling to create experiences that connect our brands with consumers. Growth isn't just about the foods we make—it's about how we connect, serve, and deliver value to consumers. The future of CPG is consumer-centric, tech-driven, and human at its core, and the brands that embrace these trends will capture attention, loyalty, and sustainable growth.

Kellanova is on the current Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery “Top 50 Snack & Bakery Companies” list. Click here to view the current “Top 50” rankings.