CHICAGO — A comprehensive mid-year trends report from Datassential identified several consumer insights and industry issues and forecasted what’s coming in the world of food and beverage in 2025.

The Chicago-based digital research firm found that 60% of consumers say they have changed their shopping behavior or purchasing decisions due to higher prices at the grocery store.

Gen Xers (67%) were more likely to say this than any other generation, “which surprised the team a little,” said Renee Lee Wege, trend researcher and senior publications manager at Datassential. She added that about a third of respondents had noticed higher prices but had not changed their shopping behavior, while only 6% said prices on the items they normally buy had not changed.

“Personally, I started visiting three to four grocery stores/store types to find the best deal for what I need,” Wege said.

Sixty percent of consumers said they read nutrition labels when choosing new products, the report found. However, 58 percent said they do not consider nutritional or diet information when choosing a restaurant.

According to the report, the three most common diets or dietary restrictions among consumers are low or reduced sodium, low sugar and low calorie, Wege said.

Datassential also surveyed consumers about their preferences when ordering meatless dishes. More than a third of respondents said they would opt for a main dish made with plant-based ingredients, such as eggplant parmesan or cauliflower steak, Wege said. Nearly 20% said they preferred plant-based meat, but the majority said it was evenly split, she added.

Survey questions on cooking oils and alternative sugars found that consumers are more likely to be interested in healthy products that are considered more sustainable and less inflammatory.

“We asked consumers what they most commonly eat or cook with, and olives, vegetables and canola oil topped the list, with olives commonly eaten or used by 52% of consumers,” Wege said. “Peanuts and soybeans were the most avoided, which makes sense when you have allergies.”

Consumers asked about alternative sugars cited honey, brown sugar and maple syrup as the ones they most commonly use at home, the report said.

Wege found that a third of consumers said they do not use any of the dozen or so alternative sugars, “so there is definitely a group of consumers who use regular white sugar,” she said. “Overall, consumers are not more likely to purchase foods and beverages made with white sugar alternatives just because they are made with alternatives.”

For 2025, the Datassential report identified cold brew as a coffee trend to know about and salted egg yolk as a flavor trend to know about. Wege said the latter is an ingredient she grew up with and seems to finally be becoming “a thing” in the United States.

“This flavor is absolutely unique, a little sweet, a little savory, kind of funky and has umami, so it has a lot to offer, including being easily used as a flavor for everything from coffee (salted egg yolk foam) to popcorn,” she said.

The 2024 Midyear Trends Report was based on responses from approximately 1,500 consumers who completed online surveys in May and 400 restaurant operators surveyed through the Datassential panel.