We are excited to present Euromonitor's trending topics. Listen to our thought leaders discuss five short-term trends shaping global industries in 2025–26: market volatility, beyond affordability, healthy longevity, intentional consumption and next-gen online storefronts. Understanding them is critical for resilience and growth in today’s volatile environment.

The global FMCG outlook looks to be at an inflection point, with rising input costs, demographic shifts, and the advent of GLP-1 agonists signalling a plateau in global food and beverage consumption. Just as manufacturers are grappling with how to succeed in this shifting landscape, the need for foodservice operators to pivot to new consumer demands is essential. Menus cannot only meet the bare minimum proposition of affordability so how can owners creatively accommodate the nutritional needs of an increasingly wellness-driven populace?

Healthy Longevity is one of Euromonitor International’s five new Trending Topics for the year ahead. We have identified these topics as the most crucial cross-industry trends that businesses need to prioritise to remain competitive.

Despite persistent macroeconomic headwinds and geopolitical uncertainty, the global luxury goods sector continues to evolve with resilience and innovation.

Luxury is transforming. No longer defined solely by material possessions, it is increasingly shaped by experiences, wellness, and lifestyle integration.

What are trending topics? Read about the five you should prioritise to remain competitive in this report.

We are excited to present Euromonitor's trending topics. Listen to our thought leaders discuss five short-term trends shaping global industries in 2025–26: market volatility, beyond affordability, healthy longevity, intentional consumption and next-gen online storefronts. Understanding them is critical for resilience and growth in today’s volatile environment.

Intentional consumption is one of Euromonitor International’s five new Trending Topics for the year ahead. We have identified these topics as the most crucial cross-industry trends that businesses need to prioritise to remain competitive.

Luxury is transforming. No longer defined solely by material possessions, it is increasingly shaped by experiences, wellness, and lifestyle integration.

What are trending topics? Read about the five you should prioritise to remain competitive in this report.

Euromonitor presents five crucial trending topics across industries that businesses must understand to thrive in today's volatile environment. These topics include Market volatility, Beyond affordability, Healthy longevity, Intentional consumption, and Next-gen online storefront. By analysing these trends, companies can identify opportunities for growth and adapt their strategies accordingly. The insights provided aim to help businesses stay relevant and profitable in a rapidly changing landscape.

Energy drinks remains one of the growth stars in US soft drinks, and more widely across consumer packaged goods. Despite many categories struggling to stimulate meaningful volume with a financially stretched US consumer, energy drinks achieved 4% retail volume growth in 2024 – even accounting for weaker traffic in the higher-priced, inflation-impacted convenience channel, a challenge which appears to be somewhat abating in 2025.

We are excited to present Euromonitor's trending topics. Listen to our thought leaders discuss five short-term trends shaping global industries in 2025–26: market volatility, beyond affordability, healthy longevity, intentional consumption and next-gen online storefronts. Understanding them is critical for resilience and growth in today’s volatile environment.

The global economy continues to adapt to the changing trade landscape, and is demonstrating resilience, on the back of lower interest rates, easing inflation, a speedy reorganisation of global supply chains and the negotiation of trade deals between the US and its key trading partners. Nevertheless, higher tariff levels and ongoing policy uncertainty cloud the outlook.

The US economy has endured years of rising costs, and 2025 brought renewed uncertainty as geopolitical risks and market volatility disrupted recovery. Trade agreements and tariff adjustments with partners like China have offered some relief, but instability has eroded business confidence and weakened consumer sentiment – especially in discretionary categories such as apparel and footwear.

In a year shaped by geopolitical shocks and constant disruptions, sustainable FMCG products are unexpectedly holding their ground.

Geopolitical risks, including trade tensions, military and political conflicts as well as changing regulations, are now a major concern for global businesses, disrupting markets and supply chains and fuelling widespread uncertainty. To address these challenges, FMCG companies are rethinking their value chain strategies, focusing on smart nearshoring and reshoring, while investing in diversification and more flexible solutions that enable a quick response to changes.

As the US-China trade truce deadline approaches in November, tensions between the world’s largest trading partners are reigniting. China’s new export controls on rare earths and the US’ threat of sweeping 100% tariffs on all Chinese imports have pushed relations to a new brink. Against this backdrop, the upcoming late-October negotiation meeting between Presidents Trump and President Xi carries high stakes. While both sides are likely to favour extending the trade truce reached in May and pull back some policies to avoid sudden supply-chain shocks, the risk of either a limited deal or a sharp escalation remains high, leaving global markets and trade flows on edge.

Digital commerce is undergoing a seismic shift as generative AI-powered search and emerging “agentic” commerce become new gateways between consumers and brands.

We are excited to present Euromonitor's trending topics. Listen to our thought leaders discuss five short-term trends shaping global industries in 2025–26: market volatility, beyond affordability, healthy longevity, intentional consumption and next-gen online storefronts. Understanding them is critical for resilience and growth in today’s volatile environment.

The retail industry is at an inflection point. Consumers are looking for reliable product information through product labels and digital platforms, while new technologies – especially generative AI and conversational search – are reshaping product discovery and engagement.

During 17-19 September, US-based retail events organiser Shoptalk held its annual Shoptalk Fall conference in Chicago. Industry leaders gathered for keynotes, panels and interactive sessions exploring themes ranging from agentic AI to retail media to the impact of the Trump administration’s new tariff regime. Euromonitor International was in attendance and is pleased to share some of the most important takeaways.

Next-Gen Online Storefront is one of Euromonitor International’s five new Trending Topics for the year ahead. We have identified these topics as the most crucial cross-industry trends that businesses need to prioritise to remain competitive.

What are trending topics? Read about the five you should prioritise to remain competitive in this report.