Consumer Trends
Introducing the Consumer Trends Food Feelings Matrix
We asked thousands of Americans to rate 96 food and drinks, from almond butter to whiskey. Here are the healthiest and funnest.
By Dan Frommer on Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 8:00 am
Hello hello! It’s Dan Frommer, back with The New Consumer.
We spend a lot of time here exploring food and beverages that are some mix of: Healthy, increasing in popularity, and innovative in their story, positioning, marketing, packaging, etc.
But food is also fun! Fun to eat, fun to share, and — for many — fun to post about on the internet. It’s important to consider that enjoyment aspect, too.
Most Americans, in our Consumer Trends research, say they try to eat healthy food at least a lot of the time. Most also say it’s important to their mental health to treat themselves with food.
So over the past several months, my research partners at Coefficient Capital and I have asked thousands of US consumers to rate almost 100 food and beverage items — from almond butter to whiskey — in two ways: How healthy they consider them, and how happy it makes them feel to consume them. The results are fascinating, especially when you filter by things like gender and age group.
Here’s the wide view — 96 food and beverage items plotted on two axes, ranging from “very unhealthy” to “very healthy” and “very unhappy” to “very happy.” We’re calling it the Consumer Trends Food Feelings Matrix.
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Hi, I’m Dan Frommer and this is The New Consumer, a publication about how and why people spend their time and money.
I’m a longtime tech and business journalist, and I’m excited to focus my attention on how technology continues to profoundly change how things are created, experienced, bought, and sold. The New Consumer is supported by your membership — join now to receive my reporting, analysis, and commentary directly in your inbox, via my member-exclusive newsletter. Thanks in advance.