ADM Unveils Sourcing Success Trend Insider Series

Today's consumers make food, beverage and dietary supplement decisions based on more than function and flavor alone. Identity, emotion and experience increasingly shape their purchase and consumption choices. Consumers now take a more proactive approach to well-being, seek personalized products, make mood-driven purchasing decisions and embrace new cultural experiences. For brands, these behaviors present opportunities to develop products that balance nutrition, functionality and sensory appeal.

Built on ADM's proprietary 2026 U.S. consumer research, the new multi-part Sourcing Success Trend Insider Series connects key market growth drivers with practical formulation and ingredient insights, helping manufacturers identify relevant pathways for innovation.   

Part I 
Lifelong Vitality: 
ADM's proprietary Outside Voice ^SM research demonstrates the ongoing consumer focus on prioritizing solutions that support long-term well-being, creating demand for products that help them feel their best throughout every stage of life. In fact, 60% of survey respondents seek solutions in supplements, while 49% pay careful attention to the ingredients they select when shopping to support vitality goals.
 
Personalized Optimization: 
Nutrition personalization has become an expectation and expression of identity for consumers. This trend is reflected by 52% of consumers stating their preferences differ from their peers and 37% leveraging AI to tailor food and beverage choices.

Part II
Mood Quest: 
Consumers look to foods and beverages for moments of enjoyment and emotional well-being. Most consumers seek feelings of calm and comfort from the majority of their foods. The report also includes category highlights, such as 51% of consumers desiring cheese when considering dairy options to boost their mood.

Infinite Tastes: 
Curious consumers continue to seek new flavors and globally inspired eating experiences while still wanting familiar formats they know and trust. ADM research indicates 42% of consumers are most likely to try new cuisines on vacation, and 25% are captivated by a hero or trending ingredient. 

Across all four trends, consumers seek products that support health and well-being, deliver emotional satisfaction, enable personalization and inspire culinary discovery. ADM helps brands capitalize on these enduring trends with an extensive Carbohydrate Solutions portfolio that helps balance taste, wellness goals and choice across foundational and specialty ingredients.  

 From sugar reduction to whole grain nutrition, ADM's extensive Carbohydrate Solutions portfolio helps deliver products that align with evolving priorities. This includes an innovative stevia platform, specialty flours intended for digestive support and tapioca starch, enabling tailored and flexible formulation options. Indulgent fillings also address consumers' ever-higher expectations for taste and texture, while quality ingredients like agave and specialized flours noodles and dumplings, support cultural exploration.

 Each Sourcing Success Trend Insider explores the consumer behavior, formulation opportunities and ingredient solutions helping brands stay ahead of what's next. Download Part I on Lifelong Vitality & Personalized Optimization and Part II on Mood Quest & Infinite Tastes by clicking each cover photo above. 

Later this year, ADM will reveal Part III on Climate Action & Natural Grounding and Part IV on Choice Explosion & New Value Equation.