Fundamental Shifts in Food & Beverage Consumer Behavior During and Post COVID-19

COVID-19 produced an extraordinary wave of new consumer behaviors. People changed what they ate, where they ate, how they shopped and what they expected from food. But observing what was changing was only the beginning. The more strategic question was why—and which changes would endure.

Trends can describe movement in the market, but they do not necessarily reveal the deeper emotional forces generating it. Understanding those forces matters because they can transform a short-term observation into a strategic direction for what brands and businesses should do next.

In April 2021, research among Marketing, Consumer Insights and Innovation managers from 20 multinational Food & Beverage companies across the USA, Canada and Europe was interpreted through THE WHEEL OF MOTIVES™. Rather than simply cataloguing emerging behaviors, the framework was used to decode the fundamental human motives beneath them.

The analysis revealed five powerful emerging territories—More Reassurance, More Strength, More Pleasure, More Protection and More Balance & Science—reflecting the growing importance of the underlying motives FEEL SAFE, GROW, DESIRE, CARE and BALANCE.

This shifted the analysis from describing consumer behavior to understanding its deeper emotional logic. Instead of simply asking What are consumers doing differently?, businesses could ask more strategically: What are people increasingly seeking to feel—and which motivational territories are becoming more important as a result?

That distinction opens a different role for consumer insight. Once an emerging human motive is identified, it can become the basis for strategy, positioning and innovation opportunities. Reassurance, strength, pleasure, protection or balance can then move from abstract emotional needs into concrete directions for the concepts, products and experiences businesses create.

For food and beverage companies, this means translating motivational shifts into product propositions, ingredients, formulations, flavors, textures, sensory experiences, packaging and communication—aligning the complete offer around the deeper emotional need it is intended to satisfy.

The session therefore demonstrated the broader role of THE WHEEL OF MOTIVES™: not simply to classify or explain emotion, but to connect human motivation with business action—from identifying an emerging opportunity, to defining the strategic territory, to guiding what gets created.

Trends show us what is changing. Fundamental human motives help us understand why—and turn that understanding into what businesses should create next.

Read selected highlights from the presentation here: