The Highlight Reel: CPG packaging predictions for 2026 ft. Fred Hart

Automated webinar transcription

In 2026's first episode of the Highlight Reel, Highlight's Head of Disruptive Brand Partnerships Emma Steele interviews CPG design expert Fred Hart to hear his predictions for the year's predominant CPG packaging trends.

Please note that the following transcript was generated automatically and may contain typos.

 Hello everyone and welcome to the highlight reel, a series where we deep dive into the topics most relevant to product builders across the CPG and retail worlds. My name is Emma Steele and I lead all of our partnerships with emerging and disruptive brands here at Highlight, a research platform that enables teams to create products that people love.

I've partnered with hundreds of brands to work on thousands of products, helping founders leverage consumer data for product success in market. But my personal background is in behavioral economics. And public policy, which gets me super excited about understanding consumers' motivations for purchasing products and the different trade-offs that they're facing at shelf.

In this episode, we are looking ahead to the new year and giving our best predictions for the trends, influences and designs We expect to see filling grocery aisles and beyond. I can promise that whether you're an r and d scientist, a consumer insights professional, or a brand marketer, today's episode has something special for you.

And to help break down all of the trends we're anticipating in 2026, we are so, so excited To welcome Creative Consultant, design Strategist, and LinkedIn Hot Follow for program. Beyond attending 12 plus trade shows a year and being an exemplary student of CPG, Fred has worked with icons like Hot Pockets, Dr.

Squash, feast Balls Monster, as well as some of the up and coming challenger brands like Smarty Pants, Momofuku, and Archer, and loves solving business challenges through the power of design. Fred, welcome to the highlight reel. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me, mom. If you're listening, I love you.

So I wanna start off by asking from the highest level, what are your top three predictions for 2026? So whether it's packaging, branding, product innovation, what do you think we're gonna see in the CPG industry? Three quarter zips in packaging. It's gonna be hot, it's gonna be everywhere. Jokes aside, um, I think three, I'll just hit the three high level.

I think, uh, you're gonna see both ends of the spectrum of, uh, kind of AI, slop and simultaneously analog design. I think we're gonna see more color, more character, and more like, quote unquote Gen Z. And we're also, I think, gonna see the protein bubble burst, uh, at the end of next year. Yeah. Okay. I have some follow ups on each of those.

I think from starting from the bottom, one of my personal predictions is that there's gonna be a huge rise of fiber because it's something that's so crucial to balance your insides with these really protein heavy diets that we're seeing accelerated. Do you, what are, what are your thoughts on protein and is that kind of the next it inclusion that we're gonna see people calling out, um, because I think that that is, makes a lot of sense for people to start pairing that messaging together.

Yeah, there is a lot of noise about fiber being made. The reality is though it's been around for a long time, uh, you think back to Metamucil, I've been working with founder Katie Wilson in the past who's, uh, belly wellie and they're really doing a lot in terms of like new age, um, fiber supplements. But op and Poppy are what they are in part because of a lot of the prebiotics and the fibers that they were including.

So it's sort of mainstream. It's just not as, um. Ubiquitous as protein is today, but I think you're definitely right. We'll see a rise of that and, and then simultaneously, like protein will get exhausted. Uh, a lot of brands are using it as a form of innovation, but not asking themselves where do consumers want it, just where can they put it?

And I think that's what's going to lead to a bubble bursting in the same way that plant-based did or keto products did. Um, the industry has a way of wanting to be the leaders and a lot of the fast followers. Unfortunately don't have the right strategy or distribution or scale behind them to, to make it worthwhile in the long run.

For sure. I think your question around where do consumers really want to see this, I think that, um, there's a couple of brands where I've seen that the product has fundamentally not changed. Mm-hmm. But the packaging and the messaging that they have changed to call out the protein specific, I think is really interesting.

And on that point of messaging, circling back to your first prediction around. Kind of ai, I'm curious if you think that people are going to specifically be calling out things like we aren't AI and drawing more attention to like the humanness of their brand. Um, because I think that that is also something that from a, like branding positioning, like how you show up online is likely going to be.

Something that comes to the forefront and, and almost a differentiator. So I'm curious kind of on that theme of, you know, how are we messaging about these products and how does that relate to the trends we're seeing? What are your thoughts there? Yeah. For one, you're starting to see a lot of backlash. I mean, just this past week, I think it was McDonald's in the Netherlands that had done an AI commercial that received a lot of flack.

Coca-Cola, second year now doing their holiday campaign with ai. Um, and people aren't loving it. Uh, they just feel like it's empty and a quick money grab. And there's all this conversation about ceiling jobs. But on the other side you have Apple, which did you know this really cool advertising, bringing their Apple logo to life and this multicolor thing, and they did it all with like glass and actually shot it on set.

You have Lays, which just did a global refresh and used a lot of like potato stamping artwork. So there is, I think a lot of brands that are trying to make sure and evident through the visual language of design and visual semiotics that like this has been touched by hands. This is made by real people and I think it's something that the natural food industry is gonna grapple with a ton because the natural food industry is all about.

Real food, simple ingredients from the earth, and yet you have these emerging entrepreneurs that are trying to find efficiencies in what they're building. And the draw and allure of using AI to create packaging or food photography is so counter to a lot of the. Beliefs in systems of natural foods that I think like you're gonna see some, uh, tension-filled moments with companies that get called out for that in the future.

And, you know, I think there's so much AI swap on Instagram. I'm seeing constantly all of these fast follower brands, sometimes in protein, sometimes in Better For You soda that clearly have just been rendered quickly in AI and kind of put up there and have a bunch of digital marketing around it. And those things are gonna fall and fail fast, I think.

Absolutely. Totally agree on all of those fronts. Um, curious about your thoughts on the rise of private label brands and how that can kind of play into the fact of like some of these bigger companies that we're talking about. And then how we have this juxtaposition of these smaller brands that are really focused on having all of these.

Um, values and, and really aligning with that. But then, you know, maybe this tension as you bring up, um, but it's getting harder and harder for these consumer brands to compete in both price and position in store with private label. And so I'm curious, what do you think brands can do to better position themselves against private label?

And then kinda on the flip side of that coin, what private label brands do you think really have excelled at, at doing this and um, really shining on shelf and almost. Acting like a standalone brand. A handful of really great questions. Ones that I was very curious about, which is what led me to go attend the Private Label Manufacturers Association trade show in Chicago.

PLMA learned a lot of things going there. One, it felt a little bit like the industry was on a high, like it felt like I was at a crypto conference, like no one could lose. Everyone was up in terms of like retailers and private label brands, and in part because it's true. Ha. Conversations at that trade show made me realize that if you look at the state of Europe and the uh.

Percentage of products that are sold being private labeled. It's much higher than we have here in the States. And so what you're seeing in the states is actually kind of a normalization, which with, with what you see in other markets, um, globally, on top of that, retailers have always been very slim margins.

And so they're realizing that there's a lot of profitability if they can do that themselves, the innovation gap because of. Comans and the ability to like have kind of off the shelf innovation be put into product lines is so, uh, easy these days. That one that's eroding the innovation moat that a lot of brands have around them.

And then two, I think also design is closing that gap between consumer brand and private label brand because private label finally has realized that embracing and making the investment in creative. Only Gar Garners greater trust with consumers. So Target's good and gather, and you're talking about thousands of SKUs, and also the consolidation of multiple fragmented sub-brands across the store into one master brand.

There's efficiencies there. You have Walmart investing in design, which is like a big eyebrow. Razor Target's known for Walmart is not. So better goods and what they're doing. Then you have Aldi recently, um, unveiling and making news and announcement that they're investing in design and getting away from the kind of me too look and feel like the copycat playbook, which is, you know, very old and dated eighties, nineties approach.

So all of those things are contributing to consumers feeling like there's less sacrifice when they win on price, and they feel like they're getting cool products along the way too. To your ultimate question of what do brands do, I think there are two defensible modes. One is focus and one is community building.

So to touch on community building, you have the rise of influencers and entrepreneurs as the new content creators. You see so many people building out in the open and LinkedIn. You also have people documenting their stories online. Um, you know, Jake Carls and what they're doing with Midday Squares is like a phenomenal example.

Or the Dude Whites team, et cetera. And so if you can build up a community and you're serving more than just products, but entertainment, you eventually create a flywheel and you can figure out other things that those audiences might want, and that's defensible. The other one, in my opinion is focus. So private label, it's gonna sell you as many things as it can underneath its umbrella.

And there's a great rule in. Branding principles, uh, 22 Immutable Laws. It's called this book, and one of the rules is the power of a brand is inversely proportionate to its scope. So basically the more you offer, the less your brand actually means. So the more that you focus with a singular kind of product route or um, format.

The more people trust that you're the expert at that thing because that's exactly what you do. I mean, in and out is kind of an easy example. Like their menu's so simple and people love them and you go to them for burgers, not chicken sandwiches and tenders and all these other things. So, um, I just think that in general, companies being able to focus and going a mile deep rather than a mile wide is what's gonna help protect them against private label.

Right, and using that community piece, using that kind of founder led like vision casting of community, to go really deep and showcase that focus. Yeah. And I mean, yeah, nothing builds brand loyalty faster than human interaction, which I think is also kind of very reactionary to this age of AI where it can be, you know, somewhat isolating.

Um, and so people are craving that and they want that validation of like, oh yes, I know the founder. Oh yes, I resonate with these people who are representing this brand. Um, and finding something. To have commonality with. And I think also what you touched on and having something even outside of the product, so whether it's community or it's merch, I think the Stranger Things collab, that being across everywhere, um, is a great example of that, of just bringing the, um, experience of, um, product and culture and all of these different things meshing into one and, and making it, um, you know, more than the brand, more than the product itself.

Yeah, you just touched on merch and I was just at Benet, um, for two days, a big beverage conference and was lucky to be a judge for the pitch slam there, but attending some of the talks, one, one panel was asked to a handful of, uh, brand founders and leaders, like what's the ultimate consumer loyalty metric?

And one brand gave the most interesting response, which was merch, which is basically like if people actually want to wear your brand and be a walking billboard, that's when you know. You have really strong brand, uh, loyalty. I kind of wrote about it and then someone was actually, actually the, the bigger one is a tattoo and like hard to argue with that.

Um, you're kind of, yeah, yeah. You know, but the fact that people clamor for. Um, hell Fire Club things and uh, stranger Things just tells you just how much resonance it has and also how strong that flywheel can be so that they can sell you Stranger Things. Pizza and Stranger Thing, gummies and Stranger Thing, Gatorade collabs and Stranger Thing, egg waffles.

It's like without that love, uh, and emotional tie, there's nothing there. And a lot of brands I think, assume sometimes that they could just sell merch with their logo on it. Uh, but they haven't done the behavioral work to actually get people to fall in love. Awesome insight. I love that. Um, on that topic of private label, do you think it's important for there to be any kind of communication about it being a private label brand or like, is it.

Do you have a better example? Or like, is it a, like, do you think it's a goal to be obscuring the fact that it's a private label brand? Um, or do you think that that actually lends itself to more credibility when people know that, like for example, we mentioned Target already. I think that they do a phenomenal job with their private label brands and a lot of consumers, I would guess don't even know that it's tied to Target, but.

So I think that there could be positive or negative connotations, you know, whereas people think, oh, this might be just, I think like Everspring, like they're one of their cleaning brands, right? Yeah. People are like, this seems like an all natural, you know, brand that's kind of not associated with a corporation or does maybe the fact that it actually is associated with Target and people love Target generally as a retailer.

Does that actually build more trust? So I think that that's just kind of an interesting juxtaposition. I curious if you have thoughts. Yeah, I think consumers are wise enough to know. The relationship sometimes, for instance, that you can only get good and gather at Target, you can't find it at any other retailer, right?

Um, so there's some sort of associations or Trader Joe's is the even better one. You know, when you walk inside a Trader Joe's, everything is mostly a Trader Joe's product. Same with Kirkland, you know, it's Costco. That being said, I don't think the consumer delineates between the two or cares quite frankly, it, at the end of the day, it comes down to quality.

Price, um, and general confidence. That's what makes, for instance, whole Foods private label line so powerful is you go, yeah, it may not be buying the organic, you know, regenerative certified product from X, Y, and z founder, but I know I still am getting a, a really great wholesome product. And so, um, I don't think brands are trying to obscure private label.

I just don't think it's a point that matters. To my, my perspective. Yeah, that's, I mean, that's true. Our founder, Dana, always says that the top three most important things for a product, specifically in food and beverage are taste, taste, taste. Right. So the product helps to perform on what it delivers or what it needs to deliver.

Um, but I think. Um, from my perspective, when you think about kind of that second tier of decision criteria mm-hmm. For a consumer, like, I think knowing the association, like we were said, like the focus or like the depth or the community that can be built. Yeah. I think it can either like help or hurt the credibility of consumer trust.

Um, especially I think with this rising generation of. Consumers who, um, are demonstrably more concerned with things like sourcing of products or like sustainability goals or like a corporation's political alliances. And so maybe while not like that tier one, in terms of most important thing, um, I think that it might be falling into kind of that second tier and that that transparency, um, you know, can, can have these, uh, kind of different tensions built in.

So just a thought. Yeah. No, no, I totally agree. I think, but we all act selfishly at the end of the day, you know, there's the Maslow's hierarchy, and if everything is taken care of, then we act altruistically. But for instance, in tough economic times, we revert to taking care of ourselves first and not putting, you know, the benefit of the, the founder behind X, Y, and Z brand first.

And supporting them. We, you know, we have families to take care of, so it's a good push and pull intention. But obviously the, the brands that have. The strongest relationship with consumers and have, have got them married to those stories are the ones that retain, uh, in those tough times. Right. Right. For sure.

Yeah. Brand loyalty. Um, harder to get more than ever, but also more valuable than ever. Right. Ooh, that's a soundbite right there. Um, clip it. Uh, well you are very prolific on LinkedIn. You're sharing your insights, your expertise, and one thing that you have been posting a lot about recently is this new wave of designs that you're seeing in Bev Elk and the non-alcoholic beverage brand space.

Um, you mentioned in one post that you're seeing branding evolve from quote, sophisticated to fun. Mm-hmm. What does that mean in concrete terms and why do you think that we're seeing that now, and how do you think that We'll continue to see that in 2026. Yeah. Uh, you know, it's, uh, this whole non elk movement is something I've been fascinated by.

First off, I'm not that much of a big drinker, so I associate with, uh, this sort of sober curious movement. And then I've been lucky to travel. So I've been to non elk bottle shops in Tokyo and London and Toronto, all across the United States from the coastal cities where you'd expect 'em to be. And then.

Middle of nowhere, Indiana. Um, and what's been unique to see is kind of the two overarching camps that most of it tends to fall into. A lot of brands are mimicking, uh, they are mocktails, they are alternatives. They are trying to replicate the gin and tonic or the vodka soda. Yeah, without it. Um, and because that's their anchor point, they typically fall into using a lot of the sophisticated tropes that you see in spirits and alcohol design, right?

Very, very elevated. Also, you're dealing oftentimes with products that don't have alcohol in it yet. They're the same price point, and so the skepticism from the consumer's, POV, so design can reinforce, oh, this is worth paying more for. It's gonna feel elevated. It's, it's made really quality, et cetera. But I think there is a growing wave of a new generation of non out consumers that are not using, uh, alcohol as the reference point.

And thus they are removing themselves from the stereotypes of sophisticated design and instead leaning into fun character, um, casualness as they try to create new drinking rituals. So as you get away from the old guard, you end up, uh. Having kind of, uh, the opposite polar reaction. So if everything was sophisticated, well now I'm gonna go fun.

And that's, that's a lot of what I'm seeing is from brand names to design being more colorful to, you know, just having more of that quote unquote, gen Z aesthetic. I think it's a signal, um, that, hey, this is like, this is a brand that stands for something new. Like kin is kind of a great example. They, they manage to be both sophisticated and kind of fun and colorful at the same time.

There's plenty of other brands out there to point to, but that's, uh, that's kind of the growing camps that I'm seeing as I study this space. Yeah, I think it was really along those lines of how do you. Feel like part of the party, but you have your own fun beverage, your own fun take that you're bringing to it.

And I think a lot of it has to do with, like you were saying, this kind of cultural movement, like what we're seeing in society of people really wanting to embrace, um, you know, like. Who am I? You know, what are, what are my unique things that I bring to a conversation or a social setting without needing to necessarily rely on some sort of a stimulant or whatever it might be.

Um, so I think it's probably a both and from being reactionary within kind of category and wanting to move away from that, but also kind of trends at large in society. Just to build off that, there's a lot of identity that is wrapped up in drinking and the social occasion. And so a lot of the packaging and design are forms of social currency.

What do I want to be seen with and what does it say about me? What I decide to hold says as much about me as the shoes on my feet or the watch on my wrist or the purse on my arm. And so cons, there's all sorts of consumers, right? Some of us want to feel sophisticated, some of us wanna feel fun. Some of us want to feel casual, so design is.

I think also shifting to what the intended audience is, and that's also largely based on the founder's gut and where they're coming from. I love that. I think a lot of the work that we do at highlight in this category does, we do end up asking so many of these questions around. Mm-hmm. Um, like, where are you drinking this?

Who are you drinking it with? Like, what is the equation? What is all of these different ancillary things that are outside of the product? And even as you were saying, how does this represent who I am and kind of what I wanna be oftentimes, um. People will talk about like, well, what's in your fridge? Like if you're having people over and you're opening up and it's like, what is my almond milk brand that I'm gonna pull out?

Yep. But you're right that this is an occasion where people are oftentimes bringing it, showing up, holding it in their hand. They're not in their own environment, they're going into a new environment. Um, so I love what you have to say about. Um, that being reflective of, um, kind of the whole way that you choose to present yourself.

So, um, yeah, showing someone when your fridge is bearing your soul to them. I love that. Another soundbite, we have also been seeing a big revitalization of brands in the frozen aisle. Why do you think that there has been such a flurry of innovation and updates in this aisle? I feel like everything is just exploding and it's kind of the new hot place to be where normally, you know, I personally would've kind of just passed over that.

Um, what do you expect to see in the new year for Frozen? Well, I think COVID pushed a lot of consumers into frozen. Um, I think that there was some crazy statistics, someone will have to pull it, but the number of households in America that have two freezes, uh, increased during COVID as well. So people were buying things to store them more.

I certainly am in that campus. I'm about to have a second. Like, we need to store milk, we need to store other things. Like we're, we're not leaving the house. We gotta hunker down. So need more of that space. And so you end up filling it. Um, and with that, I think. Frozen has oftentimes been a stale playbook through the early and mid two thousands.

And so novelty, uh, both in format, in flavors are driving people's lapsed, uh, sort of shopping in that place and, and bringing them back in. And then you're seeing greater investment in kind of experience from brands in terms of what they're able to do with. Textures, tastes, um, all sorts of things and it's creating a lot of excitement, I think particularly in like sort of the dessert space.

Hmm. Uh, you have true fruit, which you know, is doing like enrobed fruits, cho, uh, in chocolate, and then you have fruit, right? Which I believe is one of the same people that's, you know, making grapes and mangoes and pineapples, sour and sweet and tangy, and all these things. And when you pair a whole food like fruit with an indulgent element, it provides a permissibility.

Element that has otherwise been lacking. 'cause we all feel bad downing that, uh, half pint watching stranger things. Certainly. Yeah. No, the fruit riot makes me pucker just thinking about it. The sour mango hurts. Yeah. I was like, a lot, it was a lot more sour than I was anticipating when I first tried it.

Yeah. I, I can, I can think back to that moment. Um, I was gonna summarize what we're seeing in Frozen. It's like the convenience without the compromise on quality. You know, consumers have this. Expectation, um, for their products to go. I think it's a lot of what we, you know, were seeing years ago and kind of better for you is that people were willing to compromise a little bit on overall taste and kind of the, the texture and all of these things that, you know, make food and these different product categories.

So great. But now as, um, you know, we've continued to. You know, you can no longer compromise on these things to have a great product. And so I think that that's the same way that we're going for Frozen and now it's focused a lot more on that convenience, like you said, of you know, how do we always have something on hand for any kind of event that we might have or any kind of need that might arise in our family.

Yeah, I mean also just look at the rise of like go's and pot stickers right now. Like Asian food is having Aster moment and so suddenly these restaurants you used to go to, you can now get it at the convenience of your store and have trust because it's also coming from authentic founders. So I think part of it is also finally food culture catching up and those offerings becoming easier to access.

For sure. Yeah. And I think also kind of on that point of seeing kind of fast food and like other restaurants expanding into grocery, um, you know, how are you seeing these different types of brands translate that into grocery shelves to appeal to consumers in a different context, but also saying this is still the same quality.

You can still trust us. We do still have that same story. Um, I'm curious if you have any thoughts on that kind of general transition that we're seeing. It's definitely a rise. Like I see that trend a lot. You know, taco Bell now has Taco Night kits and you can get subway sauce or Chick-fil-A sauce or like Nando's, Perry, Perry sauce, and um, it's popping up all over the store.

A lot of these are like licensed co-branded kind of deals. I, for 1:00 AM just like. Bearish and skeptical on the whole thing, in part because I'm not really a fast food eater. Um, I have the luxury of, you know, uh. Going to, to places and, and prioritizing my health. And I know that's not true for most of America.

And I used to be there, my mom used to take me to McDonald's every Wednesday after school. Like I've had my fair share of Big Macs in my life, but I'm, I'm just not there at that point. And I also think that so much of fast food is also about the experience. Getting something warm, prepared for you, hot, um, you know, the excitement of like, what are you gonna order?

Eating it with others. There's a little bit of that magic is removed from the CPG aisles in my. Perspective. But that being said, there seems to be so many of them. There has to be an audience, unless it is just doesn't cost the company much to, to, to apply the, the co-brand license and slap it on and, you know, small uptick in philosophies.

But I think it's a tough one, whether there is a gap between, you know, talk Taco Bell at 3:00 AM most delicious thing you've ever had sitting down for a taco night. Like maybe not as fun or cool. Right. For sure. Well, I think it also has a bit of a commentary on kind of where we're at in the economy, where if we are seeing that consumers are not eating out as much for, you know, a tightening economy mm-hmm.

Then are people trading down from the restaurant or the fast food. I think we're seeing also a lot of. More high end, like I think of Momofuku for example. Like they've brought in this whole line of products, or like Mimi Chang's in New York. Mm-hmm. Kind of brought in these different products. And so maybe you're not gonna go and eat out at these different places, but you want to still be able to kind of replicate that yourself and your own home.

Um, these kind of trade downs. And then I think. You know, if we're gonna go back to our private label, then we're seeing people trade down from more of that name brand. They're trading down to private label again for that, um, those cost savings. But they're also still seeing that quality. And so that's why I think that private label is actually here to stay is because, you know, in this process of people kind of leveling down as they are looking to find ways to save.

They are also going to see that, oh, actually there is a lot of really high quality products that is in this space. And so, um, it's gonna be even harder for, for kind of these brands in this sort of middle, middle of the road tier that aren't kind of this, you know, very premium or tied to some sort of a name brand.

And then, you know, having this private label. So being in the middle of that sandwich is, uh, well even for the big guys too, because Costco, I saw this recently and wrote about it, but like, they just. Put out a chomps knockoff meat stick, grass fed clean, $6 cheaper for an 18 count bag, and you're like, whoa.

And I bought it. And like the experience is a little bit different, but even a, you know what will soon be a billion dollar brand in Chomps is feeling the burn in club from Costco. And that tells you how strong the Kirkland, uh, company is. Certainly. And I guess on that point I wanted to ask you about Costco and just kind of the general club channel.

Is it the new its spot to discover different products? Yes. I feel like there's like, they have these exclusive launches of D two C brands and now this is the first place that they're launching is in Costco or Um, yeah. I'm just curious, what do you think? Yeah, ton. A hundred percent. It is. I mean, you know, my little guilty pleasure and, and hope for Christmas this year.

There's not a lot that I want, but it is rumored that Nike and Costco are coming out with dunks, uh, collab, and apparently they're only gonna be sold. So I've been going every weekend and checking shoes at Costco, which I, I, it makes me feel like an 80-year-old man, like trying to buy things on the, the cheap.

I want that drop badly. That being said, like AG One is now in Costco, or a Ring is in Costco and you walk around and you can find all pickle, cucumber chips and like all sorts of wild things. It's. Becoming a place where you hunt for products in the same way that you do for Trader Joe's, but the deal is even sweeter and the quality you can argue is even higher.

And, um, as the economy, you know, pinches people's wallets, uh, Costco becomes an even more desirable place to go shopping. Plus they just take such good care of customers. It's, uh, one of the all time companies, in my opinion. For sure. Completely agree. I'm so excited to go back to the Midwest for, um, the holidays and get to go real Costco, not a New York City Costco.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm curious how much you think of Costco's success, and again, that Trader Joe's another brand that does this similarly comes from the actual lack of choice and the lack of decision paralysis. I think, for example, if someone wanted to try a new product or was in a new category, you know, let's.

Let's just say coconut water, you'd probably at most have two different options, like a name brand and then the Kirkland brand. Yeah. Whereas if you're walking into a traditional grocery store space, you know, like let's just say Whole Foods for example, you probably have six or seven different options that you could choose from.

And so if you're new to the category and you don't have. You know, a reference point to kind of evaluate the differences between the products. How do you think, um, that Costco's model really helps drive a lot of that and, um, especially, you know, as brands think about, you know, what are, what are our steps to go and become a brand that Costco wants to have?

Um, how important do you think that that all is? Well, it starts with what Costco has done to get people to believe in them as a retailer and trust, and that halo then extends to everything that they bring in. So choice is very limited, but at the same time that says there's greater curation and quality of what they do decide to bring in.

Unlike a grocery store where you have paralysis by analysis. On top of that, there's a great acquired podcast. It's like a four hour deep dive into the Costco business that I've always loved, and it basically goes to the point that like. OCO tells you we are only going to make a 14% margin on everything, where retailers do not operate that way.

And so what they do is they also understand the businesses of all the companies that they bring into their stores, uh, so that they can properly negotiate on the best price for their consumer. So ultimately at the end of the day, you walk in there, you know that this is a company that's out for you.

They've never changed the cost of the hot dog and the Coke. And the guy's like, I'll kill you. You know, the CEO's like, I'll kill the board, or whoever is trying to try to stand in the way. And it's those things that I think just accrue so much more loyalty and thus get transferred onto the things that they do bring in.

Plus, if you're, you know, you're probably not going there in there if it's just like you and a, uh, a partner. But if you have a small family or anything, then. The burden of the size of Costco becomes lower and ultimately the price is, it's still a fraction of what it would be if you bought two bags of something at, at a, at a grocery store.

So the, the, the metrics like work out the math makes sense. Right. Taking a pivot from retailers, I'm curious how you, as a designer stay on top of design trends. What are some tactics that you have for exploring and learning? What are your recommendations for people who want to be in the know? As we look to the new year?

Well, I'm very privileged and fortunate to go to 12 trade shows a year, and they're basically like giant packaging museums, right? So I see literally hundreds of thousands of brands a year because they're all concentrated in one place for me. But that being said, when I'm not at a trade show, I'm walking grocery stores, like they're in art museum.

Um, and I think consistency allows you to spot changes and differences, which then start to get you to ask a question, oh, why did they change? What was behind that? And that creates kind of a, a flurry of things. And then there's a handful of. Great people in the CPG industry, um, like snapshots or, um, express checkout or indie CPG that do a great job of also curating the new up and coming themes because the environment that we have in the CPG space is so rich with entrepreneurs.

There's, there's no way you can know it all. Um, but the more you see, the more dots you can connect. And I just try to give myself as much exposure as possible. What are some of your favorite trade shows to attend and do you have any ones that you're like, wow, this one is so underrated and, and maybe you don't even wanna share it 'cause you don't want people.

Um, but I'm, I'm just curious your perspective as someone who's, uh, in it. Yeah. Well, you know, everyone talks about Expo West. It's the, uh, super Bowl of the industry. If you wanna see what's going on, it's the best place to do. It Takes you three, three to four days to see everything. But I, I love that challenge.

But the sleeper shows, I would say are the Sweetss and Snacks show, the confection industry in Indianapolis. It is so good. And what I love about that show is like nothing is really focused on being better for you. Nothing is functional, it's not a clean show. It's all the shit you shouldn't have. So they just focus on like fun, um, and kind of the emotion of eating things.

And um, that just makes it really unique. And then I'm always surprised by the kind of innovation for the big food companies. That's what they launched. And then the other one that I just went to was the convenience store Show, NAX in Chicago. My first time attending this year and I was blown away. I learned more about nicotine pouches than I ever thought I would.

But you also see a ton of like crazy beverage innovation and chip flavors and other things. And yeah, I would say snacks and sweets and snacks are the two sleepers that more people should attend. Awesome. Adding 'em to the roster. Circling back to what we talked a bit about in the beginning on ai, you know, you're an artist, uh, what's your take on the role of AI in CPG branding, innovation, product design, and, and what should it be?

Um, whether or not that's the, the current state of things. Yeah. I mean, I'll be the first to raise my hand. I'm still learning and studying a lot. I'm not sure what it should be, what I know it. Shouldn't be is, um, just a tool to like build things because without strategy and without taste, it's just exacerbating this kind of like slop era that we're in and.

I think dilutes ultimately any founder's goal, which is to have something distinctive, ownable, recognizable. A lot of that doesn't come through AI today. It is a tool, not, uh, not an output and or outcome. And so you have to be very careful with how you use it, and you also have to think why are you using it in the first place?

I use a lot of, you know, chat tipity and call notes to synthesize things and thoughts. Um, but I don't use a ton of it in creative other than to imagine potential possibilities and then execute that with real human ingenuity, craft, and, uh, kind of acumen. And so it's, uh, it, it has the power to do a lot of good and it can accelerate change, which in today's world is a crucial.

Currency, founders need to be on the coast. Time is our most asset. Yeah. But quality is not what AI is known for, and so you have to have quality assurance somewhere in place. Right. Uh, it's a tool, not an outcome. Um, we can clip, we can clip that soundbite too. Um, one thing that you just said here was taste.

Um, how do you cultivate that taste? What is your best advice for people who are looking to cultivate that? Is it just, you know, focusing on the curiosity and consistency like you mentioned previously? Or is there any other like really tangible advice for people that. Might be wanting to break into the space, for example.

It's a tough time, uh, to crack into kind of the design industry. Um. I feel for a lot of junior people. I think ultimately the way that you get to taste is through trial and tribulation and lots of at bats. Malcolm Gladwell's written a lot about the 10,000 hour rule. You gotta, you gotta go through the shit.

You gotta go through the, the sludge, the menial tasks. Those things help you sharpen your perspective and understand the difference between good, great, and excellent, and also having mentors along the way. Uh, remote work does not make it easy on young people. AI is making it only harder, and it's something that I'm wrestling with, with what can I do because I, I've been, I'm in the position that I'm in today because I had people that allowed me to kind of do manual tasks and not step in the way and say.

Lemme just finish this for you, like you're struggling. They forced me to struggle through that. Um, so it's, it's the question that I think has a lot of long-term implications because there's a lot of short-term benefits with efficiency and accelerating things. But we're gonna, we're gonna, if, if you're not learning, we're eventually gonna have leadership issues in the industry.

Such great, such a great take. Um, well to close this out, my final question that I want to ask you is around maxing. I don't know if you're familiar with this concept, but, um, something I know that a lot of my friends have been saying is that we're whimsy, maxing, we're. Stepping into nostalgia, you know, we're really romanticizing everything.

That's kinda just a, a social trend that I'm seeing, but I'm curious, what do you think we're gonna be maxing from a CPG branding perspective, or, you know, another way to put it is like, what would you say is the key dominant design trend of 2026 that we can be on the lookout for? Well, I'll tell you personally, I'm about to have a second child, so I'm gonna be baby maxing here in the short term.

Uh, and with that I, I hope to have a lot more insights into the sort of, you know, baby food space and, and toddler realm. But in terms of CBGI. I think we will continue to see color maxing. Um, you know, you saw companies like Back to Nature making a big splash last year at Expo West. Mm-hmm. Brands that just own a rainbow of colors, um, that have no brand color, very popular right now.

I don't think we've seen the end of that. There are so many categories when you walk through a conventional grocery store that have yet to be disrupted. That playbook is still very much, uh. A dangerous in differentiating one for companies to use in the right way. When you go to Expo West, you'll feel like, oh, everything's color.

Like it's, it's about to bust. But Expo West is an artificial environment, so I try to remember myself of that. I think we will see. Also like Maxine kind of eighties, nineties, uh, design Core, lots of serif typography. You saw it with David Protein Bar this year. You see it with companies like vacation. It's becoming very vogue.

These run club vibes. That I think will, will kind of be next. And then a lot of hand done rough illustration that in part as a reaction to AI is very polished and kind of, uh, you know, the universal sheen that it has. You're, you're gonna see more hand done elements as a way to express that human perspective.

So those are the things I think will be maxing from a design world in 2026. Amazing. Well, there you have it everyone. Fred, do you wanna tell people where they can find you? Yeah, uh, LinkedIn is a great place to start or Fred hart.com is kind of my personal ancy page. Um, but honestly connect with highlight more than me.

They're doing really great stuff. Well, thank you. Thank you. And thank you so much, Fred, for being here. Um, we are all out of time for now, but I'm sure we could have talked for hours more. There's so much more to cover, but this discussion got me really excited. For everything that is to come in 2026 in the world of CPG branding, packaging, and product innovation, and I'm sure our viewers are going to feel the same way.

Again, thank you so much for joining us and thank you all for watching. We'll see you at the next highlight reel.