The Anti-Trend: Why basic brands are standing out

At the top of this year, PepsiCo acquired better-for-you, gluten-and-grain-free Mexican-Amercan food brand Siete Foods for north of $1 billion. Several weeks later, they bought the prebiotic soda brand for nearly $2 billion. These numbers are staggering. What is most noteworthy is how these founders built brands around killing two birds with one stone. Soda, with fewer grams of sugars AND gut health? Sign us up. Handmade tortillas and authentically made cookies without a hint of grains? Incredible. 

A few weeks ago, my Redscout colleague Kailyn Moore and I took a pilgrimage I’ve always wanted to take: We went to the Disneyland of natural foods – Expo West – which happens to share a parking lot with actual Disneyland. My roots as a design researcher-turned-marketer make this the perfect overlap of my interests: fun snacks and great design. So this year, we went, we ate, we snacked, and we asked a lot of questions. 

In line for a protein pretzel, we tried to pinpoint the trend of this year’s Expo was. “Last year it was mushrooms – everything had mushrooms in it,” a fellow patron jumped in. Mentally, I scanned through the 90 or so booths we had visited:  magnesium coffee…. Sea moss tea… caffeinated water… mushroom meatballs…  fiber mac & cheese … protein pretzels. What stood out the most was the rarest of them all – single-minded products that have stripped away all the claims, and do one thing, and do it incredibly well. 

Presenting, the Grocery Store Anti-Trend: Why basic brands are standing out.

The more features on pack, the more claims to digest, interpret, and try to make sense of. Don’t get me wrong, as a food lover and parent, I’m pretty easily convinced that fiber and mac and cheese together are a life hack worth paying for. But what’s interesting to see is a rise of brands committing to doing one thing exceptionally well. 

Spindrift, the beloved real fruit-infused seltzer brand, launched its soda. And they did it without adding probiotics, extra vitamins, or even sweeteners. It feels like a revelation to be so simple (and naturally low sugar at that), but should it?

The Real Cereal Company is a brand so simple – even the name gets right down to it. They noticed the complexity in the cereal aisle and reinvented classic cereals to be simpler and cleaner – no more sneaky ingredients, confusing claims, or hokey cartoon characters. Even the packaging feels like a breath of fresh air.

Coyotas Tortillas are so basic that they’re made with only 4 ingredients. And they prove that basic doesn’t have to mean boring, with eye-catching packaging and a proud female-owned backstory. 

Keeping the main thing the main thing helps consumers understand and trust your product. Brands that lean into clean, simple ingredients and straight-forward messaging can immediately telegraph who they are and what they stand for – no education necessary.

Whereas brands that pack functional ingredients and benefits into their product have an uphill battle of education. Jamming too much into your product can water down its message. 

Consumers have grown skeptical about what’s lurking within these trending multi-functional brands. They’re asking ”Is this really good for you?” “What do these claims even mean?” “Is this just marketing?” 

At Redscout, we help CPG brands navigate this very challenge. Handsome Brook Farms, a pasture raised egg brand, came to us with the goal of making the ever-confusing egg aisle more straightforward. With so many industry acronyms and claims in the aisle, even sustainability-minded shoppers couldn’t tell what made Handsome Brooks Farms eggs different – but a new mission, website, packaging and campaign helped them cut through ‘eggy’ jargon and highlight the impact of your choice in the aisle.

At a show bursting with innovation and ingredients, the boldest move seemed to be simplicity. In a sea of multi-hyphenate products, the brands that cut through were the ones that stayed focused, honest, and intentional. Expo West reminded me that sometimes, less really is more—and in a crowded, claim-heavy marketplace, clarity might just be the most powerful differentiator of all.