Food Dive reported the development on 2026-02-19. Top CPG executives said shoppers haven't returned at the rates they expected, prompting some companies to roll back prices and prioritize innovation to rejuvenate growth.
The report places the news in a wider commercial context. U.S. food manufacturers are warning of a prolonged downturn in spending as inflation and lingering global uncertainty give cash-strapped grocery shoppers little incentive to purchase more cereal, chips and cookies. After several years of inflation-driven price increases, consumers appear tapped out.
For the food sector, the practical implications extend beyond the immediate announcement. “I am worried about the U.S. consumer,” Dirk Van de Put, Mondelēz International’s CEO, said in an interview at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference. “I don't see how anything will change until the disposable income of the consumer goes up or cost starts to go down in a big way.”.
Attention now turns to how companies, customers and regulators respond. Food-at-home prices are forecast to be up 1.7% in 2026, a slight improvement from 2.3% last year, according to data from the USDA’s Economic Research Service. The increase actually marks a reprieve from the COVID-19 pandemic when inflation on food prices hit a four-decade high. In 2022 alone, prices surged 11.4%, the government data showed. With prices still rising, albeit at a slower.
Food Dive
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