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Human Consumption

Bright Ideas: Global Food Trends Create New Opportunities for U.S. Soy 

September 2, 2026

At Soy Connext 2026 in Chicago, Illinois, Brian Choi, Managing Partner & CEO of The Food Institute, presented “Global Consumer Trends: The Megatrends Reshaping the Food Industry.” The Food Institute provides business news, data and trend insights for the global food and beverage industry. 

Choi identified four key trends: 

  • Value obsession: Consumers increasingly seek affordable options while still looking for quality, authenticity and clear benefits. 
  • Functional health and wellness: Protein, fiber and simpler ingredients are moving from niche interests toward mainstream expectations. 
  • Global food and flavors: Heritage foods and ethnic ingredients and flavors are being incorporated into familiar food meeting consumers’ culinary curiosity.  
  • Challenger brands: Emerging brands are reshaping familiar categories by adding health, transparency and functionality. 

Among these trends, Choi highlighted consumer demand to add protein to meals and snacks or “protein-maxxing” and a growing interest in fiber. He also noted that the surge in GLP-1 drug use is creating opportunities for nutrient-dense foods, including soy foods, that deliver protein and fiber in appropriately sized portions. 

Choi shared that these trends point to significant opportunities for soy over the next three to five years. He noted that soy foods offer an affordable, plant-based source of protein that aligns with consumers’ growing focus on value, health and wellness, including demand for protein-forward and fiber-rich foods. The presentation also highlighted growing interest in global food and flavors and new product development, with soy-based ingredients gaining traction among restaurants, entrepreneurs and chefs. As innovation continues to bring new soy products to market, soy is well positioned to meet growing demand for affordable, nutritious and sustainable food options.  

USSEC’s Will McNair, USSEC Director of Oil and Soy Foods, joined Choi for a question-and-answer session, where an engaged audience explored the implications of these trends. The discussion underscored soy’s ability to meet evolving global demand, from innovative soy meat alternatives to traditional soy foods such as tofu, tempe and natto. With U.S. soybean farmers supplying high-quality, sustainably grown soybeans to the industry, soy is well positioned to help food companies and consumers meet these evolving demands with innovative and nutritious soy-based foods. 

Partially funded by the Soy Checkoff. 

Global Consumer Trends: The Megatrends Reshaping the Food Industry (August 2026) Retrieved from the Food Institute https://foodinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/USSEC-Global-Consumer-Trends-v3.pdf. Accessed August 20, 2026.