Business
‘The next protein’: Fiber is shaping up to be the latest grocery obsession
Cases of Pepsi soda are displayed at a Costco Wholesale store on Nov. 13, 2025 in Simi Valley, California.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images
One of this year’s top food trends is facing some tough competition.
Protein captivated consumers and food companies in 2025, but fiber is increasingly stealing the scene as people place an increasing emphasis on promoting gut health.
It’s taken hold on social media, where “fibermaxxing” — or the concept of increasing fiber intake through whole foods like fruits and legumes — has seen thousands of posts.
“Fiber is finally getting a spotlight, which is a great thing because it’s a nutrient that people need,” said Stephanie Mattucci, principal strategist at food research company Mintel.
Currently, 90% of women and 97% of men in the U.S. are not meeting their daily fiber requirements, Mattucci said. For most Americans, that recommended range usually falls somewhere between 25 grams and 38 grams of fiber per day, she added.
But more people are beginning to take notice of those gaps.
According to Mattucci, 22% of consumers in the U.S. said high fiber content was one of their top three important factors when shopping for food — up from just 17% in 2021.
Wall Street’s companies are taking note, too. On an earnings call with analysts in October, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said fiber was emerging at the forefront of the company’s product goals as it looked ahead to 2026.
“I think fiber will be the next protein,” Laguarta said. “Consumers are starting to understand that fiber is the benefit that they need. It’s actually an efficiency in U.S. consumers’ diets, and that will be elevated.”
In February, the company is going a step farther and plans to launch Smartfood Fiber Pop, featuring six grams of protein per serving, and SunChips Fiber, incorporating fiber variants like whole grains and black beans, Pepsi’s chief science officer, Tara Glasgow, told CNBC exclusively.
Smartfood Fiber Pop and Sun Chips Fiber snacks.
Source: Pepsico
And there’s a reason companies are broadening their offerings. Research firm Datassential found that fiber is on track to be the “next big health trend following on the heels of protein” in its 2026 trends report.
Of the consumers the firm surveyed, 54% said they are interested in foods and beverages that are high in fiber. That number is even higher — reaching 60% — among members of Generation Z, who are pioneering the “fibermaxxing” trend on social media.
And 42% of consumers said they believe the attribute of “high fiber” on a nutrition label of any food or beverage product is important to defining that product as “healthy,” according to Datassential.
It’s that momentum that landed fiber as one of Whole Foods Market’s top trends for 2026.
The gut health craze
Watching fiber intake isn’t new, experts note, but it’s often been associated with older people who require it for health reasons as they age.
“When I think of fiber, I immediately think of my grandfather. Every day, he had his little baggie of All-Bran, and he brought it everywhere he went, probably out of necessity,” Mintel’s Mattucci said, citing the slowing of digestive tracts as people age.
Still, something has shifted as consumers of all ages have started placing more emphasis on promoting gut health and digestive wellness — and fiber entered the spotlight.
The emphasis on diversity of fiber intake and finding it in everyday whole foods rather than through supplements or powders is part of what’s allowing it to find popularity and align with current culture, according to Angela Salas, a senior dietitian at the University of California, Davis.
The two types of fiber — soluble and insoluble — work together to keep people fuller for longer, improve digestion, and lower blood pressure and cholesterol, Salas said. In some ways, fiber could mimic the effects of weight-loss drugs because it takes longer to break down food and therefore sits in the stomach for longer, she said, which could be a factor for its recent popularity.
“These nutrients have always been around and always kind of shifts, I think, from the food industry saying, ‘What can we highlight? What do people want to be focusing on so that we can continue to sell the same product, just slightly altered?'” Salas said.
Still, Kate Pelletier, a registered dietitian nutritionist at the University of Michigan Health, said it’s important to note that fiber is not sufficient as an alternative to GLP-1 drugs, and a balanced plate is the best way to stay healthy.
Pelletier said fiber’s use as a “street sweeper” for the body is likely one of the reasons it’s been thrust back into the spotlight.
“There’s been a really big shift into more natural plants instead of popping a supplement or using a protein powder,” Pelletier said. “We can get the benefit of fiber from thinking about adding more wholesome foods into our diet, versus typical diet culture [which] focuses on taking out X, Y or Z.”
Promoting high-fiber products
Food and beverage companies are jumping on the momentum, too.
Earlier this year, Coca-Cola launched its prebiotic soda, Simply Pop, with six grams of prebiotic fiber in five flavors to encourage gut health. Nestlé unveiled a new protein shake in June with four grams of prebiotic fiber designed specifically to support the digestive health of adults on GLP-1 medications.
Other companies like Olipop have also entered the prebiotic soda market, boasting recipes that promote gut health, while smaller businesses, like Floura protein bars and Sola Bagels, have also begun selling fiber-rich products.
Olipop soda at a store in San Francisco, California, US, on Monday, March 17, 2025. Olipop Inc., the high-fiber, lower-sugar soda startup, raised $50 million in a Series C funding round at a valuation of $1.85 billion.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Pepsi’s Glasgow told CNBC the company is taking every opportunity to explore consumers’ newfound interest in fiber. Glasgow said the research and development team’s work starts in science and follows trends to keep up with their audience’s evolving tastes.
Pepsi already has products on the market that specifically boast high fiber content, like its prebiotic cola and Quaker oatmeal. As consumers start to explore the previously “sleepy little nutrient,” Glasgow said, Pepsi is innovating new products across its beverages and food brands.
“We hear it from consumers as well that they’re becoming more knowledgeable about nutrition and their nutrition needs,” Glasgow said. “And I think that’s where the excitement is coming from. I feel it growing.”
Glasgow said the company, which already launched successful protein-packed products this year, is moving toward products that incorporate multiple sources of gut-healthy ingredients.
“We saw protein grow in a big way in the last couple years,” Glasgow said. “I think [consumers] are then expanding their view, and they realize there’s not one ingredient alone that is the silver bullet. It’s about getting the right ingredients all together.”
For some, fiber isn’t just a trend.
Naomi Aganekwu, a 27-year-old content creator, said she started incorporating fiber more intentionally into her diet last year. Now, she makes sure each meal she eats has at least five to 10 grams of fiber through foods like beans, lentils and chia seed puddings.
Aganekwu said she’s seeing results from incorporating fiber into her diet, like being satiated after meals and seeing her hormonal acne reduce. And as she’s championing fiber, she’s seeing the people around her do the same, especially among her generation.
It’s become personal for Aganekwu, too, whose father died earlier this year of colon cancer. Some research has shown fiber could prevent colorectal cancer in addition to promoting overall health, according to the National Institutes of Health.
“You don’t want to wait until you’re 60 or 70 and you’re dealing with more diagnoses,” she said. “There’s a lot that you can do, even just in your everyday choices, down to what you’re putting on your plate, that can directly impact your chances or decrease your chances of developing critical diseases.”
Business
AI shopping could drive $263 billion in holiday sales. Walmart and Target are racing to get in
Holiday shopping has always felt like a “chore” for Amrita Bhasin.
Between deciding what to buy, comparing prices and checking reviews, the 24-year-old retail tech CEO said she spent more than 15 hours each year buying gifts for her friends and family, a process that took the joy out of giving.
But this year, Bhasin said she did all of her shopping in a fraction of the time and even had a little “fun” — all thanks to her new personal assistant: ChatGPT.
“I feel like I’ve got that physical store associate that I’m talking to, so I feel like I’m getting better recommendations. I actually think my tendency to buy is higher because of ChatGPT,” Bhasin, based in Menlo Park, California, told CNBC. “It has really changed the game.”
Bhasin is one of the many shoppers turning to AI platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google‘s Gemini and Perplexity this holiday season to help them buy gifts for their loved ones, and maybe a few for themselves, too. Whether consumers use them to get gift ideas or compare prices, AI platforms are poised to reshape the shopping experience and drive billions in revenue this holiday season as it becomes harder to get discovered on traditional search platforms.
In a report published last month, Salesforce said it expects AI to drive a staggering $263 billion in global online holiday sales this year, representing 21% of all holiday orders.
Though estimates vary widely, surveys conducted by Visa, Zeta Global and other organizations found that between 40% and 83% of consumers plan to use AI for shopping this holiday season. Meanwhile, AI traffic to U.S. retail sites surged 760% between Nov. 1 and Dec. 1, according to Adobe.
While AI shopping is in its early stages, initial reads on how shoppers are interacting with it show the opportunity it can bring for retailers. Shoppers arriving on retail websites from generative AI platforms are 30% more likely to buy something and about 14% more engaged than those coming from non-AI sources, meaning they’re spending more time on the site and are less likely to leave immediately, Adobe found.
These AI-fueled shopping visits now generate 8% more revenue per session, the firm found. AI tools can also help shoppers spot deals and aid lesser-known brands in getting discovered — about half of the gifts Bhasin bought this year came from brands she’d never shopped before.
“It’s where consumers are going, because they’re just asking questions around, like, ‘Hey, where can I find the best gift under $20 for my niece that cares about these things?'” said Kimberly Shenk, the founder and CEO of Novi, a tech firm that helps brands adjust to AI shopping.
The surge in AI shopping has led retailers big and small to rethink their strategies to ensure they’re showing up where customers expect them to be. Walmart and Amazon have each launched their own AI shopping assistants, and others, including Walmart, Target and Etsy, have partnered with OpenAI so customers can search for items or buy products without leaving ChatGPT.
Apparel retailer PacSun said it hopes to join OpenAI’s platform and in the meantime is reformatting its website so its teen-friendly clothes will show up in AI searches. Others are changing their budgets, directing funds away from SEO, or search engine optimization, and into AEO, or answer engine optimization, and hiring outside firms to help them navigate the shift.
Shenk said her company has seen a “major surge in demand” from retailers and brands that have started to see a steep decline in traffic from social media ads and search engines.
“I’ve heard so many brands talking about their paid advertising in Meta and all these different places really just not performing and ultimately seeing a ton of that transition over to AI mode in Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity,” Shenk said. “I think people were caught off guard … so brands are really scrambling to figure out, ‘How do I know if I’m visible? I have no idea if I’m even showing up. I have no idea how I’m showing up, but I’m seeing all my traffic drop off, and I got to figure that out. Now.'”
Brands are walking a tightrope. They have to adjust to consumers who are using AI to discover products, but still be present through traditional channels for those who prefer old-fashioned shopping. While AI companies and retailers themselves have made massive investments in the chatbot shopping experience, some consumers also say it doesn’t yet measure up to searching for gifts themselves.
Walmart, Target and others join the AI race
As more shoppers start their gift searches on AI chatbots, some of the country’s biggest retailers, including Walmart, Target and Etsy, have announced their own strategies to try to attract customers through AI assistants.
Walmart announced a deal in October with OpenAI that will enable shoppers to both find and buy items without leaving ChatGPT. Yet the big-box retailer hasn’t shared a launch date.
Etsy and many Shopify merchants, including Glossier, have also signed deals with OpenAI for its Instant Checkout feature, which will initially allow customers in the U.S. to make single-item purchases. Instant Checkout launched with Etsy in late September, and ChatGPT has begun to roll out a few Shopify merchants, including Skims, Vuori and Spanx, an OpenAI spokesperson said.
Target announced a deal last month to allow customers to shop Target’s app within ChatGPT. The beta feature enables shoppers to purchase multiple items in a single transaction, including groceries, and choose if they want delivery or curbside pickup.
On the other hand, Amazon — an online retail behemoth where many shoppers begin their product search — has taken the opposite approach. It has moved to block external AI chatbots, including those developed by OpenAI, Google and Meta, from crawling its website to try to stop them from pulling in product listings as part of their answers.
Amazon has gone a step further by sending a cease-and-desist letter to Perplexity AI to try to prevent users of its AI browser, Comet, from purchasing its items. The startup described Amazon’s legal threat as “bullying.”
Along with their different strategies with outside tech companies, Amazon, Walmart and Target are among the retailers who have built their own AI-powered chatbots in the hopes of reeling in curious shoppers during the holiday season and beyond.
On Walmart’s app, customers are greeted by a yellow smiley-faced agent called Sparky that can answer questions and recommend products. Amazon has a shopping assistant called Rufus. And Target has an AI-powered tool, Target Gift Finder, for the second holiday season in a row.
On Walmart’s earnings call in November, CEO Doug McMillon said agentic AI will be one of the growth drivers for the retailer’s e-commerce business. He said the technology will “help people save time and have more fun shopping.”
Walmart has added other capabilities for Sparky, such as recommended shopping lists for parties. Incoming CEO John Furner also said the assistant will eventually be able to remind customers about items they may want to reorder.
Tracy Poulliot, senior vice president of shopping experiences for Walmart U.S., told CNBC that “customers are really starting to rely on these GenAI assistants to take on more of a problem-solving approach than your traditional item-by-item search experience.”
So far, Target said, thousands of customer have used its Gift Finder, with common searches about sports, beauty and wellness, cooking and apparel gifts. In a statement, the company said it had early insights that the tool was driving higher engagement and larger shopping carts than the year prior.
Prat Vemana, Target’s chief information and product officer, said the retailer is already seeing changes in how customers are looking for items on its website and app. About 25% of its customer searches are descriptive and conversational in phrasing, rather than keyword-based, he said.
How retailers are overhauling digital marketing
Shopping research feature in ChatGPT.
Courtesy: ChatGPT
Since the dawn of online search, SEO has guided online marketing strategies and evolved into a game of stuffing relevant keywords into the back end of product listings to ensure they pop up on Google.
For example, if a shopper was looking for a new green sweater, Googling “green sweater” would bring up a slew of product matches from retailers, with some links appearing higher than others if they were sponsored.
“You pay somebody and you spend money, you get yourself listed on top,” said Shirley Gao, the chief digital and information officer at PacSun. “Now [with AI], there’s no way you can pay anybody. This is very authentic.”
When searching for products on an AI platform, a consumer might write a few sentences, explaining the event they need the product for and sharing their preferences, location, body type and size.
The AI platform then hunts for credible information to ensure it’s a product worth buying. It looks for keywords, but also other data like reviews, credible media reports and information about the item’s materials.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT ranks results based on what best matches the shopper’s request, not based on ads, paid placement or whether a company has a business deal with OpenAI, a spokesperson said. Retailers who are partners with ChatGPT provide OpenAI with direct product feeds, which help make sure listings are more up-to-date. In some cases, they are integrated to allow for Instant Checkout in the chat.
ChatGPT decides how to rank merchants who sell the same product by considering factors including availability, price, quality, whether a merchant is the primary seller and whether Instant Checkout is enabled, the company spokesperson said.
Brands CNBC spoke with said this evolution is forcing them to rethink their entire media, content and e-commerce strategies. SEO still matters — but the information they’re putting on the back end of their websites is evolving.
Gao said her team has been reformatting PacSun’s website so it’s easier for AI platforms to read it, including through new gift and style guide pages. She said those product listings share more details like item specifications and customer feedback.
In an interview with CNBC, Target’s Vemana said the retailer historically tracked how it showed up in customers’ online searches. Now, he said, it wants to make sure it shows up better in AI chatbots’ search results.
To increase visibility, he said, Target is providing richer descriptions of its merchandise, such as listing unique features like sustainable fabrics or explaining how a product fits into a trend or theme.
A shopper at a Target store ahead of Black Friday in Jersey City, New Jersey, US, on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Michael Wieder, a Brooklyn-based dad who co-founded baby and toddler goods retailer Lalo, said he and his team have spent time considering the questions people could be putting into AI platforms and ensuring product listings answer them.
For example, instead of keyword stuffing product listings with basic attributes like the material, size and color of the item, his team has been putting in more detailed information like “good for small spaces,” “great for apartment living” or “best gifts for kids under one year old.”
“I’m looking for the best gift for a child that is, you know, this age that lives in this place,” Wieder said in an interview. “We’re taking it a step further in how we construct the infrastructure of our website and the content that lives within our website.”
Ethique Beauty, which sells shampoo and conditioner bars in retailers like Ulta Beauty, Wegmans and Whole Foods, has “completely changed” its approach to search, leading to a 90% increase in traffic from AI platforms in the past six months, CEO Erica Cocilova said in an interview.
“When you’re thinking about what you need as a consumer, your shopping doesn’t necessarily start with products,” Cocilova said. “People are searching for things like, ‘I need scalp health,’ right? Or ‘my scalp is flaky. I’m struggling with oily scalp. My hair is too dry.’ They’re looking for solutions.”
Cocilova and her team combed through the business’s customer service FAQs, talked to shoppers, examined reviews and scoured the internet to get a better idea of what shampoo customers sought. Then, they added more information to product listings, including brand certifications and details about the company’s supply chain.
They also took the biggest questions consumers had — like “how to sleep with curly hair” — and created blog posts answering them.
“Any hair brand could be talking about that, but we talk about it in a way that’s got super dense, rich content and then ties it back to how our products are different and address the needs for curls,” Cocilova said.
The changes have led more shoppers to Ethique’s products through its own website and its partners, and the company has enjoyed a boost in sales. Even so, the shift to optimizing for AI search has required a steep investment in both internal staff and consulting relative to SEO, a cost other businesses have also had to take on as they try to stay relevant.
“What I would say is the return is better, because the person that ends up on your site, or any site, to shop is just that much more educated,” she said. “They’re not getting to your site and having to do as much research, right? They’re there to shop.”
When AI falls short
Though AI platforms are pointing many shoppers in the right direction, not every tool hits the mark. When CNBC asked Target’s Gift Finder for ideas based on personalized scenarios, the chatbot answered with links to gift guides and repeated itself instead of delivering specific product recommendations.
Through a company spokesperson, Target said the chatbot’s results include “a variety of gift recommendation items grouped by category.” He said the company’s tool is learning from the customer interactions and that Target is regularly updating its algorithms
While AI platforms can be effective when people need to do product research or are looking for something highly specific, some consumers prefer the traditional shopping experience.
Diana Tan, a 39-year-old startup founder based in Seattle, asked ChatGPT to help her build a capsule wardrobe earlier this year and provided a slew of information about her body type, preferences and budget. Instead of a curated set of options, she said she was repeatedly served boring basics like black shirts, gray pants and black turtlenecks.
“It just became almost like talking to a demented grandmother, where you’re just constantly trying to remind it, ‘Okay, I really want something that is in this price range. No, this is too expensive. Please stop sending me this,'” Tan said.
“And then they’ll come at me like, ‘Here’s a black turtleneck again.’ Okay. No. Please stop sending me black turtlenecks. I really didn’t want this the first time.”
Ultimately, Tan gave up.
“I think it takes the joy out of shopping,” she said. “So much of shopping is still very much just browsing. … After a while, I’m like, well, you know, it’s actually more fun and more interesting for me to just go to Nordstrom Rack, or, like, anywhere else, and just look for what I actually want.”
Business
Copra price boost: Govt hikes Copra MSP for 2026 season; farmers to get up to Rs 12,500 per quintal – The Times of India
The Centre government on Friday approved higher Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for copra for the 2026 season, in line with the government’s policy of fixing MSPs at least 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production.The MSP for Fair Average Quality milling copra has been set at Rs 12,027 per quintal, while ball copra will fetch Rs 12,500 per quintal in 2026. This marks an increase of Rs 445 per quintal for milling copra and Rs 400 per quintal for ball copra compared with the previous season, according to the cabinet release.The statement noted that MSPs for both varieties have risen sharply over the past decade. Milling copra MSP has climbed from Rs 5,250 per quintal in 2014 to Rs 12,027 in 2026, while ball copra has risen from Rs 5,500 to Rs 12,500, registering growth of 129% and 127%, respectively.“A higher MSP will ensure better remunerative returns to coconut growers and incentivise farmers to expand copra production to meet rising domestic and global demand,” the government said in the release.The Centre added that NAFED and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) will continue to act as central nodal agencies for procurement under the Price Support Scheme (PSS).
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has come under further pressure as pre-Budget worries and tax hike speculation was widely blamed for an unexpected contraction in the economy during October.
Official figures showed the UK economy shrank for the second month running in October, contracting by 0.1% following a 0.1% decline in September.
Most economists had been expecting a rise of 0.1% for October on hopes of a manufacturing bounceback led by Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) recovery from a major cyber attack.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product (GDP) fell as car manufacturing activity only made a “slight” recovery from the woes at JLR, with the services sector weighed down as consumers held back spending on the high street before the Budget, delivered on November 26.
The data shows the UK economy has now not grown since June, with GDP either flat or falling in the past four months.
Economists said the weaker-than-expected figures would reinforce hopes of an interest rate cut by the Bank of England next week in what would be a welcome pre-Christmas boost to households.
In the three months to October, the economy shrank by 0.1% after growth of 0.1% in the three months to September, according to the ONS.
Many businesses have recently indicated that activity in the economy slowed in the lead-up to the Budget as speculation over possible tax measures grew.
Barret Kupelian, chief economist at PwC, said: “Some of this weakness still reflects the cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover, which knocked car output earlier in the autumn, but the bigger story is that speculation around the autumn Budget kept households and businesses in wait-and-see mode.
“Given the timing of the Budget, November’s GDP print is likely to look similarly subdued before any post-Budget effects start to show up.”
Some experts have said weak recent growth was largely driven by rampant speculation in the run up to the Budget.
Former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane said last month the prolonged worries over the Budget and leaks over possible tax hikes had “caused businesses and consumers to hunker down”.
Earlier this week, Ms Reeves hit out at “too many leaks” in the run-up to Budget when questioned by a committee of MPs.
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said the latest GDP blow was “a direct result of Labour’s economic mismanagement”.
He said: “For months, Rachel Reeves has misled the British public. She said she wouldn’t raise taxes on working people – she broke that promise again. She insisted there was a black hole in the public finances – but there wasn’t.”
The ONS data The data revealed that month-on-month activity in car production jumped 9.5% higher in October, but this was only a partial recovery from the 28.6% plunge in September as the JLR cyberattack sent shockwaves through the sector.
Car production activity remained 21.8% lower than in August.
JLR was forced to pause production of its cars for more than a month after being targeted by hackers, having a knock-on impact for the wider sector and resulting in a costly recovery.
It gradually resumed production through October.
Widespread pressure in the rest of the economy also weighed on the GDP outturn, with output down 0.3% across the dominant services sector – including a 1.1% drop for retail – and a 0.6% fall across construction.
A Treasury spokesperson said: “We are determined to defy the forecasts on growth and create good jobs, so everyone is better off, while also helping us invest in better public services.”
Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the recent “Budget chaos” through November is likely to hit growth through that month too, which could see GDP contract by 0.1% in the final quarter of 2026.
He said: “Weak GDP adds to the reasons for the Monetary Policy Committee to cut interest rates next week.
“Rate setters would need a huge surprise in inflation and the labour market data published next week to stop a hike.”
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