Food and beverage companies have spent years chasing reach. Bigger influencers. Bigger followings. Bigger campaigns. But new research suggests the next competitive advantage may come from something much harder to buy: trust.
The Summer 2026 MorganMyers Food Pulse shows that social media remains one of the most powerful tools for introducing Gen Z consumers to new food and beverage products. TikTok, Instagram and YouTube dominate discovery, and nearly three-quarters of Gen Z respondents say they have repeatedly purchased something they first found on social media. The interesting part is what happens after discovery. Visibility may get the product into the cart, but it does not necessarily create loyalty.
The research suggests Gen Z is becoming increasingly sophisticated about how influence works. They know when they are being marketed to, and they appear to be placing less weight on traditional celebrity endorsements and more on people who feel credible, useful and believable. Friends and family remain the most trusted source of recommendations, while registered dietitians, nutrition experts, everyday customer reviews and authentic creators often carry more credibility than large social-media personalities.
That creates an important distinction for food companies. Social media is becoming exceptionally good at creating trial, but the product itself still determines whether the relationship continues. When consumers were asked what drives the initial purchase, price and value ranked first at 27%, followed closely by taste at 26%. But after someone has tried a product, taste becomes far more important. 68% identified taste as a leading reason they purchase again, followed by price and value at 61% and quality at 44%. Social-media buzz fell all the way to 3%.
That may be the biggest takeaway for food brands. Marketing can create the first transaction. The product has to create the second. The influencer side of the research is just as interesting. Bigger is not necessarily better. Mid-tier influencers with roughly 10,000 to 100,000 followers ranked highest when respondents were asked which creator type was most likely to affect a food or beverage purchase. Everyday consumers and reviewers performed similarly well, while celebrity and macro influencers did not dominate the rankings the way many marketers might assume.
The reason appears fairly straightforward: consumers are looking for evidence that the person recommending the product actually believes what they are saying. Half of respondents said it matters that a creator genuinely uses the product. Honesty, authenticity and an explanation of why the creator likes something also ranked highly. On the other side, 58% said they are less likely to be influenced when they suspect someone is simply being paid to promote a product, while half said overly polished or fake-feeling content reduces credibility.
This is where I think the lesson gets bigger than food marketing. We have spent the last decade building an economy around attention. Companies learned how to buy impressions, hire influencers, optimize algorithms and manufacture awareness. But as consumers become more familiar with those systems, attention alone may become less valuable. Trust has clearly become the scarcer asset.
That changes how brands should think about marketing. The winning strategy may no longer be finding the biggest person willing to talk about your product. It may be finding the right people who already have credibility with the audience you are trying to reach. A chef. A dietitian. A respected producer. A knowledgeable retailer. A customer who actually uses the product. Someone whose recommendation feels like information rather than advertising.
The same logic applies to brand content. Gen Z respondents said real customer content makes a food or beverage brand feel more authentic, while transparent ingredients and sourcing also ranked highly. Misleading health claims, poor quality and overpriced products were among the biggest reasons consumers said they distrust brands.
In other words, the old separation between marketing and product is getting harder to maintain. The product experience becomes the marketing. The customer becomes the media channel. The recommendation from a friend may be worth more than the endorsement from someone with a million followers. That creates both an opportunity and a problem for large brands. Reach can still be purchased. Trust usually has to be earned.
The smartest food companies heading into 2027 may start measuring their marketing differently. Instead of asking only how many people saw the product, they should be asking who recommended it, why people shared it, whether customers bought it again, and whether the product delivered well enough that someone was willing to tell a friend about it. Social media may still open the door. But increasingly, trust determines whether the consumer walks through it. You can read the entire report HERE.
