15−18 September 2026
Moscow, Crocus Expo, Pavillion 3
Consumer behavior in 2025 was shaped by socio-economic factors, the transformation of consumption patterns, and the growing demand for convenience and health. These trends are directly reflected in the structure of demand in the food segment.
Rationality and redistribution of costs
In 2025, rationality remains one of the key models of consumer behavior. Buyers are becoming more selective, comparing offers and focusing on the best value for money. Rationality does not mean the rejection of consumption, but involves a more conscious choice and redistribution of expenses.
According to Nielsen, sales of FMCG have increased by 12% over the past 12 months. At the same time, the structure of the shopping basket and the format of consumption are changing.
Buyers:
// Switch from well-known brands to private labels and local brands with comparable characteristics;
// Choose large packages for basic goods (butter, flour, cereals) and smaller formats for perishable products;
// They actively use promotions, subscriptions and banking applications to search for profitable offers;
// They reduce "excessive" categories in favor of basic and healthier products.
At the same time, even in the face of savings, purchases "for the mood" are preserved: sweets, high-quality coffee and favorite brands. Daily stress stimulates the so-called "dopamine purchases" – small purchases that bring positive emotions, most often in the food category.
According to Nielsen, it was ready-to-eat food that became the fastest growing industry in the FMCG market in January-September 2025. In 2025, sales of ready-made meals increased by 24.4%. Despite the general trend towards more restrained spending, consumers continue to actively choose this category.
Experts note that ready-made food is perceived not as an additional cost item, but as a tool for optimizing resources - primarily time. When comparing the cost of ingredients and the time spent on cooking, buying a ready-made dish in many cases is considered as a rational alternative to home cooking.
The combination of convenience, speed and predictable quality creates a steady demand for the category and expands the audience of buyers.
With the popularization of the healthy lifestyle segment, modern products are increasingly striving to simultaneously meet two needs — to be healthy and to preserve the taste characteristics. Consumers do not give up pleasure, but choose value-added alternatives. Sales of lactose-free and alternative dairy products are actively growing: the dynamics for the 12 months to September 2025 reached +80.8% in e-commerce and +43.5% offline.
A separate area is protein products. In categories where products with added protein are presented, they become growth drivers. Protein lines in the dairy and ice cream categories show a multiple increase in sales, while positions without protein in the same categories are declining.
In 2026, the food market will continue to develop in the face of increased rationality, growing demand for ready-made solutions and the expansion of the healthy food segment.
Use the opportunities of the WorldFood Moscow exhibition and present your products and drinks in 16 sections covering all categories of the food industry. Every year, the exhibition is visited by more than 26,000 specialists in retail and wholesale trade, the catering segment, as well as distributors and manufacturers of food products.
