This week, we’re talking longevity–of products, people, and brands.
From Japan’s dairy aisles quietly prepping for our 100-year-old selves, to Oklahoma trying to ban additives that probably shouldn’t have been there in the first place, it feels like something’s shifting.
Meanwhile, Gen Z is over the hype. We’ve been filtered out by everything from job boards to dating apps. No wonder we’re reading labels and expecting more from what we consume.
And for this week’s podcast pick, we’re tuning into Sprouts’ Chief Strategy Officer breaking down how they’re scaling smart without losing their edge.
Let’s get into it.
Building for the Bodies We Haven’t Grown Into Yet
Last year around this time, I was writing a global beverage trends report, and everything was going smoothly, until I got to Asia. That’s where things shifted.
I was looking at Japan in particular. Fertility rates are down, the population is shrinking and aging at the same time, and dairy brands are adapting. At first, it was all about exporting baby formulas and milk. But then I started seeing the other side of the story: highly targeted, functional dairy products made for the older population. Fermented drinks for joint health. Probiotic yogurts that help improve sleep. Vision enhancer drink for the white collar. Immunity boosters with plasma. It was incredibly specific, and surprisingly common.
And it took me back more than a decade.
I remember watching this National Geographic documentary when I was 13. It was about life in 2050: personalized meals, functional drinks tuned to your biology, food as medicine. Back then, it felt like sci-fi. But now? We’re almost closer to 2050 than 2000, and honestly, it doesn’t feel that far off.
What really struck me while writing that report was this: these brands are building for the future us. I’m turning 27 soon. Who knows how long I’ll live. But if I make it to 70, there’s probably already a dairy brand in Japan formulating something I’ll need.
And maybe the rest of the world will follow. Fertility is dropping. More people are choosing not to have children. If growth isn’t coming from the next generation, maybe brands will have to innovate not for the next generation–but for the current one, extended.
Turns out, the most forward-thinking brands are quietly building for the version of us that hasn’t arrived yet. Because if they want to stick around as healthy brands, we’ll have to stick around as healthy people. Our longevity is their runway.
We’ve Added Enough
I’m usually cautious about so-called big shifts in the food system. Change is slow and often looks more like repackaging than real progress. But every now and then, something signals that the foundation is actually starting to crack.
Oklahoma’s proposed ban on aspartame and a list of other additives (including artificial dyes like Blue dyes 1 & 2, green dye 3, red dyes 3 & 40, and yellow dyes 5 & 6) might be one of those signals.
Not because Oklahoma is the bellwether of health policy, but because when legislation starts to move, it usually means the culture already has.
Most people don’t think about what’s in their food until they have a reason to. A diagnosis. A kid with an allergy. A gut that suddenly stops cooperating.
That’s when the labels start to matter.
Two years ago, I ran a test on myself while I was on a cutting diet. I cut out sugar completely and swapped in sucralose and inulin in everything I baked.
At the time, it felt like a smart trade-off.
That was when I started reading more than just the front of the packaging.
Since then, I’ve seen the same story play out over and over again. Products marketed as “better-for-you” are still built on the same old core: artificial sweeteners, ultra-processed bases, flavor systems built for shelf life, not for health.
Add a prebiotic. Maybe another claim or two.
I’ve seen a “postbiotic” lemonade with sucralose and Ace-K in it. It checks the boxes, but it doesn’t make sense.
This is what happens when we chase claims instead of clarity. When we innovate on the surface instead of rethinking the foundation.
The future belongs to the ones finally cutting what never made sense.
Less noise. More substance.
You Ghosted Us. Now We’re Reading the Labels.
I read something this week that hit a little too close to home: they’re calling us, the GenZ, “the most rejected generation.”
Ghosted by jobs, schools, even relationships (just happened the other day). We get auto-sorted by AI before a recruiter even reads our name. College decisions feel like a slot machine. Dating apps turn into silence. Even our resumes need keywords now.
And if this is what we’re up against daily, is it really surprising that we don’t trust the shiny promises brands keep making?
Maybe that’s why so much of what’s marketed to us feels… off. We’ve learned not to buy into the hype, not to get attached, not to expect much.
In food and beverage, every brand wants to talk to us. They slap “clean,” “better-for-you,” “gut health” on the packaging like we’ll eat it up. But we’ve seen what’s behind the curtain. We’ve read the labels, the fine print. We know when something doesn’t line up.
We don’t need buzzwords. We need honesty.
We don’t need cute branding. We need products that hold up.
We don’t want to be sold to. We want to be considered.
Because when everything around us feels like a system built to filter us out, we notice when brands do the same.
So maybe the brands that’ll actually connect with us aren’t the loudest ones or the trendiest ones, but the ones that simply respect our intelligence.
Not trying to “win us over,” but showing us something that makes sense.
That might just be enough.
Podcast of the Week: Sprout’s Healhy Grow in a Competitive Market by Where We Buy
This week I listened to Sprouts’ Chief Strategy Officer talk through how they’ve quietly become the fastest-growing grocery chain in the U.S. No buzzwords, no hype. Just smart execution.
He covers everything from how they started with a simple produce stall to how they’re planning to open more doors (also expanding into the East Coast).
They don’t obsess over the stock price. They focus on store economics, smart expansion, and staying true to their identity: a health-forward store that still keeps things affordable.
If you care about how to grow without losing your edge, this is worth your time.
That’s it for this week.
If there’s a theme here, it’s this: we’re slowly course-correcting. Less flash, more substance. Better decisions, not louder ones.
If you’ve got questions, thoughts, or just want to bounce around an idea, I’d love to hear it.
And if you’re looking for the right co-manufacturer or supplier to bring your next idea to life (or need a better option than what you’ve got), Chapter Foods is here to help. We connect brands and retailers with partners who know what they’re doing.
Until next time, stay curious and keep going.
Can Koyuncu, Co-Founder & CMO