Little Treats Rise Alongside Health Trends

Several health-based trends are continuing to progress in the foodservice space — though small indulgences are rising right along with them. 

Little Treat Culture is among eight macro trends that have advanced from the Adoption to Proliferation stage in Datassential’s Macro Trends Menu Adoption Cycle. The progression comes in tandem with a number of wellness-focused macro trends, including GLP-1 Medications, Clean Labels and Proteinization.

The simultaneous moves underscore that both indulgence-driven food occasions and appetite-suppressing weight-loss drugs are gaining equal ground on U.S. menus rather than canceling each other out.

GLP-1 Medications’ advance tracks with a shift in awareness. Twelve percent of consumers say they currently use GLP-1s, and another 24% say they’re interested, meaning more than a third of consumers are either current or potential future users, according to Datassential’s recent report on the drug. 

Thirty-three percent are interested in special dishes or menus designed for GLP-1 users in foodservice, while 32% want similar accommodations in retail products.

That usage is reshaping what consumers eat. Among GLP-1 users, 27% report increasing their intake of retail foods marketed as high-protein or with added protein, followed by prebiotic or probiotic foods (23%), plant-based protein (22%), and plant-based meat substitutes (17%).

Those same protein and plant-forward shifts echo in Proteinization, another health-forward trend that also progressed from Adoption to Proliferation. Protein call outs show no sign of slowing, having grown 110% on menus over the past four years, with Datassential One projecting another 32% growth over the next four.

Little Treat Culture climbing the same rung reflects indulgence as one of the defining lifestyle themes for 2026, with small treats functioning as mood management rather than mere craving satisfaction. Fifty-two percent of consumers who had a dessert in the past two weeks cited treating or indulging themselves as the reason, according to Datassential’s Desserts report. The firm’s 2026 Big Picture Factors report ties the trend to the recent rise of snackable, indulgent beverages like cold coffee and dirty soda, a pattern driven largely by Gen Z and Millennials.

Aesthetic-Driven Brands, meanwhile, moved from Inception to Adoption, reflecting how visual appeal is becoming its own factor in menu and product decisions. Datassential’s Quality vs. Aesthetic report finds nearly four in 10 consumers have purchased a new food or beverage brand primarily because of how it looked, including half of Gen Z and 44% of Millennials. Still, loyalty runs deeper than looks alone: 76% of consumers say they’ll keep buying a product that consistently delivers on quality regardless of appearance, even as 56% admit they’re less likely to trust or try something that doesn’t look appealing.