The Say-Do Gap Is Shrinking. CPG Brands Need to Catch Up.
By Caroline Zerilli, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Chicory
Consumer ambivalence about food has always given CPG brands a ready explanation. Shoppers say they want cleaner ingredients, lower sugar, no artificial dyes, and then they put the same cereal they've been buying for years back in the cart. The say-do gap has been a reliable excuse and a genuinely hard problem to solve.
That excuse is getting harder to lean on.
Chicory's latest Consumer Capture survey puts some hard numbers behind a shift that many brands have been watching cautiously from the sidelines. Four in five consumers have at least heard of the current federal conversation around food ingredients and additives, and 42% say they follow it closely. More importantly, awareness is translating into behavior: 66% say increased scrutiny of ingredients has changed what they actually buy, not just what they say they prefer.
The gap isn't closed. But it's narrowing in categories that carry significant volume.
The Pressure Is Landing in Specific Places
Not all categories are feeling this equally. When consumers were asked which categories they've reconsidered due to ingredient concerns, the answers were: packaged snacks and chips at 54%, cereals and breakfast foods at 50%, candy and sweet treats at 46%, and flavored beverages at 41%. These are not fringe categories.
Source: Chicory’s 2026 Fall Consumer Capture
Halloween offers a useful close-up. Sixty-four percent of consumers say dye and ingredient concerns have influenced what candy they plan to give out, and 60% of parents say those concerns affect which trick-or-treat candy their kids are allowed to keep. Traditional candy still leads at 56%, but the consideration set has genuinely shifted.
Two Strategies, One Shared Problem
The industry has largely landed in one of two places.
Some brands are reformulating. PepsiCo has been actively removing artificial dyes and adding functional protein across parts of its portfolio, betting that stated preferences will eventually align with purchase behavior if the product holds its sensory ground. The catch: shoppers are loyal to taste, texture, and the visual cues of familiar products. Claims don't convert if the experience feels compromised.
Others are leaning into permissible indulgence. Mondelez's SnackFutures venture has been more focused on the indulgence side of the equation, betting instead on products that deliver the taste and experience consumers actually crave, with incremental better-for-you signals that make the purchase feel justifiable without feeling like a sacrifice.
Both are responses to the same underlying reality: consumers are paying more attention, and that attention is starting to move purchase decisions.
The Gap Closes Earlier Than the Shelf
The say-do gap is widest at the shelf, where habit, price, and familiarity combine to override stated intentions. It is narrowest during the planning phase, when consumers are actively seeking options and making considered choices.
Seventy-three percent of shoppers plan their meals at least a few days ahead. Fifty-four percent turn to online food and cooking content for meal inspiration, making it the single most cited source. And 46% say they specifically use that content to find meals and products that fit the ingredient standards they're now following — not just for inspiration, but to make decisions.
This is where the opportunity sits for both types of brands. The reformulating brand needs to reach shoppers before the familiar product wins on autopilot. The indulgence-forward brand needs to make its case when taste, occasion fit, and crowd-pleasing appeal are all part of the calculus, not just the ingredient panel.
Chicory operates across that full planning arc, reaching consumers at the point where their values and purchase intent are most aligned. For brands navigating the space between what consumers say they want and what they actually buy, that's where it matters most to show up.
Ready to reach shoppers when it matters most? Talk to our team today.
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