We’re living in over-branded times. Maybe you’ve noticed it: the fancy olive oil, the prestige beans, the tinned fish (so much tinned fish!). Recent years have seen a packaging renaissance, where even the most mundane of products now sport labels designed to grab—and keep—consumers’ attention.
Nowhere is that more apparent than in your pantry. “We’re trying to bring excitement, color, energy, beauty, and playfulness to a category that for many years has been written off as boring,” says Kat Kavner, cofounder and CEO of Heyday Canning Co., a canned bean startup whose logo and labels were designed to tap into a modern sense of nostalgia.
Heyday is part of a bigger trend in consumer packaged goods that utilizes elevated branding to transform seemingly basic pantry items into specialty foods worthy of date night or dinner party menus. In 2022, the sales of specialty food reached $194 billion, marking a 9.3% increase compared to the previous year. According to the annual industry report by the Specialty Food Association, it’s projected that sales will reach $207 billion by the end of the year, and presently constitutes about 22% of total retail food and beverage sales.
Consumer behavior also shifted at the beginning of the pandemic, increasing the demand for canned foods and other non-perishable pantry goods, and VC firms took notice. Most of the CPG brands dominating the pantry scene these days launched during 2020, when funding to food and beverage startups surpassed $1.3 billion.
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