5 food stories from this week that are worth 2 minutes of your time:

1. Only 14% of food brands grew this year 🤯

Morning Consult checked 2,800 brands and found just 14% gained buying interest in 2026, a five-year low. Last year it was 94%. The winners were mostly old names people already trust, and the fastest-growing brand of all was Mr. Pibb, a soda Coca-Cola brought back from the dead.

2. PepsiCo turned a TikTok trend into a product 🥤

Dirty soda (soda mixed with cream and fruit syrup) blew up on TikTok and at a Utah chain called Swig. PepsiCo bottled it: Dirty Mountain Dew and Mug Vanilla Howler are now in stores, and the company says the trend hasn't even peaked.

3. Mondelēz wants cookies to beat chips 🍪

The Oreo and Chips Ahoy! maker is going after the $19 billion US cookie market with zero-sugar Oreos, mystery flavors and TikTok Shop, because younger shoppers get bored fast and cookies are slipping out of their snack rotation.

4. California is about to label "non-ultraprocessed" food 🥬

Lawmakers approved the first statewide seal for foods that are not ultraprocessed, modeled on the USDA Organic label. It's voluntary, but big grocery stores will have to put cleaner options where you can see them. Still needs the governor's signature.

5. General Mills and Mars are suing the sugar industry ⚖️

Together with Little Debbie's maker, they claim top sugar producers shared secret pricing data and pushed sugar to record highs. The producers control about 65% of the market. The food giants want triple damages.

Put it together, and one thing stands out: attention is the scarcest thing in food right now. Consumers decide which food brands win, and the ones people keep coming back to are the ones worth backing early.

Back next Friday with a fresh batch. Don't spoil your appetite.