2026, as seen by my Notes app

2026, as seen by my Notes app. A few things I’ve been noticing lately.

We’re seeing vice get wider. Alcohol alone no longer owns the room. Cannabis is openly consumed and mushrooms are showing up where wine used to. Ketamine is part of the conversation, and micro-dosing LSD feels normalized in some circles. What was once taboo is now being reframed as social, reflective, or functional. Pair that with the administration fast-tracking Schedule III cannabis and it no longer feels subcultural. We want more honesty around why people seek altered states—and less pretending alcohol is the only acceptable one.

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A small thing I can’t stop noticing is fries for dessert. In the past month, I’ve witnessed couples skip sweets and order fries instead. Comfort winning over ceremony, a reminder that even the most understood products or occasions can be reframed. Branding, in its simplest form, is anthropology, and keeping your ears and eyes open can uncover microshifts that lead to big change. Even if they just start with french fries.

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Value is the opportunity.Building for the masses isn’t a step down. It’s one of the hardest things to get right, and one of the biggest opportunities in CPG today.And it’s still wildly underestimated.

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Over the past 24 months, it feels like nearly every multinational consumer business has been divesting assets or splitting up. In the short term, that’s been nerve-wracking for a lot of people, both inside these organizations and around them. But as things begin to settle, I see real opportunity. New jobs. New acquisitions. New ways of working that wouldn’t have existed inside the old structures.

Right now, strategics are reorienting and brand teams are often stuck in limbo. That won’t last forever, but this moment matters. It’s a window for emerging brands to accelerate while large organizations find their footing with today’s consumer. Once the dust settles, new holding companies will take shape, teams will rebuild, and acquisition engines will turn back on.

The biggest thing both emerging and strategic CPG brands can do right now is act. Momentum is being rewarded. Goodles mac & cheese has taken meaningful share from the classic blue box while Kraft was still debating what to do about them.

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Products are responding to real bodies again. Eye strain. Arthritis. Fatigue. Not aspirational future-selves—real problems. We want design that supports solutions and less design that just decorates.

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Individualism is reasserting itself. After years of forced togetherness; group workouts, group chats, group everything - there’s a return to stillness. Solo walks. Headphones in. Quiet routines. Personal rituals. Not isolation, but self-direction. We want more brands that respect the individual, foster personalization, and less shouting at crowds.What’s the note hiding on your phone that you want to see the light of day?