Consumers have a lot of trust in food brands to do the right thing — the food and beverage industry was the second-highest most trusted industry in Morning Consult’s Most Trusted Brands 2023 report. With an average net trust of 32.05, only retail and e-commerce (35.73) scored higher.
Average net trust is based on responses from the Morning Consult Brand Intelligence platform and is determined by subtracting the share of respondents who said they trust each brand to do the right thing “not much” or “not at all” from those who said they trust them “a lot” and “some.” Consumers are asked about their trust in nearly 2,000 brands in several industries, including banking, tech, and travel and hospitality.
Within the food and beverage industry, the top 10 most trusted brands prove that longevity and consistently delivering high-quality products is the key to building trust. Several legacy brands, many with a history of more than 100 years, ranked highly this year:
Cheerios (net trust: 53.42)
Kellogg’s (51.90)
Campbell’s (51.63)
Oreo (50.34)
M&M’s (49.42)
Heinz (49.39)
Lipton (48.78)
Ritz (48.75)
Lay’s (48.73)
Pillsbury (48.61)
In addition, Cheerios was the only food brand among the top 10 most trusted brands in the U.S., coming in at #6. More than six in 10 (63%) U.S. adults said they trust Cheerios, but Gen Z respondents were less likely to say they trust the brand (56%).
Gen Z was the least likely generation to say they trust every U.S. brand to do what’s right. But the youngest consumers may just need more time to build up trust with brands — among food and beverage brands, trust generally increased with age and was highest among baby boomers.
See the full report for more on which brands consumers trust most.
