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EY State of Consumer Products Report 2026
How supply chain complexity can be a growth advantage for CP leaders
Supply chain success once meant eliminating complexity. But when the biggest growth opportunities reside in fast-moving and complex demand pools, Consumer Products (CP) leaders need to view complexity differently. The future does not belong to the companies with the biggest, least complex supply chains but to the ones able to identify and quickly respond to complexity that creates value.
This report combines primary research, executive interviews and secondary analysis to create a global view of consumer products supply chain evolution and leadership response to volatility, fragmented demand and AI-enabled decision-making.
Primary research
References to the EY Consumer Products Dynamics Research 2026 relate to an online survey conducted by Oxford Economics from January 28 to February 18, 2026. The survey captured responses from over 850 senior consumer products company executives involved in or responsible for strategy and performance across sales, marketing and supply chain.
The research examined how companies approach transformation, including strategic priorities, barriers to execution, operating model maturity, supply chain responsiveness, decision governance and confidence across key capabilities.
The sample spans 24 markets across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Companies ranged from US$250m to more than US$20b in revenue, covering food, beverages, household and personal care and tobacco.
Survey findings reflect executives’ views on their organizations’ capabilities, priorities and transformation progress. Unless otherwise stated, survey results are reported as a percentage of respondents.
CEO Pulse
The report draws on the EY-Parthenon CEO Pulse Survey, May 2026, using the consumer products cut of the data based on 100 sector CEOs. That data provides a CEO perspective and tests whether supply chain findings align with executive and boardroom concerns.
Executive interviews
The survey findings were complemented by interviews with consumer products executives, supply chain leaders, technology leaders and industry analysts for insights about portfolio complexity, manufacturing flexibility, governance and the future of supply chain.
The report’s interview quotes were anonymized unless explicit approval was obtained.
Secondary research
The analysis is supported by external market intelligence and data sources, including Capital IQ, Euromonitor, LSEG and Oxford Economics.
Growth in consumer products is shifting
Growth in consumer products is becoming more granular. Mega and medium-sized brands still drive most category sales and private label remains steady competition, but smaller brands are gaining momentum.
Executive Summary
Consumer Products companies were not designed to navigate complexity at speed while maintaining economic control. But growth is becoming more fragmented, less predictable and increasingly shaped by platforms, retailers and AI. Scale, efficiency and broad distribution can’t determine success alone. Businesses must prove they can serve demand reliably, at pace and at an acceptable cost.
The new CP report shows how growth has moved into complexity, with opportunities emerging in hard-to-serve demand pools.
Concurrently, future advantage will come from speed through the right complexity, meaning companies that identify opportunities worth serving will outperform.
Download the full report
Chart 1:
This chart compares the sales growth and the market share of mega, medium and small brands alongside private label over three time periods – 2016-2019, 2020-2022 and 2023-2025. Between 2020-2022 and 2023-2025, mega brands’ retail sales growth has dropped from 13.1% to 3.8%, while small brands have held steady at 8.2% and 8.1%. For the same period, market share for mega brands changed from +2.6 percentage points to -1.2 percentage points, but small brands moved from -0.3 percentage points to +1.9 percentage points.
Chart 2:
This chart shows the different types of supply chain complexity. Some complexity (bad) creates cost, friction and delay. Other complexity (good) drives differentiation, relevancy, value and growth.
Chart 3:
This line chart shows how the ability to create and sustain value changes with the level of functional transformation achieved. Based on data from EY Consumer Products Dynamics Research 2026, it shows the share of companies at different levels:
(1) 2% Lights on – driving stability and business continuity
(2) 73% Incremental optimization – reducing operating friction and amplifying outcomes
(3) 25% Coordinated execution– executing consistent, data-enabled approach/outcomes
(4) 1% Synchronized intelligence– making better future-looking decisions faster
(5) 0% Self-optimizing ecosystem– enabling always-on ecosystem optimization
In the full report
The full EY Reclaiming Relevance: sales and marketing in an AI world goes deeper into the forces driving change in sales and marketing functions and explores what leadership teams can do now.
850 executive interviews and secondary analysis within 24 markets across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and survey results from more than 850 senior Consumer Products executives.
More than 20 interviews with Consumer Products C-suite executives and industry analysts who provided deep insights into emerging challenges, decision-making dynamics and leading practices.
Ignite relevance through supply chain in an AI world
Reclaiming Relevance: sales and marketing in an AI world
As platforms, algorithms and AI agents increasingly shape demand—often before consumers ever browse or compare—the challenge for Consumer Products leaders is no longer generating insight. It’s ensuring commercial decisions connect and carry through across pricing, promotion, media and supply.
