22 • May | June 2026 • abasto.com The modern palate’s boredom has a name, a diagnosis, and, above all, a solution. It’s called SenseMaxxing, and it’s changing the game for retailers and snack manufacturers. BY HERNANDO RAMÍREZ-SANTOS T oday’s consumer doesn’t just walk into a store to buy something. They walk in looking for an experience. Sales data in the snack and confectionery channel confirm this pattern that many category managers already sensed on the sales floor: products that combine multiple simultaneous stimu- li, a pronounced crunch, a color impossible to ignore, a flavor that shifts from sweet to spicy in seconds, sell faster, generate more organic content on social media, and com- mand higher prices than their counterparts with a simple sensory profile. This is no coincidence. It is the com- mercial reflection of a trend that the Spe- cialty Food Association has just officially named the most important of the year: SenseMaxxing, or sensory maximalism, the consumer’s active search for products that intensely and simultaneously activate all their senses. SenseMaxxing is the Trend of the Year The Specialty Food Association (SFA) de- clared SenseMaxxing its 2026 Trend of the Year, announced at the Winter Fancy Fair. The definition is precise: an embrace of ex- periential intensity, where every bite and every sip maximize sensory saturation. In a cultural moment dominated by smooth touchscreens and algorithms, consumers are responding with a visce- ral counter-movement: they want to feel more, not less. “We spend twelve hours a day touching flat, one-dimensional glass,” explains Ke- vin Ryan, founder and CEO of Malachite Strategy and trends partner at the SFA. “SenseMaxxing is the consumer’s silent rebellion against uniformity. From textu- re and taste to visual brilliance, it will be one of the keys to differentiating products and brands in 2026.” The Sensory Revolution Redefining Store Shelves in 2026 Selling Through the Senses • Continues on page . 24 Special Insert Sweets & snacks