Top-Selling New Products of 2025: A British Infant Formula Was No. 1
For the first time, an infant formula was the top-selling grocery store product of the past year, not just in the food & beverage category but in all grocery/consumer packaged goods categories. And it’s from England.
Kendamil Infant Formula, with $303 million in year-one sales, edged out “the usual suspects” energy drinks and other beverages in Circana's quantitative annual New Product Pacesetters, a list the market research and analytics firm has been creating for more than 30 years.
Drinks dominated the Top 10 list -- there wasn’t a single “solid food” on the list. The closest things were Fruit Riot (a frozen fruit splashed with lemon juice and a candy coating) and King’s Hawaiian Soft Pretzel Bites. Those two were in 9th and 10th places.
Last year, Pilgrim’s Pride’s Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken topped the list, which, while dominated by beverages, included three other solid foods and a candy bar.
See last year's Pacesetters story here.
“Every Kendamil recipe is crafted from our home in the British Lake District by our expert team of formulators,” Kendamil explains on its website (there is a Kendamil USA at us.kendamil.com). “Our head of R&D has been working in Kendal researching baby formula for over 43 years.”
The next eight new products in the top 10 were (in order) Bloom Sparkling Energy, Red Bull The Pink Edition, Canada Dry Fruit Splash Cherry Ginger Ale (from Keurig Dr Pepper), Oikos Pro Drinks + Oikos Pro Shots (Danone), Sprite Chill (Coca-Cola Co.), Sparkling Ice Starburst and Topo Chico Sabores (Coca-Cola).
Testament to the collective power of innovation, the 2025 Pacesetters achieved an impressive $6.2 billion in combined year-one multi-outlet sales, Circana noted. Circana has been creating this list for 31 years.
“The biggest risk in CPG today isn’t a failed launch — it’s failing to launch at all,” said Sally Lyons Wyatt, executive vice president and global advisor for Circana. “Innovation isn’t just a strategic priority — it’s the growth engine. The brands breaking through are the ones meeting consumers where they are: balancing health with enjoyment, fusing brand equities through smart collaborations and showing up in digital spaces where discovery now begins. The playbook has fundamentally changed, and the companies that recognize that are the ones on our Pacesetters list.”
In the Convenience Store channel, Velo Plus, a smokeless tobacco, was No. 1 (sales of $479 million), and another smokeless tobacco and nicotine patch were 3 and 4. Nutrabolt’s C4 Energy x Jolly Rancher was second with $115 million in sales, and drinks took four of the next six spots, with Mars’ Skittles Pop’d No. 8 and MrBeast Feastables (chocolate bars) 10th.
While it’s too early for a full year of sales for even newer products, Circana already is eyeing some “Rising Stars” likely to lead next year’s list. Without quantifying their sales, the list includes Stateside Brand’s Surfside Canned Cocktails, Nestle’s Sanpellegrino Ciao, Bloom Pop, Dr Pepper Blackberry, LMNT Sparkling Electrolyte, Cibo Vita’s Yoggies, Island Way Sorbets, Amara Smoothie Melts, Peelerz and Reese’s Oreo Peanut Butter Cups.
Although only the top-10 lists are featured, Circana tracks hundreds of products as they are introduced each year. They begin tracking year-one sales after a product achieves 25% national distribution across the multi-outlet+ geography, and it must maintain 25% distribution or higher at the date of year-one completion. The product must have completed a full year of sales in calendar year 2025, and the top 100 Food & Beverage and top 100 Nonfood launches are ranked based on year-one dollar sales.
Circana makes available a handful of presentations on this year's Pacesetters: an analysis of the trends indicated by these successful products, an upcoming webinar and a download of Powerpoints and visuals. See them all here.
About the Author
Dave Fusaro
Editor in Chief
Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.