2022 was the year of Crocs, Meta, and cream cheese, according to a new report from Morning Consult.
Morning Consult's report ranks the fastest-growing brands of 2022. Inflation weighed heavily on consumers' minds this year, said Emily Moquin, food and beverage analyst at Morning Consult.
Consumers showed less of a willingness to spend as prices for most goods rose, she said. "There's also the emotional impact of the uncertainty, the economic turmoil that consumers might be, if not experiencing, anticipating," Moquin told Insider.
Last year's list was dominated by a mix of brands that did well during the pandemic, such as streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max. Consumers were also more willing in 2021 to try new brands, Moquin said.
This year, consumers were less interested in new things. "I've seen that ticking down throughout 2022," she said.
Morning Consult created its list by conducting two surveys: One in January and the other in October. The surveys were conducted online and asked consumers which brands they were considering purchasing or using out of a pool of 1,689.
For each brand, Morning Consult calculated the difference between the percentage of consumers who were interested in the brand in January and the percentage who expressed interest in October. The brands with the largest increase made the list.
Different age groups had different favorite brands. The top 5 brands for Gen Z, typically defined as people born from 1995 to 2010, included more digital names:
Millennials, or people born between1981 and 1996, meanwhile, included more food brands among their top 5:
Below are the 20 fastest-growing brands of 2022 for all US adults, according to Morning Consult.