Have you noticed pastel colour palettes, playful illustrations, Tumblr-inspired typography, and unmistakably "2016-style" designs making a comeback across TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest?
The "2026 is the new 2016" trend is more than a fashion or graphic design revival. It reflects a growing wave of nostalgia, embraced by both Gen Z and Millennials as they seek the positive emotions associated with a simpler, more carefree stage of life.
For F&B brands, this is more than an aesthetic trend worth following—it's a genuine business opportunity.
Why Is "2026 Is the New 2016" Becoming Such a Powerful Trend?
Nostalgia has never been a new marketing strategy.
What's different today is that the primary consumers driving the F&B industry are Millennials and Gen Z—people who grew up during the years between 2014 and 2018.
For many of them, 2016 brings back memories of:
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Instagram's soft photo filters.
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Millennial Pink everywhere from cafés to fashion stores.
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Handwritten typography.
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Cute stickers, doodles, and playful illustrations.
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Minimalist spaces filled with cheerful colours.
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The early boom of food photography on social media.
After years dominated by dark palettes, ultra-minimalist aesthetics, and "quiet luxury," consumers are now looking for experiences that feel warmer, happier, and more familiar.
How Leading F&B Brands Are Using Nostalgia Marketing
It's no coincidence that some of the world's biggest brands continue investing heavily in nostalgia-driven campaigns.
McDonald's Brings Back Childhood Icons
McDonald's launched an Adult Happy Meal featuring the return of beloved characters like Grimace, Hamburglar, and Birdie. Rather than introducing entirely new mascots, the campaign reawakened childhood memories shared by millions of customers.
The result? An enormous amount of user-generated content across TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms. Because customers weren't simply buying a meal. They were buying back a piece of their childhood.
KFC Revives Its Vintage Chicken Buckets
KFC followed a similar strategy with its Holiday Vintage Buckets, inspired by chicken bucket designs from the 1960s. A paper bucket that once served only as food packaging suddenly became a collectible. Customers:
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Took photos.
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Shared them online.
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Kept the bucket instead of throwing it away.
The marketing value of the packaging far exceeded its production cost.
Packaging Is No Longer Just a Container
For years, café owners judged packaging based on three criteria:
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Cost.
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Durability.
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Food protection.
These factors are still essential. But in today's social-media-driven world, packaging has taken on an entirely new role. It has become one of the brand's most important marketing touchpoints.
Imagine two identical cups of coffee. The first comes in a plain white paper cup. The second features trendy pastel colours, a thoughtfully positioned logo, nostalgic 2016-inspired illustrations, and a coordinated lid that matches the brand identity. The chances of customers photographing and sharing those two cups are dramatically different.
That difference is the value of thoughtful packaging design. Beyond strengthening brand recognition, trend-driven packaging transforms customers into voluntary micro-influencers who promote your brand naturally.
Why Now Is the Right Time for F&B Brands to Invest in Packaging Design
A trend only creates value when it's applied at the right moment. Today, Millennials and Gen Z don't judge food and drinks by flavour alone. They evaluate the entire experience—from the café environment and customer service to the cup they hold in their hands.
For brands planning to expand into multiple locations or maintain a consistent identity across a growing chain, packaging has become one of the most visible brand assets.
- Every takeaway order.
- Every delivery app purchase.
- Every Instagram photo shared by a customer.
Each represents an opportunity to increase brand visibility without paying for every impression. However, capitalising on the "2026 is the new 2016" trend requires more than a great idea.
Businesses need to understand how to transform creative concepts into packaging that can be mass-produced with accurate colours, consistent quality, and practical production costs. That's why choosing the right packaging partner has become increasingly important for F&B brands focused on sustainable growth.
2016 Design Trends Making a Comeback—and How to Apply Them to F&B Packaging
Not every design trend from 2016 fits the F&B industry. The key is selecting nostalgic elements that complement your brand positioning while enhancing the customer experience.
Here are some of the most effective design features worth considering.
Pastel Colour Palettes Create Positive, Shareable Experiences
If there is one defining colour trend from 2016, it's undoubtedly Millennial Pink. This soft pastel pink appeared everywhere—from coffee shops and cosmetics packaging to fashion stores and Instagram feeds. It was accompanied by Mint Green, baby blue, buttery yellow, lavender, and creamy neutrals—all low-saturation colours that feel calm, approachable, and optimistic.
For F&B businesses, these colour palettes offer more than visual appeal. They make products look more photogenic on social media while creating a friendly, welcoming impression. They're also colours that evoke memories of Millennials' younger years and Gen Z's earliest social media experiences.
That said, following trends blindly isn't the goal. A bubble tea brand targeting younger consumers may embrace bright pastel palettes, while a specialty coffee chain could incorporate nostalgic elements through softer pastel accents combined with neutral colours for a more refined look.
Softer Typography Creates a More Human Brand
The year 2016 also saw the rise of handwritten lettering, rounded fonts, and friendly sans-serif typefaces. Compared with the sharp geometric fonts that have dominated recent years, these typefaces feel warmer, more personal, and more approachable.
Illustrations Add Character
Simple illustrations, doodles, icons, and repeating patterns were also signature features of 2016 design. These details encourage customers to examine a cup more closely or rotate a takeaway box to discover the complete artwork. For F&B brands, illustrations can naturally reinforce brand storytelling. For example:
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A coffee shop might feature coffee beans, brewing equipment, or leaves.
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A bakery could incorporate illustrations of ingredients, fruit, or baking utensils.
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A tropical beverage brand might use fruit, palm trees, and ocean-inspired graphics paired with pastel colours.
These seemingly small touches often make the difference between packaging that's simply attractive and packaging customers genuinely want to share.
Beautiful Packaging Means Nothing If It Can't Be Manufactured Correctly
This is a challenge many F&B brands only discover after production. A pastel pink looks perfect on a computer screen. But once printed on paper cups or food containers, it may shift towards yellow. Mint green may appear dull. Or different production batches may produce inconsistent shades.
These issues happen because colour accuracy depends on much more than the design file. It is influenced by:
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Paper type.
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Surface coatings.
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Printing technology.
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Ink selection.
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Eco-friendly packaging materials.
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Manufacturing conditions.
This becomes especially important when using compostable or biodegradable materials, which often have natural base colours different from traditional white paper. Without careful planning, the finished packaging may look noticeably different from the original concept.
For a single-location café, this might be a minor inconvenience. For a multi-location chain, inconsistent colours weaken brand recognition and create an inconsistent customer experience.
From Design Concept to Finished Packaging: Why a Strategic Partner Matters More Than a Supplier
This is one of the biggest differences in KimEcopak's approach.
Instead of simply receiving artwork files and starting production, KimEcopak collaborates with customers from the earliest planning stages to evaluate the practicality of every design concept.Â
If you're planning to embrace the "2026 is the new 2016" trend, KimEcopak can advise you on:
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Which materials reproduce pastel colours most accurately.
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The best printing technology for different packaging formats.
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How to adjust colours so they achieve the desired effect on eco-friendly materials.
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The ideal balance between quality, cost, and durability.
This helps businesses avoid investing in beautiful concepts that cannot be reproduced accurately in production.
Visualise Your Packaging with Mockups Before Mass Production
One of the biggest concerns for café owners is:
"Will the finished product actually look the way I imagined?"
To reduce this uncertainty, KimEcopak provides realistic packaging mockups before production begins. Customers simply provide their logo or brand identity assets. The design team then creates mockups across a variety of packaging products, including:
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Paper cups.
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Cold drink cups.
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Food containers.
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Paper bags.
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Paper bowls.
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Napkins.
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Other packaging formats.
This allows businesses to visualise their complete packaging system before manufacturing while exploring multiple creative directions without paying for repeated physical print samples. It also helps brands make faster, more confident packaging decisions.
Build a Consistent Brand Experience Across Every Location
As businesses grow from one location to five, ten, or even more, the challenge is no longer creating attractive packaging. The challenge becomes maintaining consistency. A coffee cup in Toronto should look identical to one in Vancouver. A takeaway box delivered in Calgary should match one used in Montréal. If colours, materials, or dimensions vary with every reorder, the brand gradually appears less professional.
KimEcopak stores detailed product specifications for every packaging item, ensuring each reorder maintains identical colours, materials, dimensions, and production quality—whether a business operates one location or an entire franchise network.
This consistency becomes the foundation for successful multi-location expansion.
Great Packaging Needs a Reliable Operational System
Even outstanding packaging design delivers limited value if businesses constantly struggle with:
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Fluctuating material prices.
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Limited warehouse space.
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Large minimum order requirements.
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Poor delivery scheduling.
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Supply chain disruptions.
Through the Subscribe for a Happy Life program, KimEcopak simplifies recurring packaging purchasing and makes future planning much more predictable. Customers enjoy benefits including:
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Six-month price protection for better cost planning.
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Warehousing across KimEcopak's facilities in North America.
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Scheduled deliveries.
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Flexible delivery adjustments or order cancellations.
This allows business owners to spend less time managing packaging logistics and more time focusing on operations, marketing, and customer growth.
Conclusion
The "2026 is the new 2016" trend demonstrates that today's customers aren't simply looking for great food and drinks—they're searching for memorable experiences that create positive emotions. A thoughtfully designed paper cup, takeaway box, or shopping bag inspired by nostalgic design trends can encourage customers to take photos, share them online, and naturally amplify your brand.
With extensive experience supporting hundreds of F&B businesses across North America, KimEcopak offers expert guidance on material selection, packaging design, mockup development, technical standardisation, inventory optimisation, and building a consistent packaging system that evolves alongside your brand.
If you're considering refreshing your packaging to embrace the next design trend, now may be the perfect time to start the conversation with the KimEcopak team.
