Out Of Pantry Storage? No Problem - This Kitchen Trend Puts Your Favorite Foods On Display

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Did you know that modern food companies spend, on average, 10% to 40% of their product development and marketing budgets on packaging (per Ernest Packaging)? It's no wonder, then, that Whole Foods has suggested that food-packaging-as-kitchen-decor is going to be a big trend in 2026. While Andy Warhol might have made mass-produced soup cans into wall art, modern food companies are making food packaging into art for the kitchen counter. It's a trend that's encouraging people to keep bottles of barbecue sauce and packages of chocolate on the counter for all to see instead of hiding them away in some cupboard.

For its part, Whole Foods has cited some of its packaging design favorites. Items like Bianco DiNapoli Organic Crushed Tomatoes, Red Feather Pure Creamery Butter, and Fishwife Tinned Seafood Co. Mussels with Sweet Pepper & Garlic stand out as some of the grocery chain's best picks for artsy food labels. However, consumers who want to tap into this decorative organizing solution aren't limited to those brands. In fact, one of the best ways that foodies can show off their preferences is by sticking with foods they already purchase. The groceries people buy and eat are a mode of self-expression, and the packaging on victuals has become Instagram-worthy as a result. In other words, by showing off the foods in their original packages, consumers reveal something about themselves in their kitchen design.

As cool as this decorating technique is, there are some drawbacks. If you don't put any forethought into the display, your counters will look cluttered, like you ran out of counter space. There needs to be something deliberate-looking about the food's arrangement on the counter or in the cupboards to make it look chic and trendy. For example, if you have open-faced cupboards, place stacks of your favorite canned food, labels out, in the cupboards. These can be stacked side by side according to brand. In this case, the more orderly the piles look, the more attractive the display will be.

You can also employ the principles of pattern drenching in the space by choosing a couple of different types of items to display in groups on a riser, like cans of crushed tomatoes, bottles of olive oil, and packages of crackers. The unifying elements here will be a common color scheme, which allows you to mix and match the design elements on the food labels without making things look busy. Organizing them on the riser tidies up the look, too.

Finally, try creating a whole display around this design idea. Much of the art on these new food labels resembles vintage food posters. Use this to your advantage. For example, pair the new cans of coffee with vintage posters to create a coffee bar in your home. Use the bold imagery on the labels and the vintage coffee posters to set the tone for the rest of the display, allowing those images to inform your choices of color schemes, mug choices, and other items.