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Bain & Company Unveils the 2025 Insurgent Brands List

On March 5, 2025, Bain & Company revealed its much-anticipated annual listing of the 2025 Insurgent Brands, showcasing 120 innovative consumer products that are transforming the landscape of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). This year’s edition is remarkable for the inclusion of 43 new brands—demonstrating a robust growth trajectory amidst a challenging market environment.

A New Era in Consumer Products

According to Charlotte Apps, the executive vice president of Bain's Consumer Products division, “The Insurgent Brands list serves as a compass for identifying trends that drive disruptive growth in the consumer packaged goods arena.” In an age where many brands face stagnation and consumer challenges, these insurgent players are achieving remarkable success by addressing unmet needs with authenticity and often founder-led initiatives.

Despite only capturing less than 2% of the overall market share in their categories, insurgent brands accounted for nearly 39% of incremental growth in 2024—a notable increase from 17% in 2023. This acceleration in performance illustrates their key role in propelling innovation and competitive market dynamics.

Segment Analysis: Food, Beverages, and Personal Care

The impact of insurgent brands is evident across various sectors:

• - In the food sector, these brands claimed over 27% of growth, despite representing less than 1% of market share. New entries like Cerebelly, cocojune, egglife, Mush, and Mike's Hot Honey challenge established players with unique value propositions.

• - When it comes to nonalcoholic beverages, insurgents contributed to more than 32% of category growth while maintaining under 3% of market share. Brands such as Bizzy Cold Brew, Counter Culture Coffee, Kuii, and Raw are setting new standards in this space with their innovative offerings.

• - The personal care category showcases insurgents holding a mere 3% of market share yet commanding an impressive 45% of category growth, with newcomers like Curology, Eva NYC, Kitsch, and Vanicream making waves.

Volume Expansion as a Growth Driver

The dominance of insurgent brands in market growth can be attributed primarily to volume expansion rather than pricing strategies. While price increments remained modest across the sector, volumes for these insurgents soared by nearly 60% year-over-year, in stark contrast to the overall flat growth in market volumes.

Defining Insurgent Brands

Bain & Company outlines that an insurgent brand must generate over $25 million in annual revenue, demonstrate growth more than ten times the average rate of its category over a five-year span, and exhibit positive growth over the last two years while remaining independent or only recently acquired by a larger entity in the consumer products sector.

Looking Ahead

As the market landscape continues to evolve, the insights provided by Bain’s Insurgent Brands list not only highlight emerging players but also serve as a strategic framework for sustained growth. The potential for these innovators to shape not only their respective categories but also the overall industry is significant.

With compelling consumer-centric strategies and a strong connection to their target audiences, these insurgent brands are poised to redefine the consumer goods market.

For further details, the complete list of the 2025 Insurgent Brands is available on Bain & Company’s official site.

About Bain & Company

Bain & Company stands as a prominent global consulting firm, partnering with ambitious change-makers around the world to improve outcomes and redefine industries. With a commitment to drive transformative change, Bain operates in 65 cities across 40 countries. Their dedication to social responsibility is reflected in their investment of over $1 billion in pro bono services, addressing issues from education to environmental challenges. Since inception in 1973, Bain has continuously prioritized the success of its clients, achieving unparalleled levels of advocacy in the industry.