Consumers aren't just buying good products anymore. They're buying products they can make their own. 

The numbers don’t lie: 

• 70% of consumers say they prefer customized products over standard ones

• 59% say they're more likely to buy from a brand that offers customization at all

• 64% of global food consumers are demanding more personalized nutrition and products tailored to their own lifestyle

Quality gets you in the door. Customization gets you the loyalty.

The dirty soda craze was never about soda

Dirty sodas are just Diet Coke or Dr Pepper dressed up with cream, fruit puree, and a splash of coconut milk. But the drink isn't the point. The build is. 

Swig and Sodalicious turned soda ordering into a choose-your-own-adventure, and customers are lining up (and paying $6+) to design their own combination. Dirty soda’s presence on restaurant menus alone is expanding at a 42% annual growth rate.

The lesson: the product is a starting point, not a finished thing. Give people a base and a way to customize it, and you turn a commodity into a ritual.

Jersey Mike's beat Chick-fil-A. Customization is why.

Jersey Mike's just knocked Chick-fil-A off the top of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, ending an 11-year streak. Jersey Mike's scored 84 to Chick-fil-A's 83, the first new leader in the QSR category in a decade.

Part of the win: "Mike's Way," the brand's built-in customization standard, and the secret menu culture that's grown up around it. TikTok's unhinged "let Mike have his way with it" trend has customers handing over full control of their sandwich build, and the videos keep racking up views. 

The result? Jersey Mike’s is now gearing up for one of the largest restaurant IPOs in history.

The insight: customization doesn't have to be literal to work. Just knowing you could have it your way is enough to build the loyalty.

Build-Your-Own hits the shelf, not just the counter

Personalization isn't just a restaurant trend. CPG brands are bringing the same logic to the shelf. 

Utz's "Build Your Bundle" lets shoppers mix and match flavors across family size, single-serve, and on-the-go formats instead of buying whatever assortment the brand pre-packed. Frito-Lay runs the same play on Snacks.com, letting customers build their own variety pack chip by chip.

The format does the same job a secret menu does. It turns a purchase into a decision the customer gets to make, not one made for them.

The brand play: a “create your own bundle” is a low-lift way for a challenger brand to punch above its weight. You don't need a menu board or an app, just framing that says "you pick."