What does premium mean when people are tired, stretched, and constantly plugged in? Increasingly, it means escape. Not the long-haul kind, but something smaller, faster, and closer to home.

According to WGSN, 71% of consumers now prioritise purchases that make them feel good in the moment. A further 63% say they are actively trading up on small-scale indulgences, even as they cut back in other areas. 

The desire is not for extravagance. It is for emotional return. At Hue & Cry, we call this Everyday Escapism.

From canned cocktails that rival bar-quality pours to a £6 chocolate bar that feels like a travel souvenir, consumers are choosing items that uplift the ordinary. These moments do not require reservations or occasions. They fit into busy lives and offer brief, sensory shifts, often no larger than a mouthful.

In food, drink, and travel, this is where premium is heading. Less about scarcity, more about resonance. Less about aspiration, more about presence.

The opportunity for brands is clear:

• Create products that satisfy emotional cravings as well as functional ones.
• Offer quality without ceremony, story without complexity.
• Show up in small ways that feel considered, useful, and human.
  
  

Importantly, premium now lives at eye level. Not on a pedestal. The best executions add flavour to the everyday and fit naturally into the rhythms of modern life.

Consumers are not just spending money. They are buying moments. And those moments, from a pastry that feels like Paris to a tonic that turns a Tuesday into something more, are redefining what we mean by value.

Premium is no longer a rarefied experience. It is a repeated one, grounded in emotional connection and the promise of a better day.