Some cats are extremely particular about the kind of toys they like, and completely disinterested in others. It may be something as simple as you haven't found the "right" toy yet. The variety available in cat toys these days can be surprising, with a very wide range of appeal and play-action.
Balls: The most familiar version of these would be the hard plastic "jingle balls" that are well known for keeping people awake at night, but they certainly aren't the only ones. You can also find rubbery bouncy ones, plush ones (with and without catnip), ones with feathers sewn into them, ones made of (real or faux) fur, "pompon" style ones (which are often "marinated" in catnip), crinkly Mylar ones, ones wrapped in sisal fabric, mini tennis ball ones, rattle ones, electronic ones that move on their own, ones that make prey sounds... there's a practically infinite variety of balls available, all with different motions and appeals. One of mine absolutely loves to chase jingle balls, another likes tossing Mylar ones around, and the third doesn't care about them at all.
Prey: Best personified by the "small fur-covered mouse," there's a wide range of these available as well. You can find them in various sizes, using cloth, felt, or real and faux fur (real is often harder to find, but seems to go over better with cats, to whom they smell more like "real" prey). They can have no, short, long, wide, string, sisal, or feather tails, likely with more options. They can have hard plastic bodies or soft plush ones. They can even have electronics to make prey sounds or move around the floor on their own. Here, one of my cats absolutely adores just about any furry mouse (especially with long/wide tails to grab onto and carry them around), another will bat around the small ones, and the third doesn't care.
String/Interactive: We all know this one too, the "toy tied to a string tied to a stick" variety, which is also a very wide range. You can have ribbons with no toys, wires for dragging the toys, regular strings, or a spring on a base. The toys on the end can be mice, feathers, ribbons, tulle bundles, birds, bells, plush objects, and so on. I even have one that's basically entirely all springs, made of coiled material that bounces in a very appealing manner. All three of my cats love every variety of string toy, especially the bouncy spring one.
Plush/Kickers: I'm grouping these together as kickers are a subset of the plush grouping. These are various stuffed toys the cat can bat and toss around; plush are typically smaller, where kickers are larger and longer, allowing the cat to grab the toy with their front paws and kick with their back legs. Kickers typically come in fleece or furry fabrics, often in a basic "sausage" shape, though sometimes shaped like a fish or animal (while still maintaining the "long and thin" shape that makes them easy to grab and kick). Plush have more variety, coming in a near infinite variety of shapes (mice, birds, squirrels, tacos, gym bags, sushi, wine bottles, Santa, butterflies--if you can name it, someone's probably made it as a cat toy). They can be stuffed with just stuffing, stuffing plus catnip, just catnip, crinkly materials, or mesh pockets you fill with catnip yourself. They might have feathers, ribbons, bells, mesh, or rubbery bits sewn on for additional appeal or benefit (the rubbery bits are often marketed for dental hygiene). Like other toys, they may or may not contain electronics to have them make sounds or move on their own. These are some of the less favorite options around here, though they do like ones with large catnip pockets a bit more (and one will sit and lick the pure-catnip ones until I take them away from him).
Lasers: There's not a ton of variety here; these are basically laser pointers, or "auto lasers" that shine the light around randomly; I'd stick to the handheld type, to help prevent shining the laser in the cat's eyes. The laser is generally a hit here, when I can find it.
Furniture: These can be the classic carpeted "cat tree," but also would include beds, shelves, houses (often made of cardboard with corrugated sections to scratch at), scratching posts, pop-up tents, cubbies, and even crinkle sacks. While most might not necessarily seem like "play" items, running up and down a tree, "attacking" a post, or pouncing out of a house are all ways I've seen cats "play" with these items. One of mine in particular loves charging and attacking her scratching posts, and frequently two of them will chase each other up and down a tree.
Other: There's so many other options that don't fit into the above categories. Of ones I've seen or purchased recently, there are sisal rings, rubber "dental" rings, plastic "springs," fabric-covered flexible coils (springy and more "shapeable" like a pipe cleaner), "pull-aparts" (bundles of string shoved into a wrapper; they can't be "pulled apart" so much as to become a danger, but they're designed to be somewhat deconstructed), mesh tubing balls/bundles, captured ball toys (tracks, customizable tracks, rings, and boxes with holes in them, all hiding one or more ball that can't be removed), and treat dispensers. Each of these has had various successes with my cats, some of them being effectively duds and others being clear hits.
Trash: Yes, literally things you might think are garbage. Paper grocery bags (remove any handles, as their heads can get stuck), shipping boxes, and crumpled paper are all very easy ones to offer up. You might also try removing the safety ring from a jug of milk, water, or a similar product and tossing that on the floor for them; this is typically a hit (and I've even seen toys designed to mimic them in the past). Plastic caps from bottles can similarly be a lot of fun (be sure they're clean of anything that might be risky, and never use one from a toxic product). One of mine is obsessed with the crinkly shrink wrap seals on bottles of supplements, and always runs to grab them from me when I open a new bottle.
If you do continue to try to find the category of toy he actually likes, and don't want your house cluttered with all the "duds," set aside a box to drop them into and, once you've accumulated a good amount, offer them to a local rescue. Since you mentioned that he loves food, I'd suggest starting out with a treat dispensing toy or two to see if those have some appeal. You can also purchase budget multi-toy packs that can cover more of a range of styles to test them out more cheaply. And trash, of course, is always free! At his age, I'd expect to see more play activity, so it may just take a little more testing out to find the best option.