“There is nothing about 2026 that is what we’ve always done and what we should keep doing,” says Jonna Parker, vice president of the fresh food group at Circana.
Parker, who joined “The Packer Podcast” to give a quarterly update on trends in the fresh produce industry, says the model of growers growing a commodity and then a grocery store marketing and selling that item is antiquated.
“The reality is consumers can discover and buy anything they want, whenever they want,” she says. “In any other consumer industry now, and even in produce, we are finding that digital discovery is vitally important, and e-commerce is important too.”
Parker says it’s time for the fresh produce industry to level up and fill the gap between the way consumers discover and purchase produce and how it is marketed.
“This gap between the way that consumers now discover and the way that other consumer-facing goods strategize about the role of price, availability, discovery is really disrupted right now,” she says.
Price is no longer an in-store and on-shelf discovery. Consumers are discovering produce in very different ways, she says, noting the rise of e-commerce and delivery apps.
“Nine out of 10 U.S. consumers are omnichannel shoppers, so even if they’re not converting online for the final mile of purchase, they’re using those apps as well as retailer apps to check prices, to check promotions in a whole new world,” she says.
Touting produce items for their “freshness” is also no longer a good marketing tactic. Freshness is table stakes, Parker says.
“The consumer is discovering differently in-store, out of store, in more places than ever,” she says. “So, the role of price really is not just a linear concept anymore. And I think it is the responsibility of all members of the supply chain to be smart and strategic on price.”
While consumers still perceive grocery prices are high, produce prices deflated in January and February and are lower than before the pandemic. So, she says, this is an opportunity for the industry to tout the unique value proposition of fresh produce.
Social media can play a critical role in this, too, she says. Parker points to cucumbers and grapes as ways in which both viral social media moments translated to sales data. Potatoes have also been popular on social media posts. Influencers showed how to extend the shelf life of grapes and also how grapes are a perfect snack. With cucumbers, an influencer showed how one cucumber could become several economical meals.
“This was all during a time when the consumer was trying to stretch their dollar more than ever, but we think in dollars and in spreadsheets,” she says. “We think spreading your dollar more than ever meant strategic price and promotion, but to the consumer, it was taking one item and being able to use it in multiple ways.”
She says consumers want information on how to incorporate produce into meals, and she says this is where center-store items have a leg up on produce. Center-store items have real estate on packaging and have spent a lot of time educating consumers on how to use the produce. But with produce, before the era of social media, that education came at the point of sale.
“When you compare price per ounce, price per volume, per eating occasion and serving, produce wins almost over any other thing you could use in its place,” she says. “When you show someone how to take that high-value, good-tasting, great item and use it in all these different ways, like freezing grapes or taking one cucumber and making three or four different salads with other things you have on hand, that’s [what] consumers want. They just needed to be shown.”
Parker says consumers seek out this type of food entertainment, where social media messaging can help show them new and exciting uses for sought-after fresh produce items.
“It’s entertainment at a moment where we need it more than ever,” she says.
And Parker adds that when brands spend on digital and social media messaging, it converts to real sales.
“If you look at almost any other consumer good in 2026, their marketing mix includes digital and social and trade, and the proof is so easy to see: Volume goes up when you digitally target smartly based on occasions and relevance to the right people at the right time,” she says. “All we need to do is do it.”
