As food businesses plan for 2026, a familiar set of pressures is converging: tighter consumer budgets, faster innovation cycles, rising expectations around value and performance, and growing uncertainty about where to place bets.
These dynamics were at the centre of CFIN’s Outlook for Food Innovation in 2026 webinar that brought together senior R&D, culinary, and futures perspectives to examine how food innovation priorities are shifting—and what that means for product, technology, and strategy decisions in the year ahead.
The discussion was hosted by Dana McCauley, CEO of the Canadian Food Innovation Network, and featured insights from Dave Bender (Global VP, R&D, Griffith Foods), Christine Couvelier (President & Executive Chef, Culinary Concierge), and Mike Lee (Principal Futurist & Author, The Future Market).
Below are some of the important themes that emerged consistently throughout the session.
Three key takeaways
1) 2026 roadmaps will be shaped by value pressure and tighter spending
Affordability surfaced repeatedly as a defining constraint for innovation planning. The implication for product and R&D teams is clear: fewer “nice-to-have” initiatives, and more focus on innovations tied to tangible outcomes such as cost control, quality, taste, repeat purchase, and operational efficiency.
Dave highlighted how R&D roadmaps are already being adjusted to address value-for-money pressures, including technologies designed to improve yield, reduce waste, and increase cooking or processing efficiency—often without major formulation compromises.
2) AI is most useful as an efficiency tool in the near term
The panel treated AI as a practical enabler rather than a creative replacement for teams.
Near-term, high-impact use cases discussed included:
The consensus: AI can compress timelines and free up capacity, but it does not solve product–market fit, sensory performance, or brand positioning.
3) Faster iteration beats better prediction
A consistent operating recommendation was to shorten feedback loops.
Christine emphasized staying externally focused—through tastings, store walks, chef engagement, travel, and direct exposure to how consumers actually eat. Mike extended this into a broader innovation system insight: early signals tend to appear at the edges, and organizations with low stakes testing mechanisms see them sooner and adapt faster.
One model discussed for CPG teams was borrowing from restaurant dynamics: small runs, rapid testing, quick messaging refinement, and learning before committing to expensive scale decisions.
Signals Worth Tracking into 2026
A short list of themes raised during the session included:
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for ready-to-eat: global flavour cues, fermentation, regional storytelling, and sensory differentiation
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