The Biggest Concerns Facing Marketers in 2026
If 2025 was the year marketers experimented, adjusted, and tried to keep up with an ever-changing economy and shopping habits, 2026 is shaping up to be the year of making decisions.
In the fresh produce industry, marketing leaders are asking more pointed questions to determine what is driving growth and how to scale without losing brand trust, clarity or connection.
From where I sit, working closely with brands navigating change in real time, particularly in fresh three themes consistently rise to the top. And these three items aren’t fleeting trends by any stretch of the imagination. They’re strategic tensions marketers will be actively managing throughout 2026, often against a backdrop of tighter margins, pricing pressure, and ongoing uncertainty tied to tariffs, labor availability, and cost inflation.
AI is no longer optional AND it can’t be unmanaged:
There’s no debating it: AI is now embedded in the marketing conversation at every level. What’s changed is the tone.
In 2026, marketers aren’t asking if they should use AI. They’re asking:
- Where does AI genuinely improve efficiency and insight?
- Where does it introduce risk to brand voice, accuracy, authenticity and trust?
- And how much automation is too much?
The concern isn’t adoption. It’s governance.
As AI-generated content, predictive tools, and automated decision-making become more accessible, marketers are under pressure to put clearer guardrails in place.
For produce marketers in particular, accuracy matters as it pertains to claims about sourcing, availability, pricing, and sustainability that can’t afford to be vague or wrong. With supply chains and sales already impacted by tariffs, labor constraints, and transportation costs/constraints, this puts a lot of pressure on marketers to think more strategically about positioning in 2026. The brands that will win are those that treat AI as a strategic accelerator, not a shortcut.
Marketers are wondering, how do we use AI to make smarter moves vs. “move faster”.
Authenticity and human connection matter more than ever:
Yes, it’s completely ironic based on my line of thought above but the truth is, as marketing becomes more automated, audiences are becoming more sensitive to what feels real. We’re already seeing social media become flooded with (what we know is obviously) AI generated content (photos, videos, etc).
In fresh produce, where relationships, reputation, and reliability still drive buying decisions, this sensitivity is likely going to be even more pronounced.
In 2026, marketers are thinking deeply about:
- How to protect brand voice in an AI-saturated landscape
- How to build trust, not just impressions
- How to move from broad reach to meaningful engagement (and sometimes asking “what’s the difference”)
We’re seeing a shift back toward brand building, community, and storytelling that reflects real values, not manufactured ones. When pricing is volatile and buyers are under pressure themselves, credibility, consistency, and clear communication become differentiators and marketers should take heed. This shows up in how brands communicate on LinkedIn, how they show up at industry events, and how consistently they deliver on their promises.
For many marketers, the worry isn’t “Are we visible?” It’s “Are we credible?” This question begs us to ask deeper marketing questions relative to our B2B presence and how we’re nurturing or ignoring it.
Data strategy is now a trust strategy:
Data has always powered marketing. What’s going to be different in 2026 is how closely data usage is tied to trust and to financial decision-making.
With privacy regulations evolving and third-party data continuing to become harder to capture, produce marketers are focused on:
- Strengthening first-party and zero-party data strategies
- Being transparent about how data is collected and used
- Delivering relevance without crossing the line into intrusion
At the same time, discovery itself is changing. AI-powered search, conversational tools (like tightened up messaging and sales presentations, for example), and predictive experiences (i.e. “we understand what you’re probably looking for” vs. “what are you looking for”) are altering how customers find and evaluate brands, often earlier in the buying cycle, and with less tolerance for ambiguity around price, origin, or availability.
Marketers are asking not just what data do we have but how responsibly are we using it to help in the customer’s experience?
If I take a step back and think objectively, these three themes share a common thread and that thread is “balance”. Balance is and will continue to be more complex in 2026 due to expected rising costs, more labor challenges, and ongoing trade and tariff uncertainty that continues to impact fresh produce pricing and planning.
I believe the marketers who will feel most confident in 2026 won’t be chasing every new tool or trend. They’ll be the ones making intentional choices that are grounded in strategy, guided by values, and aligned with the customer experience they want to create.
That’s not something you automate. It’s something you lead.
