Elevating Experiences: Learnings From the Consumer Goods Sales & Marketing Tech Summit

Mealtime, Mindsets and Market Shifts: Winning With the Changing Consumer in 2026 and Beyond

Cara Loeys, VP and industry advisor for Circana‘s CPG, food and beverage sector, highlighted the profound shifts in consumer behavior and market dynamics anticipated for the coming year and beyond.

The central theme is the consumer’s “value reset,” in which financially-strained consumers are redefining what they wish to prioritize.

“Wages haven’t kept pace with the price of goods, forcing consumers into a dramatic ‘value reset.’ This isn’t just belt-tightening — it’s a fundamental change in how and where they shop, directly impacting your bottom line,” said Loeys.

She outlined key spending trends:

• The Wallet Pinch: Tighter budgets are causing a clear split. Discretionary spend is collapsing (especially in general merchandise), while critical spend is prioritized.
• The Great Grocery Migration: Traditional grocery is losing ground in “fill-your-basket” trips. Mass and club channels are taking ownership of the core shopping basket by winning on perceived value.
• New Influencers: From persistent at-home norms to the emerging impact of GLP-1 medications on eating patterns, lifestyle shifts are radically changing category demand.
• Income Polarization: Spending by low-income groups is declining while high-income spending continues to rise, squeezing the middle.

Beyond economics, there are lifestyle shifts that are accelerating change, including a greater desire for newness influenced by online trends and the emerging impact of GLP-1 weight-loss medications. The wider use of these medications, combined with an aging population and increased focus on health and wellness, is contributing to a decrease in overall calorie intake. This is driving demand for products high in protein and fiber, moving away from saturated fats, sugar and carbs.

Circana expects volatile CPG dollar growth of 3%-5% in 2026, driven by accumulating commodity costs, premium pricing from innovation and a focused strategy on finding specific pockets of volume growth amid the market shifts.

How AI Is Unlocking the Synergies Between Revenue Growth Management & Marketing

This panel discussion explored how AI is bridging the traditional gap between RGM and marketing, enabling faster, more effective business outcomes in the CPG and adjacent industries.

The core challenge remains hyper-personalization at scale across all channels. Steve Chitwood, SVP, interactive strategy, HGS, highlighted that while these business problems are persistent, AI is finally offering faster and more effective solutions. This transformation is evident in the CPG space, where companies are increasingly adopting customer data platforms to consolidate complex data and expose actionable insights across various activation channels. 

This move addresses the “enormous growth in content” required by true personalization, a process that has historically been cumbersome, said Chitwood.

For companies such as Beam Suntory, AI’s value lies in early trend detection. Kris Ivicic, its VP of global analytics and sales technology, noted that in the volatile alcohol industry — which faces political pressures such as the temporary removal of American products in Canada — it’s crucial to “grab the consumer insight at the first hundred impressions.” 

By using social listening and data scraping (including foot traffic and social media images), the company aims to interpret emerging signals early enough to set the trend rather than merely follow it.

Learn more: Suntory Global Spirits to ramp up decision-making with generative AI

Amy Donahue-Kelley, global MarTech and AI lead for Shure, emphasized the need to break down functional silos. Marketing should not unilaterally invest in technology solutions. Instead, she advocated for a unified approach where service, sales and marketing collaboratively invest in technology to accelerate value realization across the business.

Ultimately, the power of AI lies in its ability to quickly adjust core business plans — including investment, marketing and digital advertising — eliminating weeks of lost time and enabling rapid activation in dynamic cycles. This ensures that the technology directly addresses a solid business problem and delivers immediate impact.