What Produce Brands Should Be Watching in 2027
Five priorities for fresh produce marketing and category planning
By Matt Schraut
Every fall brings a fresh crop of produce market trends. A trend deserves attention when it addresses a need in your market and gives shoppers or retail partners a reason to choose your offering.
Below are five priorities we’re watching, built on Fusion’s own shopper research and published industry findings.
1. Online produce shopping and the digital shelf
Shoppers are getting more comfortable buying produce they can’t pick up. In Fusion’s 2026 Online Produce Shopping study, 65% of shoppers said their confidence in buying fresh produce online had grown. What would push them further is packaging: 45% pointed to packaging that keeps produce fresh longer, and 43% to packaging that protects against bruising and damage.
That makes the product page an important place to communicate freshness. Clear images, accurate pack information and descriptions of ripeness, storage and product protection can help answer questions shoppers would normally resolve by handling the fruit. Work with retail partners to make freshness guarantees and refund policies easy to find, where available, and review the product page as a shopper would.
Watch in 2027: How clearly freshness is communicated online, which product details build confidence, and how packaging protects produce from fulfillment to the kitchen.
2. Value means different things to different shoppers
Value doesn't always mean cheapest. NielsenIQ and World Data Lab’s September 2026 analysis describes a U.S. consumer goods market splitting between shoppers trading down to lower-cost options and shoppers willing to pay more for products they consider worth it. That broader finding raises a useful question for produce brands: which attributes justify the purchase for each audience?
Packaged fruit has been a key driver of growth. Fusion’s 2023 packaging research documented its contribution to fruit dollar growth while also showing differences in shopper preferences. That history is a starting point for investigating what buyers value today. Current sales and shopper research should guide decisions about format, price and messaging.
The lesson for 2027 is that one value message rarely fits everyone. A larger pack may win on price per pound, while a smaller one fits the budget and the week's meals. Before committing to a single message, test which attributes justify the purchase for each shopper segment.
Watch in 2027: How price, pack size and product attributes affect purchasing by household segment, retail channel and market.
3. Convenience, from the kitchen to the checkout
Circana’s January 2026 fresh produce outlook pointed to meal solutions and pre-cut options as areas worth investing in. Convenience can mean less prep, easier storage or the right portion, and a lunchbox snack pack solves a different problem than a family meal kit. The opportunity depends on the commodity, the shopper and the cost of delivering the benefit.
Convenience doesn’t end at the shelf, either. In Fusion’s self-checkout survey, more than three-quarters of shoppers said they regularly use self-checkout, and 90% were satisfied with it. But nearly 60% had trouble scanning packaged produce, and more than two-thirds ran into problems with bulk items, friction the survey linked to missed sales. Clear PLUs, scannable labels and packaging designed with the self-checkout lane in mind are small fixes with a direct line to the register.
Watch in 2027: Which usage occasions have room to grow, whether current formats meet those needs, and whether your products move smoothly through every checkout lane.
4. Health messaging that shoppers can act on
NielsenIQ’s June 2026 health and wellness analysis describes shoppers putting more weight on functional benefits, ingredient transparency and messages that feel personally relevant. Fresh produce starts with an advantage here, but only when the benefit is specific and easy to use.
Knowing which nutrients your product contains is only part of developing an effective message. Understanding which benefits matter to consumers and influence purchase decisions helps you decide what to emphasize. Fusion's consumer research can help identify those priorities and test whether shoppers understand the message and find it relevant. Pair substantiated product benefits with practical preparation ideas and eating occasions.
Watch in 2027: Which nutritional benefits matter to your target households, which influence purchasing, and how to communicate them through packaging, retail education and marketing programs.
5. The households behind category growth
Dollar sales show whether category spending increased, but they do not explain what drove the change. We explored shopper purchasing patterns in Understanding Purchase Frequency. For 2027 planning, examine measures such as household penetration, purchase frequency, and spend per trip. Read these alongside volume and pricing to understand what is changing.
These measures point to different questions for category planning. If many households buy a fruit or vegetable but purchase it infrequently, research can explore what would encourage another purchase occasion. If relatively few households buy it, research can investigate barriers to trying it. These purchasing patterns are examples to investigate, and they can help focus recommendations in a category review.
Watch in 2027: Whether growth comes from new buyers, more frequent purchases or larger baskets, and which investments address the strongest opportunity.
Turning research into a 2027 plan
Experience and intuition can generate useful ideas. Before committing resources, test those ideas against the facts of your brand, consumer, company and marketplace. Connect each priority to a business question, a target household and a measurable result. That gives research a clear purpose and gives your sales team evidence to bring into retail conversations.
Use those insights to shape the message as well as the strategy. Understanding why shoppers buy, what they value and where they encounter friction can inform a product concept, strengthen a retail presentation and make a campaign more relevant.
If you're building your 2027 plan now, let's talk. For nearly three decades, Fusion has helped fresh produce brands and organizations turn shopper research into strategy, retail programs and trade communications that move product.