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Author: Jaci Stiller SVP, Client Strategy

Jaci Stiller SVP, Client Strategy

Jaci brings over 15 years of B2B and B2C experience spanning sales, marketing, and brand and retail strategy alongside a full spectrum of clients from small start-ups to top national brands. With her expertise and infectious spirit, Jaci effectively leads our client strategy team in helping brands create meaningful relationships through powerful storytelling.

The 2027 Food Trends Lists Are Out. Read Them Backwards.

The 2027 trend reports are out, and most planning meetings will start with the watch list. Here is why the biggest opportunity for food brands sits at the other end of the report.

A giant hand points a small figure carrying a flag toward a target just out of reach, illustrating the gap between brand strategy and its execution.

Brand Strategy Execution Is the Conversation Most Food Brands Skip

Big food brands are not losing on strategy. They are losing on translation. Here's the question we ask before we ever touch a design file, and why small brands keep winning without a bigger budget.

Grid of teal speech bubbles with one orange stop sign shape, a visual metaphor for the overused food marketing phrases brands should cut.

The Most Overused Messaging in Food

Premium. High quality. Innovative. Authentic. Craveable. Every food brand reaches for the same five words, so none of them land anymore. Here are the most overused food marketing phrases quietly weakening your messaging, why buyers and AI search both skip past them, and the specific language that actually earns preference.

Scale weighing trend against truth — food industry 2026 hype versus reality

Trend vs. Truth: What’s Driving Food in 2026

In 2026, the food industry's most talked-about trends are not its most important ones. AI, retail media, and premiumization are getting the attention. Value bifurcation, GLP-1, and operator simplicity are doing the work. Here is what is actually moving the industry.

A Flexible Strategy Delivers the Greatest Return

Read our blog to learn how business leaders should think of strategy as a direction plus an initial set of steps, with flexibility built in to enable the company to adapt as new information becomes available.

Why Proprietary Data May Be Right For You

Read our blog to understand the importance of owned data and how to conduct research that works for your business goals and objectives.