The Texas International Produce Association packed Viva Fresh Expo 2026 with a clear mandate: stop selling pounds and start selling outcomes. Futurist economist Richard Kottmeyer of FutureBridge delivered the keynote, introducing "consumomics"—the collision of policy, economics, healthcare, and consumer behavior reshaping fresh produce demand over the next decade.
Kottmeyer's thesis is blunt: fresh produce sits at the center of the preventive health economy, but the industry hasn't caught up. Merchandising still defaults to commodity thinking when it should anchor in biological needs—energy, hydration, healthy snacking. He argues that healthcare trends, GLP-1 drug adoption, school nutrition mandates, and sustainability pressures will drive produce demand from outside the aisle. Companies that link needs, pricing, health outcomes, and repeat purchases through decision science will separate from the pack.
"The industry's next breakthrough may not come from growing more or shipping faster," Kottmeyer said. "It may come from changing how the market understands the value of fresh produce." His whitepaper, The Future of Fresh Merchandising, lays out the roadmap: ditch transactional selling for demand-driven strategies built on education, clinical credibility, retail media, personalization, and benefit-led storytelling.
TIPA's Dante Galeazzi and Wells Fargo ag economist Dr. Michael Swanson followed with the Market Mayhem session, polling attendees in real time on macro pressures. Results: 78% say headlines influence decisions, but only 22% feel significant impact. Global conflict disrupts 77% of businesses, yet only 13% call it catastrophic. The real pain point? Labor and immigration—69% cited immigration issues as disruptive, with labor topping concerns for the future.
"There's no single force driving change," Galeazzi summarized. Translation: companies that win will interpret intersecting data streams—labor availability, policy shifts, global instability, consumer behavior—and act on the patterns, not the noise.
The produce industry is a $100 billion opportunity wrapped in complexity. TIPA is positioning itself as the decoder ring for members navigating healthcare mandates, GLP-1 user dietary shifts, and sustainability imperatives. The takeaway for operators, retailers, and growers: the era of volume-first selling is ending. Health relevance and consumer-driven merchandising are the new growth levers—and the companies moving first will own the next decade.
