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New AgriFoodTech trends report: from hype to rationalisation

DigitalFoodLab-2026-FodoTech-trends-curve-small

Published on January 20, 2026

We are glad to share with you the seventh edition of DigitalFoodLab’s report on trends shaping the future of Food. After more than a decade of hypes, disappointments and overall progress, the AgriFood innovation ecosystem is entering a new phase: less noise, fewer bold promises, but more results. This is a new phase for large companies, too. Ecosystem consolidation alone around key innovators is making the cost of ignoring innovation, or of being wrong, no longer marginal; it is becoming strategic.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE

The report identifies and analyses five megatrends and 36 trends. Collectively, they show that we are going through an inflexion point: from hype to rationalisation.

DigitalFoodLab-2026-FodoTech-trends-curve

Even if funding for startups has declined, and as many large agrifood companies are struggling to find their way in the current context of economic uncertainties and heightened environmental shocks, innovation has not stopped, far from it. It may have become more selective and more constrained by reality, but fundamentals are strengthening: many trends are moving forward, driven by companies with a real path to scale and profitability. Large corporations are more engaged through commercialisation and scale-up deals, and valuations are more reasonable.

In a word, what we observe today is not the end of innovation, but its rationalisation and, in many ways, its implementation. In this new phase, the main risk for agrifood leaders is no longer missing innovation; it is misjudging when and where it becomes unavoidable.

Compared to the previous edition, there are some key evolutions:

  • Healthy ageing is emerging: most ecosystems are still nascent, with few concrete applications, even though the industry’s appetite is strong.
  • Sustainable ingredients: most of the underlying technologies (e.g., precision fermentation) are not yet ready to scale profitably and hence are undergoing a phase of disillusionment. Supposedly greater scalability is the main argument behind the rising trends (e.g. molecular farming).
  • Ecosystems supporting the Resilient Farm megatrend are mostly doing well and moving forward, even if they face similar scalability challenges.
  • A return to reason on artificial intelligence across all trends: it can reduce some costs, increase the speed of some processes, but it is mostly about finding incremental applications rather than a revolution.

This year, we have added an extra layer of analysis by introducing the Innovation Radar, which reveals the current industry’s level of engagement with each trend and its evolution. Indeed, in this new phase, scaling up and commercialisation will be supported in great part by incumbent leaders. We wanted to reflect how much they were invested (or not) in the different trends. As mentioned above, incumbents can’t remain spectators, and, as seen across the different category radars in the report, some companies are already taking the lead to sustain their market position or become tomorrow’s leaders in new markets.

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Each trend’s success will be determined by its ability to find answers to the following three themes:

  • Profitable scalability by finding short-term high-value applications (e.g. functional ingredients), support for industrialisation efforts, and then ramping up production to reach the mass market.
  • Political support through incentives and forward-looking regulation. Political leaders must now act depending on where they want their country to stand on the future of food: a leader, a follower, or a laggard?
  • Corporate engagement through partnerships, investments and eventually acquisitions: for companies, the core issue is no longer awareness; it is now about prioritising areas in which they want to be tomorrow’s leaders, by aligning strategy with their own assets and constraints. The same trend can represent an immediate opportunity for one player, and a distant signal for a third, depending on geography, portfolio, capabilities and time horizon.

This report reflects how DigitalFoodLab works with agrifood leaders: connecting high-level ecosystem insights to concrete strategic decisions. The future of food will not be shaped by those who follow hype cycles, but by those who understand where their innovation can become a lever of success and act before these choices become constrained.

We hope you’ll enjoy this report (available here). Also, we organise bespoke workshops to present the trends and discuss their implication on your businesses. If this is relevant to you, please reach out!

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Join the 60+ clients of Digital FoodLab: leading agrifood companies, retailers, banks, investors, startups, and public organisations.

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Use case: project for a global F&B company looking to map its AgTech innovation ecosystem and the best startups to partner with

What we did:

  • Mapping of the AgTech ecosystem: startups, research regulators, and other leading companies.
  • Discussion to select areas to focus on.
  • Analysis of the information to reveal the trends and a model to analyse eventual partners.
  • A workshop to validate the opportunities based on our recommendations.
  • Scouting of relevant partners followed by introductions.

Results:

  • Mapping the different categories of innovations in AgTech that should be considered now to create long-term benefits for the business.
  • Identification of key partners (an incubator and a couple of startups).
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Use case: project for a CPG company on the healthy ageing ecosystem

What we did:

  • Education of the board through a couple of workshops to define the perimeter
  • Identification of key opportunities and threats created by long-term evolutions (technologies, business models, behavioural changes).
  • Deep dives on each of the priority categories.
  • Co-construction of a vision on how the company should address these challenges.
  • Identification of partners (startups, incubators, funds) to move forward.

Results:

  • Creating a consensus on which categories to prioritise and how to address them.
  • Implementation of an open innovation strategy through the development of partnerships.
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Use case: project for a global CPG company to develop a strategy on the healthy ageing ecosystem

What we do (ongoing mission on a subscription model):

  • Kick-off where we present an overview of the AgriFoodTech ecosystem to select with the client the categories to cover and for each, the level of information required.
  • Monthly newsletter: each month we send a newsletter with the articles that we have gathered ranked by relevance, their summaries, and a layer of analysis.
  • Database: we set up a personalised database that will be filled month after month with the information gathered on the companies identified for the watch.
  • Workshops: twice a year with the client’s innovation team and other “innovation curious” team members, we present an overview of the evolutions, key trends and a dashboard of the topics followed by the watch.

Results:

  • A clear, regular and evolutive tool to follow what is happening in terms of innovation on key topics.
  • A forum (through the workshops) to discuss innovation trends and new opportunities.
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Use case: opportunity screening for an ingredient company

What we did:

  • Kick-off to define the perimeter of the ecosystem studied.
  • Mapping of the different trends shaping the innovation ecosystem of the client.
  • Analysis of the trends on DigitalFoodLab’s trend curve and other relevant frameworks.
  • Workshop to discuss DigitalFoodLab’s recommendations on key trends to prioritise

Results:

  • Shared view of the innovation ecosystem for the client with a view of the trends to prioritize.
  • Clear document (personalised trend curve) that can be easily shared internaly to explain the company’s innovation choices and which can be then updated each year.
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Use case: scouting for an agriculture coop

What we did:

  • Kick-off to define the perimeter of the client, the goals of the scouting (partnerships) and the criteria on which startups should be evaluated.
  • Set-up scouting: we selected the first batch of 20+ key startups following the criteria of the client.
  • On-going scouting: then we set up a quarterly scouting of about ten startups.
  • For each scouted startup, we created an ID card with key information such as the business and technological maturity, funding, and corporate partnerships. We also added an explanation of why we selected this startup.

Results:

  • An ongoing and evolutive scouting are matching the client's criteria and its capabilities in terms of deal flow.
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Use case: working on an acquisition process for a CPG company

What we did:

  • Kick-off to define what the client is seeking, notably in terms of maturity.
  • Workshop with the client based on a mapping of the different innovation ecosystems adjacent to its activities to select some priorities and discuss inspiring examples of startup acquisition stories.
  • Identification of 20+ targets.
  • Workshop to select the most relevant to engage with.
  • DigitalFoodLab worked as a sparing partner during the acquisition process, notably to help design how the acquired startup could be integrated into the overall company’s strategy.

Results:

  • Different results from traditional M&A processes with a focus on the client’s innovation strategy.
  • Identification of a good match for an acquisition.
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Use case: market due diligence on sugar alternatives

What we did:

  • Kick-off with the client to discuss its interest on this category, its expectations and existing level of information (notably on the target company).
  • Mapping of the ecosystem to analyse the different existing alternatives and technologies to compare them.
  • Interview (calls) with relevant startups made by our internal biotechnology expert.
  • Recommendation on whether to invest or not.

Results:

  • Clear view of the ecosystem and of the reasons to believe (or not) in each sub-category.
  • Enforceable recommendations based on facts and expertise.
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