Food and beverage brands face a complex and fragmented market where human teams often struggle to spot emerging trends in time. This creates a strong opportunity for agentic artificial intelligence, which can run the entire workflow from live consumer signal to validated concept and sales strategy. However, 75% of consumer packaged goods companies remain stuck in the pilot stage, with only 18% successfully scaling AI to real impact.
From Pilot to Real Impact
The industry is not lacking in ambition. F&B brands are among the biggest investors in AI within the manufacturing sector, yet most experiments fail to translate into business value. BCG and The Consumer Goods Forum report that 75% of CPG companies are stuck in pilot mode and 82% have struggled to scale AI effectively. The main barrier cited is that pilot economics do not fully translate into full-scale business results.
Quarterly reports, historic sales figures, and point-in-time surveys provide a picture of trends that have already materialized. In a market constantly reshaped by seasons, culture, and economics, this lagged data is not useful. To succeed, brands must invest in agents with access to live demand signals: what ingredients are restaurants adding to their menus? Which dishes are consumers actively seeking out? These signals give brands an early indication of where demand is heading and how to capture the moment.
Tastewise data shows Tonkotsu ramen now appears in two-thirds of restaurant occasions where Gen Z orders soup, and demand for beef tallow has quadrupled, coinciding with a 33% decline in demand for plant-based meals among that generation. Anti-nausea is now a top eating priority for over 20% of GLP-1 users, influencing food choices among a growing number of consumers using the weight loss medication. These patterns reveal how rapidly consumer appetites are evolving.
According to Similarweb’s 2026 Generative AI Brand Visibility Index, 35% of consumers now use AI for product discovery, more than double those who use traditional search engines. This shift towards AI-driven discovery has significant implications for brands, which must now consider how to optimize their products for AI-powered recommendation engines.
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Agentic AI in Action
Agentic AI systems, like Tastewise, are designed to support the entire food and beverage workflow, from research and development to marketing and sales. These systems use live demand signals to identify emerging trends and opportunities, allowing brands to stay ahead of the curve.
The success of agentic AI in the food and beverage industry is evident in the results achieved by companies like PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Kraft Heinz, which have all partnered with Tastewise to leverage its agentic intelligence system. By leveraging live demand signals and automation, these brands are able to turn industry-leading market intelligence into production-ready concepts in weeks, rather than months.
Trained on Tastewise’s extensive real-time market trackers, continuously updated consumer panels, and over 300,000 hours of expert oversight, its AI agents support the entire F&B workflow – from R&D to marketing and sales – turning industry-leading market intelligence into production-ready concepts in weeks.
Recent Accenture research found 80% of snack and beverage consumers were open to collaborating with an AI agent to find options that match their diet, budget, and taste preferences. Instead of browsing menus and feeds seeking inspiration, consumers are simply asking AI, “Which new flavors will I love?” or “What product should I try next?” Which brands are recommended by AI assistants (and which are not) is a white space that most CPGs have yet to consider seriously.
And a trend that emerges in the retail space can quickly ripple across categories, impacting everything from home cooking to K-12 menus. Consumer demand is constantly being reshaped by seasons, social media, culture, entertainment, economics, health priorities, and the emergence of new flavors, formats, and ingredients.