MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — What if the most powerful thing a food brand could do right now is stay curious alongside its consumer?
That is the invitation at the center of the fourth annual Consumer Curiosity Report, published today by Curious Plot, a Minneapolis-based food, agriculture and animal nutrition marketing agency. Four years of tracking early food adopters — the highly engaged, digitally active consumers who consistently lead the broader market — marks an evolution of the report and builds a portrait of a consumer who is curious, deliberate and asking more from food than ever before.
This year’s survey captures a shopper who is budget-conscious, health-motivated and quietly using the kitchen to manage something much deeper than hunger:
- 94% say food inflation has changed how they shop
- 91% are actively trying to eat healthier
- 74% are using AI for food-related decisions — up from 55% just one year ago, the largest single-year shift the report has ever recorded.
“Each year we learn more about consumers and their food curiosities and each year the picture gets richer,” said Mitch Van Kampen, president and CEO of Curious Plot. “Food has become personal infrastructure — a daily system people use to manage energy, emotion, cognition and cost, all at once. The brands willing to ask more questions are the ones that will build something that outlasts trends or a ‘flavor of the moment’.”
The 2026 report is structured around five convergence stories — each convergence draws on cross-generational data spanning culinary behavior, nutrition curiosity, purchasing drivers, AI usage, GLP-1 behavioral impact and label trust — covering more than 50 food topics across the full survey:
The Depleted Consumer · The GLP-1 Watershed Moment · The Credibility Vacuum · The Informed Appetite · The Inflation Paradox
For commodity boards, retail marketers, produce brands and farm-to-shelf organizations, the data makes the opportunity clear: 54% of early adopters will pay more for locally grown food, 52% will pay more for functional health benefits, and 49% are researching products via AI before they ever reach a shelf or package. The brands that understand what this consumer is managing — and show up in the moments that matter — are the ones that will earn their loyalty.
“This report invites more questions than it answers, deliberately,” Van Kampen said. “The food industry’s greatest opportunity right now is curiosity. We want the brands reading this to feel energized by what they find and to bring their own questions to the conversation.”
Curious Plot invites food industry leaders, brand marketers, commodity organizations and retail partners to engage with the findings and join the dialogue. The report is designed as a conversation starter — and the conversation is just beginning.
The full report is available at CuriousPlot.agency.
About the Consumer Curiosity Report™
The Consumer Curiosity Report is Curious Plot’s fourth annual examination of early food adopter behavior. Early food adopters are defined as consumers who are interested in food experiences including cooking, restaurants, health foods and food events; interact with food content online at least once per week; and consider trying new things important. The 2026 survey was conducted in April 2026, n=1,147, margin of error ±2.9%. The full report covers more than 50 food topics across culinary, nutrition, purchasing behavior, GLP-1 impact, AI usage and food transparency.
About Curious Plot
Curious Plot is a marketing, communications and consulting agency that represents clients in the food, agriculture and companion animal care sectors. With a shared purpose of “We Believe in Better,” the agency’s 130+ team members deliver services including go-to-market strategy, public relations, creative, branding, social, digital and media. With headquarters in Minneapolis, Curious Plot team members are located in 20 states coast-to-coast. Learn more at CuriousPlot.agency.
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