Can early signals help food businesses plan with confidence in 2026?
The year ahead: Food system signals, risks and opportunities
Thursday 22nd January | 10:00am – 11:00am | Online
2026 opens with familiar pressures turned up another notch. Costs remain tight, consumer expectations continue to shift, and uncertainty across supply, policy and regulation shows no sign of easing. For food leaders, the challenge is no longer spotting change, it’s acting early enough to shape outcomes, rather than reacting once pressure hits.
That’s why we’re starting the year by bringing the most important food system signals into one place.
Drawing on insights from Future Food Movement’s Transformation Table, we will translate the tensions leaders are already feeling into the signals, risks and opportunities that will shape commercial decisions in the year ahead. From early demand shifts to tightening expectations on health and sustainability, the focus is on clarity and practicality.
Informed by perspectives from Dr Clive Black (Vice Chairman, Shore Capital), Mallika Basu (Strategic Advisor & Food Writer, Basu Communications), David Edwards (Deputy CEO, Food, Farming & Countryside Commission), Antony Yousefian (General Partner, The First Thirty) and Lucy Noad (Owner of Woodhouse Farm Dairy), the discussion will centre on five industry tensions now influencing real-world decision-making, with our speakers each offering insight into how these signals are playing out across investment, policy and the wider food system.
The challenges aren’t abstract. They are real pressures showing up in commercial strategy, in leadership capability, in how consumers behave and in how trust is built – or eroded.
Why businesses are attending this event
At Future Food Movement, our role is to turn honest system insight into leadership capability and action.
Providing a clear view of the year ahead and how other organisations are responding to similar pressures, this session will help food businesses start 2026 with direction, not distraction.
Organisations preparing for what’s next are joining Future Food Movement.