Future of Food Marketing 2026: Recipe Commerce & Retail Media for CPG Brands

As food inspiration and purchase behavior continue to be more online-driven, online recipe-based marketing has become one of the most effective ways for CPG brands to connect with consumers across every stage of the journey, from meal discovery to product conversion.

2025 proved that recipes aren’t just content. They’re commerce.

Brands like PepsiCo, Sun-Maid, McCormick, General Mills, Diageo, Eggland’s Best, Bob Evans, illy Coffee, and many more have evolved into year-round partnerships, where SideChef transforms recipe content into shoppable experiences — driving guaranteed retail orders and delivering proven ROAS.

Whether your goal is to strengthen brand equity or to drive conversions and boost online or in-store sales, incorporating recipes into your marketing strategy is now an essential tool in every CPG marketer’s toolkit.

In 2026, success will hinge on how effectively brands integrate creativity, data, and AI-driven personalization into a year-round recipe-based marketing strategy. 

We’ve identified the Top 7 Trends for 2026 in planning and launching recipe campaigns.

This playbook shows you what to plan, how to execute, and the lessons from leading campaigns, equipping your brand to stay ahead and lead in 2026.

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Top 7 Things to Plan for Your Recipe Campaigns in 2026

1. Campaign Pages That Convert

Campaign pages should do more than showcase recipes—they should guide behavior. Plan for dynamic content modules, shoppable integrations, modular designs for A/B testing, and embedded storytelling.

2. Video, the New Recipe Language

Short-form vertical video drives engagement and conversion. Use split-screen storytelling, chaptered formats, and subtle product integration for authenticity.

3. Make It Shoppable—Everywhere

Integrate shoppable buttons, smart bundling, and retail media placements. Connect recipe inspiration directly to purchase.

4. Measuring ROAS and True Impact

Go beyond vanity metrics. Track add-to-cart rates, cross-retailer attribution, and ‘recipe ROI’. Combine basket data with content analytics.

5. Discoverability & AI Search Optimization

Optimize recipes for AI-driven search engines. Use metadata, ingredient alternatives, and natural phrasing to boost inclusion in AI responses.

6. Personalization at Scale

Segment by dietary needs or cooking skills, and personalize recipes dynamically. Integrate recipe personalization into loyalty apps.

7. Retail Media Integrations

Drive conversions by partnering with retailers. Co-own campaigns, target retail audiences, and connect in-store activations with digital experiences.

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1. Campaign Pages That Convert

Campaign pages are the anchor of recipe-led activations. Traditionally, many CPG brands relied on seasonal campaigns with content creators across social channels, only to see their investment fade quickly as content got lost in the algorithms within days.

In 2026, recipe campaigns must do more than show up in fleeting social feeds. They should shape consumer behavior beyond the first impression, turning inspiration into action — whether that means buying ingredients online immediately, saving the recipe for a future shopping trip, or easily returning to it when ready to cook — and delivering measurable results.

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SideChef’s Philosophy: Campaign Pages That Feel Alive

A recipe campaign page should do more than inform. It should invite action.

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Key 2026 priorities:

• Dynamic Content Feed — flexible to adapt based on season, audience, or retailer.
  Swap images and videos, publish seasonal recipes, or show content automatically based on time, region, or audience segment.
  
  
• Seamless “Add to Cart” — users can add an entire recipe to cart or pick individual ingredients, and instant purchase through retail partners.
  
  
• Embedded Brand Storytelling  — short brand messages or chef tips woven into recipe steps, with additional product info, user reviews, and shopping lists for offline users.
  
  
• Modular Design — test different recipe variations, calls to action, or banners to optimize funnel flow. The format supports quick swaps of ingredients or headlines for A/B testing.

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Because SideChef powers many brand and retailer recipe hubs, this flexibility is built into our platform stack, and CPG brands can take full advantage of the white-label recipe pages, the flexible Recipe Management System or the recipe shoppability capabilities, to embed to their own recipe pages, or to build separate campaign pages.

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SideChef’s Tip: Build one campaign template that can easily localize for retailer exclusives or regional preferences.

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2. Video = the New Recipe Language

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Short-form recipe videos consistently drive higher engagement and save rates than static images — but not all videos perform the same. Crafting winning video content is a science. In 2025, brands experimented widely: working with multiple content creators, each with their own style, testing long-form, slow-paced videos designed for easy cooking, versus quick, highly shareable clips optimized for likes and impressions that might inspire but not always motivate viewers to actually cook. So, what’s working?

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2026 Video Must-Haves:

• Focus on scroll-stopping short videos for TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
  
• Use creative storytelling: test different styles, like a quick how it’s made vs the “moment of enjoyment”, or a practical ingredient-driven vs a more immersive sensory style. Stand out from the crowd with your own unique and recognizable style.
  
• Create step-by-step video recipes (prep, cook, serve) for optimal guidance and improved AI search indexing. Even a simple GIF-style visual for each recipe step can be a game-changer for your audience — boosting engagement, encouraging repeat visits, and leaving a lasting, positive impression of your brand.‍
• Integrate brand storytelling: show your product early and often, but naturally. Show how it fits into the cooking experience, highlight its benefits in action, and weave it into moments that feel authentic rather than forced. The goal is to make your product memorable and relatable.

We’ve seen our most effective in-recipe campaigns lean into video-first creative with shoppable clickable overlays.

SideChef’s Tip: “Silent cookthroughs” (no voiceover, just textures and motion) perform really well in retail media ad placements, for an audience that’s ready to shop and cook.

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3. Make It Shoppable, Everywhere.

In 2026, inspiration alone isn’t enough — it must convert into action in a single click. Recipes should be fully shoppable across every touchpoint, whether on your website, social channels, email campaigns, or partner platforms. This means integrating “Add to Cart” button directly into your content, so users can move from inspiration to purchase without friction.

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Best Practice For 2026:

• Integrate shoppable recipe buttons and retailer links on all owned and partner content. Don’t limit the user to only shop your branded product, they need to get every component in the dish.
  
• Use smart bundling and cross-sell recipes to add entire recipes to cart with one click,  like “add this dip + chips + side” in one cart. Or build cross-brand recipe bundles (e.g., breakfast kit, taco night) to increase basket size.
• Retail media layering — your recipe placements inside retailer networks become ad inventory.
• Offline t0 online bridging — QR codes on packaging or in-store POS that open the exact recipe in a shoppable format.

SideChef helps brands take existing recipes (or new ones) and bring in the full recipe shoppability. That’s how campaigns like Goya and Doritos became fully e-commerce aware. 

🛒 SideChef’s Tip: Connected Social Recipe Content as well as TV or print recipe ads—viewers can scan a QR code to shop instantly. SideChef has partnered with cooking shows to bring recipes from the TV screen to a user’s mobile cart.

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4. Measuring ROAS and True Impact

2026 will be the year of accountable recipe marketing. You don’t want vanity metrics — you want attributable sales. Move beyond basic metrics like views and likes to focus on conversion, deeper engagement and incremental sales.

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Key metrics to track in 2026:

• Recipe funnel analytics: Track each step from “view recipe” → “add to cart” → “checkout.”
  
• Incrementality & lift studies: Compare baseline sales to campaign periods to measure recipe-driven category lift.
  
• Cross-channel attribution: Connect recipe-driven actions to retailer sales via APIs or loyalty programs.
  
• Recipe ROI metric: Calculate cost per converted recipe (i.e., cost of content + media ÷ number of recipes that drove cart actions).

Because SideChef is both platform and campaign partner, we can tie content and transaction data in unified reports.

📊 SideChef’s Tip: Combine retailer basket data with recipe content analytics to identify which dish, ingredients or visuals trigger the highest purchase intent.

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5. Discoverability & AI Search Optimization

AI-driven search is transforming how consumers find meal ideas. Optimize your recipe’s title, description, FAQ and metadata for AI engines (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, etc.).

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What to Optimize In 2026:

• Build brand-authoritative recipe hubs—trusted sources are prioritized in AI search.
  
• Rich metadata & ingredient variants — include synonyms, seasonal tags, dietary filters, common substitution and ingredient alternatives, for higher inclusion in AI responses.
  
• Conversational phrasing — title your recipe as a question or intent (“easy weeknight dinner with zucchini noodles”).
  
• Schema & structured markup — ensure recipe schema is properly embedded so AI agents and voice assistants can surface your recipe.
  
• Contextual content networks — link your recipes with related product info pages, nutrition content, or trend articles.

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Because SideChef powers extensive recipe networks, we have a deep understanding of how recipe content ranks and appears across AI and voice search platforms, and we maintain partnerships with leading AI search analytics providers.

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🤖 SideChef’s Tip: Use generative AI to localize recipes in multiple languages and formats instantly. SideChef’s team can help with this to speed up your content strategy.

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6. Personalized Discovery, Shopping ánd Cooking?

Recipes are most powerful when they feel personal and flexible. Personalization transforms a painful search for meal ideas into a delightful surprise, increasing the likelihood that consumers will engage, save, and actually cook your recipe. Rather than creating endless content, focus on guiding users to the recipes that matter most to them: you only need them to love that one recipe to win their hearts. Use AI-powered experiences to make each interaction feel personal, offering tips, adjustments, and guidance as users explore and interact with your recipes.

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What to Implement in 2026:

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• Audience segments — by lifestyle or diet (vegetarian, low-sodium), household size, cooking skill or cooking time preferences.
  
  
• Dynamic ingredient swaps — e.g. regular vs gluten-free, protein vs plant-based.
  
  
• Behavior-based recommendations — Recommendation engines that surface recipes based on user browsing or purchase history: users who view soups get fall/winter recipes pushed next.
  
  
• Loyalty / CRM integration — push recipes tied to purchase history (e.g. “you bought this pasta sauce — here’s 3 more ways to use it”).
  
  
• Personalized seasonal content (e.g., “your holiday baking planner”). Sometimes it is not about the hyper-personalization itself, but about being aware of seasonal needs and trends across your entire audience.

And you know what’s so great? Personalization is your entry into first-party data. Every interaction with tailored recipes gives your brand valuable first-party insights into consumer preferences, behaviors, and tastes, the foundation for smarter marketing, better recommendations, and stronger long-term engagement.

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💡 SideChef’s Tip: Integrate recipe personalization into your platform with our Personalization Suite, including a simple on-page RecipeAdapt plug-in, Conversation Search and Meal Matching Algorithms.

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7. 📅 Occasion-Based Calendar Planning

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Plan your recipe-powered marketing strategy and budget for the full year. Some campaigns may focus on peak moments where you want to double down on recipe engagement, while others can be flexibly A/B tested and optimized across channels throughout the year. Partnering with an partner like SideChef ensures your planning and execution are both strategic and efficient.

Aligning recipe content with the cultural and culinary calendar continues to be a powerful driver of relevance, engagement, and measurable results, keeping your brand top-of-mind when consumers are actively looking for inspiration.

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📆 SideChef’s Tip: Build a rolling 12-month “recipe pipeline” that ties into both cultural events whilst leaving room for unexpected food trends that unlock new campaign opportunities.

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8. Retail Media Integration

Retail media is the natural home for recipe-driven conversions, and in 2026, brands can maximize impact by partnering directly with their preferred retailers.

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 Best practices for 2026:

• Co-own campaigns with retailers: Feature recipes as sponsored content directly on retailer sites.
  
  
• Leverage co-branded recipe collections: Tie campaigns to retailer-exclusive offers to drive both inspiration and purchase.
  
  
• Target retail media audiences: Use insights like frequent bakers or health-conscious shoppers to personalize recipes and ads.
  
  
• Connect in-store and digital: Pair QR activations in-store with interactive recipe experiences online.

Example: A “Grill Season Starter Pack” promoted across Instacart, Walmart Connect, and recipe influencers drives measurable omnichannel lift — showing how a retailer-focused approach turns recipe inspiration into real sales.

SideChef Tip: Running a campaign with a preferred retailer? Use Shoppable Links and Recipe Buttons customized to feature only the retailer(s) you’re partnering with, ensuring every click drives the right purchase.

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📈 SideChef’s Insights & Learnings from 2025 Campaigns

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In 2025, SideChef's partnerships with CPG brands yielded significant results:

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• Short-form videos (under 20 seconds) outperformed longer formats by 3x in engagement.
  
  
• Recipes with retailer shoppability delivered up to 5x higher ROAS.
  
  
• Seasonal recipe bundles increased basket size by 18–22%.
  
  
• AI-generated recipe variations drove higher time-on-page and saves.

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Shoppable recipe ads enable consumers to add ingredients directly to their online cart from an interactive recipe. These ads have been shown to drive 2–5x higher engagement rates and up to 3x higher conversion rates compared to standard digital display ads.

Brands like Doritos and GOYA have leveraged this format across platforms like Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram, seamlessly integrating product recommendations within recipe content.

Here are some of our case studies from 2025:

• Kemps: Achieved a 14.3 iROAS and a 9% sales lift during a holiday campaign, surpassing their goals and strengthening product presence.
  
  
• GOYA: Experienced an 8.72 iROAS and a 11.9% increase in incremental sales during a holiday campaign, over-delivering on campaign targets.
  
  
• Doritos: Launched a Super Bowl campaign featuring inventive recipes like the Doritos® Loaded Poke Bowl, resulting in strong engagement and brand visibility.

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Final Thought: From Inspiration to Online Cart

In 2026, the winning CPG brands won’t just be in people’s kitchens. They’ll be in their searches, carts, and conversations. The brands that combine AI-powered personalization, recipe storytelling, and retail connectivity will define the next generation of food marketing.

If you’re a CPG marketer or brand leader:

• Request an Intro Session — we’ll provide strategic advice based on your food category, and co-develop your 2026 recipe marketing plan.
  
  
• See it in Action — explore our campaign case studies (Goya, Doritos, Walmart) to see how content + commerce is executed end-to-end.