# Event Highlight: CPMA — Stop Planning for a World That No Longer Exists
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At the Canadian Produce Marketing Association’s Annual Convention and Trade Show in Toronto, I opened my keynote with a challenge: Stop planning for a world that no longer exists. The fresh produce industry is being pulled into the future by forces that are accelerating at very different speeds — robotics, AI, precision agriculture, health science, consumer change, supply-chain intelligence and rapidly evolving retail expectations. One of the examples I used was robotics. Precision agriculture and agricultural robotics have been discussed for decades. For a long time, they existed in an extended period of experimentation. Then technologies mature. Costs fall. Capabilities improve. And suddenly a trend that seemed distant becomes operational. That takes agriculture toward a world in which farming activity is no longer constrained in the same way by daylight or traditional labor assumptions. Robotics, AI and advanced precision agriculture create the possibility of doing things that once seemed inconceivable. The same acceleration is occurring elsewhere in the produce industry. Consumers want more transparency about food. Automation is changing packing, logistics and handling. Health and wellness trends are strengthening the role of fresh produce. Retail channels are evolving faster. Real-time demand data can improve supply-chain decisions and reduce waste. Sustainability expectations continue to shape packaging and operating choices. And at the consumer level, attention itself has become scarce. Simplicity in branding, packaging and communication matters more when people make decisions quickly. I also spent time on the longer-term convergence between food and health. We are moving toward a world in which nutrition can become more personalized to individual biology. That has enormous implications for the role of food, fresh produce and the broader health economy. The Packer later summarized some of the themes from the keynote, including robotics and 24/7 farming, personalized nutrition and the need to innovate through volatility. My message to the CPMA audience was ultimately about speed. In volatile times, organizations have three broad choices: Panic. Do nothing. Or focus on growth. The future of produce is arriving faster than many traditional planning assumptions suggest. The winners will be those who see volatility not simply as a threat, but as an opportunity to innovate. Read the full keynote case study, or explore more event highlights.

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Source: https://jimcarroll.com/2026/05/event-highlight-cpma-2026/