When Ad Age named Local Produce its 2026 In-House Agency of the Year, the industry took notice. But for the team behind Instacart's in-house creative agency, the recognition was more of a validation than a surprise. 

"Winning Agency of the Year feels less like a culmination — and more like an opening act," says Megan Tuohy, Group Creative Lead. "We're now at the moment where the industry is watching and consumers are paying attention. And the goal is to build a brand people don't just love to use, but love to love."

Following the Ad Age win, the team took home three Cannes Lions, a signal that the work is resonating on the world stage.

These recognitions didn’t happen overnight. Local Produce was built with ambition, fresh ideas, and intention — right down to the tongue-in-cheek name that nods to the grocery industry it's set within.  

From Creative Studio to Creative Force

A few years back, the team operated under a different identity. Taylor Erin, who leads Local Produce, was deliberate about evolving the team’s brand to reflect where it was headed. 

"When I joined, the team was called Creative Studio — and we were primarily focused on production and executing briefs that came to us," she explains. "Renaming it Local Produce was intentional — it signaled a shift in identity, not just output. Today, we're Instacart's creative edge, setting the vision for how the brand looks, feels, and shows up."

That evolution has been years in the making, and the results are apparent: two Big Game spots, multiple award-winning campaigns, and creative work that's reshaped how the world sees Instacart — not just as the leader in grocery delivery, but as a noteworthy creative force that brings food to life.

The In-House Advantage

Ask anyone on the team why in-house works, and you'll hear a common theme: proximity is everything.

Dana Hooper, Head of Production, puts it plainly: "A team inside the business will always outperform one looking in from the outside. Our team sees the same data, sits in the same conversations, and understands where the brand is headed before a brief ever lands."

Financially, the numbers speak for themselves. Last year's Summer Like It's 1999 campaign generated $140 million in sales and 636 million brand impressions.

“Our team is hungry — okay, not literally, because we are all loyal Instacart users — but we’re always pushing for bigger, better, and more groundbreaking work.” –Megan Tuohy

A Culture That Creates

So what does it actually feel like to be part of Local Produce? The team holds itself to a high caliber with confidence in what it delivers.

"As a creative leader, I find myself consistently blown away by the talent and strategic expertise of this team,” says Chad Ford, Group Creative Lead. “Everyone is expected to produce at a high level and is here because they can and do."

Just like the best stand at the farmer’s market, Local Produce keeps its work fresh. The team emphasizes the importance of diverse perspectives, looking to many different corners of culture for ongoing inspiration.

Collaboration as a Competitive Edge

Maintaining strong partnerships across the business is a top priority for the team. One of Instacart’s core values is Go Far Together — rooted in collaboration and relationship building. Local Produce knows its creative expertise pairs nicely with the knowledge of teams across the Instacart ecosystem to deliver something beautiful.

“Our work is built on research-backed insight, not assumption. We have a close partnership with the Customer Insights team, who consistently surface cultural intelligence across a wide range of audiences. They're embedded in our process early, not just as a final check, but as an active voice shaping how we frame ideas before they get too far down the road,” Erin explains.

For Caitlin Jennings, Head of Creative Operations, getting partners to the table before a brief is locked is what makes true collaboration. "That's when we can actually shape something together, not just execute on it."

AI as a Bandwidth Multiplier

As Local Produce is tapped into what’s happening across the business, the team continues to evolve with the industry and its demands. When it comes to utilizing AI within the artistic space, it’s crucial the tool is used to protect creativity and not replace it.

"AI clears a path,” says Hooper. “The busywork that used to eat a creative's day: logging, routing, resizing, reformatting — that's where AI earns its place. Strip that out, and what's left is the stuff that actually matters: the instinct, the taste, the judgment call that turns good work into great work."

For Tuohy, the impact on writing workflows has been transformative. "AI writing tools give our team an incredible head start. Growth writers can provide AI with a brief and get a first draft of a seasonal toolkit — cutting hours on initial brainstorming and allowing them to get straight into refining."

The result, says Jennings, is scale without compromise: "With AI tooling, we can extend the team's capacity in ways that weren't realistic before — automating repetitive production tasks, generating copy variations faster. It doesn't replace creative judgment. It removes the manual overhead so that judgment is what's actually doing the work."

Moments That Matter

The highlight reel is long, but ask the team about their most memorable moments, and a few rise to the top.

"Watching our latest Big Game spot air was definitely an exciting moment," says Ford. "We put so much work into it, for months and months. Getting to make it with Spike Jonze, Ben Stiller, and Benson Boone was an experience I'll neer forget."

For Hooper, the deepest satisfaction has come not from any single campaign, but from the act of building the agency itself. "Getting to construct something from the ground up — the team, the process, the culture — that's the work that stays with you."

Looking Ahead

Local Produce already has its sights set on what comes next. What are they hungry for?

"In-House Agency of the Decade, obviously," quips Louie Spivak, Group Creative Lead. "But really, we want the world to see that Instacart can do more than deliver groceries. We can drive culture."

Taylor has her sights on something specific: deepening the creative partnership between Brand and Product, so that brand and product decisions are made together, not in sequence. "When brand and product are built from the same creative conviction, the experience becomes coherent in a way that can't be faked. We're building toward that, and the momentum is real."

Follow the Local Produce team on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on their work and achievements. 

Interested in joining the team? Explore open roles on our Careers page.