Nicole B.

The attached article shows some basic but impactful examples of integrating technology within the physical store layout; real time pricing and product communications updates - hands free changes. #shoppermarketing #consumerbehavior #consumerinsights #omnichannelretail #innovation #consumergoods #shopperinsights #shopperexperience #futuremarketing #retail #retailmarketing #retailexperience #brandbuilding #branddesign #branddevelopment #brandidentity #brandimage #retailexperience #retailmarketing #shoppingexperience https://lnkd.in/e6FC6AGy

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Very comprehensive and well written analysis by Scott Moses at Solomon Partners as to why C&S Wholesale Grocers is well positioned to drive success in the updated Kroger & Albertsons Companies divested store plan. Two key things Scott fails to address: First, driving customer loyalty requires much more than a robust supply chain. While it is arguably the *most* important factor (if shoppers can't find their favorite products, they will leave the store), it certainly requires other key elements to not just maintain loyalty, but *drive* loyalty. Things like loyalty programs, digital and ecomm capabilities, retail media partners, targeted customized offerings etc. - This is how you drive success and long term shopper loyalty in todays CPG landscape. Which leads me to the second area: Data Retailers and vendors have to win through data, one way shape or form. As retail media networks continue to grow across the US, along with the expansion of digital capabilities and the ever increasing complexities of the consumers path-to-purchase, data is the key to driving long term success via loyalty. That's why retailers invest millions upon millions each year in loyalty data programs and digital capabilities. And how C&S will ensure their store operating partners will be successful in this arena is really yet to be addressed. Scott makes a strong case for C&S being strong wholesale operators, highlighting their 100+ year expertise in the grocery industry and vast distribution networks and capabilities. But he leaves the door wide open for debate on whether or not C&S will actually drive success with these divested stores in todays complex consumer/retail landscape that is becoming increasingly reliant on data and digital capabilities. My curiosity (and concern) is less around whether or not C&S will be exemplary distribution partners, but whether they have the ability help these banners be successful and continue to evolve into the future of grocery. https://lnkd.in/gV4QEPzH

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I recently sat down with our ECRM & RangeMe partner Wayne Bennett and discussed how Walmart develops suppliers. We covered everything from recruiting events to resources for onboarding to how we want suppliers to grow alongside us. Check out our conversation below 👇.   #WalmartSourcing #SupplierDevelopment

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Instead of always thinking Optimum Nutrition needs to be the "clear winner" in every protein category format for Glanbia Performance Nutrition (GPN), maybe ISOPURE is the better RTD protein beverage offering to compete against the likes of market leaders…Premier Protein, Fairlife/Core Power, and Muscle Milk. But you might be wondering why hasn’t ISOPURE been successful to those massive levels yet after ~26 years in market? - packaging swap needed - marketplace timing patience needed - retail/distribution strategy shift needed - protein technology advancement needed These internal/external factors could be converging together quickly...but will Glanbia be aggressive enough to take full advantage of it? #strategy #trends #markets #fmcg #cpg #sportsnutrition #supplements #protein #beverages #innovation #nutrition #health #wellness #productdevelopment #marketing #retailing #retail #grocery #merchandising #business #businessintelligence #entrepreneurship #consultants

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A recent survey of upcoming retailer attendees for the Vitamin, Weight Loss, and Sports Nutrition program told us that there are some important trends:   ✅Berberine is hot.  ✅Magnesium glycinate is growing. ✅Nootropics emerging for mental health  ✅Colostrum is strong  ✅Thyroid supplementation is important  ✅GLP1 lifestyle is a real thing  ✅Clean Ingredients Needs in Sports Nutrition What insights or trends are you hearing about within these categories? Are there any notable innovations now coming to market? Let me know in the comments below! #ECRMRangeMe

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Learning how to make sausage with our #PSSeasoning flavors and Executive Chef Jed Hanson as a part of my onboarding process. Chances are you’ve had our seasoning if you’ve visited almost any meat market in WI. This flavor is pineapple teriyaki with real fruit inclusions.

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Get your complimentary copy of NIQ's May CPG Inflation Report 📈📊 https://lnkd.in/gBHh5W2r This month's key takeaways include: 📈 The overall cost of living pressures continue to rise. 📊 After decelerating, the rate of CPG inflation is on the rise again. 💸 CPG price increases remain below overall inflation. 📉 Sales growth is slowing as inflation eases. 💵 Consumers are spending more but consuming less. 💡 Value for money is driving growth. #inflation #cpg #consumergoods #costofliving #consumerinsights #consumerbehavior

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Cautious lower-income consumers and slower restaurant sales are squeezing Kraft Heinz. The packaged food product company on Wednesday (May 1) released earnings showing a 1.2% drop in sales, driven by lower-income consumers spending less at both the supermarket and on meals away from home. The company said it raised its prices 2.7% year over -year to offset the cost of goods such as coffee. “The gap between high and low earners continues to remain wide, and it shows a clear and continued bifurcation,” CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera said during an earnings call. “So the lower-income consumers are challenged with interest rates remaining high, gas prices elevated and savings dwindling. So there’s a clear pullback of restaurant spend by these lower-earning households, especially in restaurants and convenience stores. These consumers instead are looking for value as they prepare more meals at home.” #inflation Kraft Heinz #groceryindustry

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Building for the future means leveraging new capabilities and technology. Interesting read on how we’re reaching the end consumer within different markets!

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As ongoing financial challenges have grocery shoppers more cautious about their purchasing, many are seeking out digital rewards. In its fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2023 financial results, Albertsons Companies shared that increases in digital engagement led its growth, with identical sales up only 1% year over year in Q4 but digital sales up 24%. Central to this growth was the chain’s loyalty program, which saw its membership grow by 16% to nearly 40 million. “We delivered another solid quarter amidst a difficult industry backdrop,” Vivek Sankaran, the grocery giant’s CEO, said in a statement. “Again this quarter, we focused on our strategy to create Customers for Life, which drove strong growth in digital and pharmacy, deepened our omnichannel relationships with our customers and improved our in-store experience.” He added that this Customers for Life approach involves investments in technology “to digitally connect and further engage our customers through a frictionless omnichannel experience.” #groceryindustry

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https://lnkd.in/enn6UFiy Thee headlines from the Kantar Numerator data on how Bettergooods is impacting one category: 1) 71% of shoppers who bought Bettergoods ice cream did not know it was owned by Walmart. 2) Bettergoods appeals to both low- and high-income groups, as the PL brand saw low-income homes to be 34% more likely to purchase and high-income homes to be 20% more likely compared to Great Value shoppers.  3) Gen Z shoppers are 67% more likely to buy the Bettergoods dessert than Great Value ice cream. #privatelabel #walmart #CPG #brands #walmart

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🌟 Trend recap from the Sweets and Snacks Show! 🌟 Just wrapped up an incredible week at the Sweets and Snacks Show in Indianapolis, and while I did miss the fun of Chicago, I think Indianapolis rolled out the red carpet and the show was bigger and better than ever. Here are some of the trends worth noting: 🍬 **New Mouth Experiences:** Familiar flavors taking on new life with trends like Freeze Dried Candy and Pringles Mingles, offering a fresh and exciting texture and eating experience. 🌶️ **Extreme Flavors:**  - **Spicy Infusions:** Spicy flavors are spicing up traditional categories! Tajin chocolate-coated gummy bears were a finalist for the Most Innovative New Product Award, and spicier flavor profiles are driving innovation and growth across many categories! - **Sour Candy:** Sour flavors were everywhere, not just in traditional gummies but also in chocolates and caramels, dominating the innovative product awards. 🍫 **Functional Foods:** Snacks with additional benefits like protein+, adaptogens, etc. are offering new options for those seeking both taste and nutritional benefits. 🥨 **Pretzel Innovation:** Dots' flavor success has led to innovation across the pretzel industry, with tons of new flavor and formats being showcased. 🍭 **Better for You Candy:** There are more healthier-for-you options than past years, with new plant-based and clean label candy companies making a strong presence. 🌿 **Alternative Bases in Snacking:** We saw an increased number of snacks made from alternative bases like peas, mushrooms, and lentils, catering to diverse dietary preferences and offering better-for-you options 🌱 **Sustainable Packaging:** Sustainable packaging is becoming mainstream, with compostable bags that can also be microwaved, adding a new dimension to ready-to-eat snacks like popcorn and pork rinds. The future of snacking looks delicious 🤤 ! Can't wait to see how these trends evolve. #SweetsAndSnacksShow #FoodInnovation #Trends #SustainablePackaging #BetterForYou #FunctionalFoods Feel free to connect if you want to chat more about these trends or explore potential business! #FoodIndustry #Innovation #SnackingTrends #SustainableFuture #SweetsandSnacks

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Convenience Store News always does a great job with their annual consumer study and the report this year is no different. This study is another example of customers voting with their wallet and shopping c-stores less and buying less than they did a year ago. Customers aren't saying c-stores have to be a .99 Cent Store - most recognize they are trading their money for their time when they shop in the channel. Customers are simply saying they need alternatives to premium priced products that have the vast majority of space in each category. Carving out a few facings in each category for value alternatives will lead to volume growth in the back half of the year for retailers that add lower priced products. https://lnkd.in/g36Ng8pp

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Occasion based marketing for beverages is not a new phenominum. We just have to go back over the catalogue of historic Coca Cola ads to see how leveraging occasions has been used for decades to drive increased sales and margins for all members of the Coca Cola value chain.  “Refreshment on the Go”, “Stock Up for the holidays”, “makes food taste better”, “easy hospitality”, “Refreshing vacations” are just of few of Coca Cola’s occasion based propositions. It’s been the Coca Cola way for generations, and the basic principles from yesteryear, are still applied today. In fact, for the Coca Cola system, Occasions sit at the heart of their marketing DNA. They call it the OBPPC (Occasion, Brand, Pack, Price, Channel) process and it’s a critical element of their overall marketing. Coca Cola ensures that for each occasion, they clearly define the optimal brands to be sold, in the most appropriate packages, at the right prices, in the target channels to sell more products, at higher prices. They use occasions to pro-actively change the market dynamics in their favour by shifting the demand curve for beverages rather than simply moving along it to where the market takes them. DM me to learn more about how you can use Growth Scope to unlock your liquor market growth agenda by unlocking consumption occasions.

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"Thanks Kaleigh Theriault, great play by play on the first half, let’s take a look at what’s going to be needed to win the year." 🏈 Halftime Report: Preparing for the second half in the Beverage Alcohol Industry! 🏆 As we take a breather at the halfway point of 2024, it's clear that the beverage alcohol industry has seen some major plays and strategic moves. Let's huddle up and look at the game plan for the rest of the year: 🍺 Beer: The price increases in 2023 are putting pressure on consumers, with long-term inflation effects and multiple drivers pointing to lower volumetrics. To stay in the game, deeper price subsidization for core Beer categories is essential. However, Imports show potential for a positive finish. Maintaining consumer loyalty will be our MVP move here. 🍷 Wine: The $15-$25 range continues to be the sweet spot, driving consumer interest. But to achieve positive trends by year-end, we need to capitalize on Q4 gifting. A big comparable period is coming up, so some price adjustments might be necessary, especially for infrequent Wine shoppers. 🥃 Spirits: We're seeing a continued shakeout as consumers transition from traditional products to RTDs. Flavor and turn-key cocktails are the winning plays, making Q4 critical for gifting and entertaining. Price discounting is already in motion to boost revenue. 🍹 RTD (Ready-to-Drink): RTDs remain a game-changer this year. With their share of total Alcohol growing, we expect more stability in growth rates as the shift from Seltzers slows. Building consumer brand loyalty for Spirits RTDs is crucial, and we need to watch out for potential flavor fatigue in the second half. Let's get ready to tackle the challenges and seize the opportunities ahead! Here's to a successful second half of 2024! 🥂 "Why did the football team go to the bank at halftime? To get their quarterback!" 🏆 #BeverageIndustry #AlcoholTrends #Beer #Wine #Spirits #RTD #MarketInsights #SecondHalf #HalftimeReport Note: This report looks at the 26 week ending period thru July 6th, 2024

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When is it too soon to refresh your brand? While Sweety has only been around in its current state since 2019, we saw how quickly start up brands in CPG have evolved and we wanted to do a better job of telling our family story on pack. Sweety's #rebrand has been in the works for well over a year - and has been a labor of love for me personally and professionally. For those who know me, my past jobs have been strategic, quantitative, analytical...but never creative or artistic. Stepping into #entrepreneurship has meant that I wear a lot of hats, and the one that has surprised me the most in how much I enjoy it is that of a creative leader. I wanted to make sure we had the right partner in place to guide us in this journey, and manifest our brand vision into reality. I researched brands I loved and which agency did their branding work. After many agency interviews, we found Chase Design Group. The team, comprised of Paula Hansanugrum, Annie Dodge, Ryan Doro, Elisabeth O'Brien, Narae Park and John Tanner is like family to us now. We loved loved loved working with them, and they were so respectful of our wants, desires, our family history, while bringing in such creative ideas and knowledge about how to highlight products in store to the table. They really did a phenomenal job of bringing the fun, joy, family, heritage and shelf appeal to our brand. Oh they may have done Haagen-Dazs rebrand recently - so we know we're in good company. And now the feather in our cap is a feature by Dieline....if you asked Stacey and I, a sure sign that we've done it right? It would be an article like this about the rebrand. So now the rebrand is in the world - and I can't wait to see it in the wild (along with that childhood picture of the 3 of us). #aapimonth #foodandbeverage #design #branding

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Ok, copackers. Please enlighten the CPG community. 💡 How are you all scheduling production? I've been getting a few different messages from brand owners saying they're production keeps getting pushed back. One was even shown a backlog of customers who are waiting for a slot in production. What happens after I place the PO? I understand the timeline to source components and ingredients. Let's say that's 8 weeks. Why would it take another 4 weeks just to get into production? Is there not a way to line up your production so that when all components arrive and pass QC, they are moved immediately to production? Brands need to know what goes on. I need to know. Having a backlog of customers waiting to be scheduled for production is not a good look. Happy to record a chat with a few of you to share out in video format if that works better! Let me know. #cpg #copacking #contractmanufacturing #comanufactured #behindthescenes

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The shift towards every day value pricing is something I have talked with buyers about for the past several months. From The Wall Street Journal article on Pepsi's slowdown: “Shoppers are now less interested in buy-one-get-one-free promotions and want lower price points for single items, Caulfield added.” Consumers are more savvy than ever and understand the high/low strategy many retailers have turned to in recently to keep retails high. The challenge for EDLP vendors and retailers who opt to keep retails low is that point-of-purchase signs (i.e. wobblers, danglers, shelf strips, etc) that attract shoppers attention tend to only be given to vendors who are on a temporary promo. On my recent road trip I did notice 7-Eleven doing a great job with advertising $1 items. I expect to see more of that sort of signage from more retailers in the near future. Buyers who can find ways to attract both the customers who are comfortable in higher ring promotions and also offer EDLP pricing for value shoppers will perform well in 2025.

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C-Store retailers across the country have told me their foot traffic is down -5% to -8%. Subscription programs like the ones mentioned in this C-Store Dive article lay out some best practices for driving customers back into the stores on a regular basis. Circle K did a great job with their subscription program and getting customer participation but are now sunsetting it and pivoting to other loyalty programs. Retailers really have to do their homework to get the pricing correct but finding creative ways to stop the consumer leakage to other channels (i.e. dollar retailers) will go a long way towards keeping/growing the customer base.

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