Randy Ornstein

A double earnings/sales beat, raised guidance in many meaningful categories, and new product new news for CAVA makes for a great quarter. In fact, very few other brands--only a handful-- are doing as well. A new brand regarded as cool by guests and employees and the right kind of executive management and food has been evident for years now. The IPO seems to have supercharged attention and momentum. The discussion about the calendar adjusted SSS and traffic and the two year stacked SSS number warrants a note. While the 10Q P&L necessarily focuses on change from prior year, we are almost certainly wrong focusing on that number. We as an industry can and must spend more time on 2 year and even five year stacked numbers for better MD&A. CAVA did today. Their disclosure changed the tone. Thank you Brett Schulman.

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I'll be at 👉 (https://lnkd.in/geS8v3aq) the NielsenIQ C360 conference in Phoenix - May 13-16 as The CPG Guys. Will you be there as a senior leader to discuss today's important #cpgindustry topics? 1.) Total store optimization in a post pandemic world? 2.) What does today's truly #omnichannel shopper journey look like? Have #retailmedia networks changed full funnel #omnichannelmarketing? 3.) Of course, all about #artificalintelligence 4.) #innovation - most large brands temporarily slowed it down over the pandemic - now its back to the mayhem. Shelf space is not unlimited - who wins, who loses and who doesn't belong on the shelf in the first place. Watch Liz Buchanan (NA, president), Jamie Clarke (NA retail), Andrew Criezis (President, #ecommerce) and so much more.

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Tequila!   Many large players such as White Claw, and The Boston Beer Company (maker of Truly) are expanding their offerings and releasing tequila-flavored ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails as consumers are increasingly turning to tequila offerings in the beverage alcohol sector.   I had the opportunity to share my insights and thoughts on this surging trend with The Food Institute. In the article, I emphasized how innovations in ready-to-drink (RTD) formats, including tequila-based seltzers and margaritas, are meeting consumer demand for novel flavors. Additionally, I pointed out that tequila production has remained stable despite global supply chain disruptions and highlighted the increasing consumer preference for high-quality artisanal spirits.   Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gB9f-3Ci   #Tequila #BeverageIndustry #MarketTrends #ConsumerInsights #RTDCocktails

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A successful promotion takes preparation, communication, and execution. Whole Foods Market executes two promotional cycles each month - July A and July B for example. New promotions drop every other Wednesday and on this day stores transition their old displays for what is newly on sale. Knowing this, a successful promotion begins two weeks prior to change over. During this time, it's imperative that decision-makers in store are aware of what’s coming on sale, what kind of sale it is (TPR, National Off Shelf), and what has been agreed upon in the buyers office. This information helps stores plan more effectively to ensure they are meeting global directives, while flexing their own in-store autonomy. It also ensures your brand is top of mind when store leadership is deciding what brands will go where. Communicating the information once is not enough. It takes weekly reminders and consistent check-ins to ensure that your brand sees the greatest ROI on the promotional spend. The difference between a successful promo and an unsuccessful promo occurs here, in the preparation and communication stage. The execution - the building of displays, the hanging of sales tags, the managing stock levels throughout the whole promotion - is equally important but good execution means nothing if the right people aren’t prepared and informed. The holy grail of promotional execution is when stores build displays and position your brand in prime position prior to the promo dropping. That’s what we see below for our partners at LOVE CORN. This beautiful display at a POP next to the registers is built and ready to go for Wednesday's price change. Fortunately for them, they get two more days of eyes and interest in a prime location, which will only drive their velocities heading into July A. This display is a result of preparation, communication, and some beautiful execution. It takes being present getting dirty to secure, but there’s no doubt - this display is clean. Great job, Chava! Dirty Hands

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There was a moment in last week's Roundtable when Emily Flannery declared, "that's right: beverages are officially a snack, too." The way we see category lines blurring, overlapping and/or completely falling away is fascinating, and a huge opportunity for food & bev brands with the nerve to keep up. Did you see it yet? Give the convo a watch right here: https://okt.to/XpGrUZ And if this glimpse into the future inspires you, let's chat! #futurefluent #futureofsnacking #cpgtrends

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🎙Heard at #RLC2024 from Pete Cancro from Jersey Mike's Subs -- they have a $200M annual marketing budget. With 2720 stores that means the budget breaks down like this: - Per store per year: $73529.41 - Per store per month: $6127.45 - Per store per day: $201.45 Want to be a brand that's getting an offer for $8 billion to sale? You now know what you need to spend PER DAY on marketing ... #RLC #restaurantleadershipconference #restaurantbusiness #restauranttech #restaurantowners #restaurantmarketing #restaurantindustry #restaurantowner

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CPG Is Constantly Changing - Except When It's Not (part 10 in a series) The One Pro & Many Cons of OI Deals Within trade promotional spending, there are numerous tactics brands leverage to increase trial, repeat purchase and other distribution, merchandising & pricing strategies. One of these tactics is offering Off-Invoice deals to direct buying customers, primarily distributors. The 'typical' phrase bantered about is the 'quarterly 15% OI'. It sounds innocuous enough, doesn't it. Let's put it in perspective; it's pretty simply math. If I'm a million $ brand, it's $150K. a Lot of money! A $5 brand? $750K. I'm guessing any brand could certainly use a couple hundred thousand dollars right about now, no? Most I talk to could! So, what do you get for it? In terms of tangible benefits (a smiling distributor doesn't count)? After all this time, I can think of one - it's simple. Hell yeah, giving $ away is never really that hard. Without a lot of detail, here's a few negatives about OI deals: 1. It's a boatload if $ - as in a full 15% of your gross revenue. If you give it quarterly, there will 'bridge' from deal to deal, and in some cases, deduct if they didn't buy enough. 2. It seldom generates any performance (isn't that the main objective of trade spending?). 3. If you do want performance, you have to align another performance deal on top of it (more complexity - kind of kills the simple part). 4. In many cases, you could run a more aggressive, targeted event, even a semi-annual BOGO at key retailers, for less dollars (see post 3 in this series for more details). And, yes, deductions are complex. However, is giving away 15% of your gross revenue worth a little simplicity? Maybe deal with the deduction issue instead (more on that coming up). What benefits are really missing here? If your brand has value and a retailer & consumer demand, distributors need to stock it. Let's all collectively figure out the most effective ways to redeploy these funds and sell a lot more - we've proven over and over again we can! ----------------------------------------------------- For more information or to see additional posts on improving your trade promotion, visit Schroeder & Associated LLC at www.schroedercpg.com.

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SAFE NOTES ARE NOW UNSAFE... OK so what is going to happen to the money that was poured into CPG Brands via these supposed SAFE Notes? Issue is that no priced round took place and now it is likely if it did happen it would be at a fraction of the valuation that was contemplated leading to massive dilution for the founder. Many have a cap...few have a floor. and unless they are converted it will be impossible to raise new money at any valuation. #cpg #safenotes #fundraising

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CPG Is Constantly Changing - Except When It's Not (part 8 in a series) The Role of Sales in CPG The role of sales has actually changed little since trade promotion escalated over 30 years ago - and even before then. Sales has always been charged to increase a brand's DSMP - Distribution, Shelf Position, Merchandising Support & Pricing Effectiveness to improve profitable revenue and volume. The key phrase there being 'improve PROFITABLE revenue and volume'. And trade promotion is over 25% of your gross revenue - even though a lot of it may be buried in those distributor deductions. So, what does that mean? Here are a few quick questions to ask yourselves: * Are we securing the RIGHT doors, not necessarily the most doors. * Are we finding the RIGHT everyday price point to increase profitable revenue and volume, not just what happens based on the various markups. * Have we developed the RIGHT promotional mix, not just doing what the retailer or distributor thinks is great. So, how do you get there? I constantly have heard, 'We don't want our sales folks behind a computer, we want them out selling'! Let's face it, selling in CPG requires more analytical skills than most positions. Yes, both your sales team and brokers need to be with customers, but they need a lot to most of their time developing profitable brand plans for DSMP, developing profitable customer plans, executing & revising the plans as the environment is constantly changing, and then addressing the process all over again. That's happening with fact-based analysis. And it grows progressively. So, if you're an investor, founder, owner or leader, think before suggesting your sales team needs to get out from behind a computer - instead ask them more questions on how their volume / profit mix is being addressed by brand and by customer. And on every event. Then decide.

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Who doesn't appreciate a helpful guide!? Checkout our latest resource on how to make the most of your Instacart ads! With over five years experience running Instacart campaigns, we've seen a thing or two when it comes to successfully managing them. #celeritycpg #instacartads #retailmedia

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Exciting news from Craveworthy Brands As many of you know, I love to hint at our next big moves. Some might question this approach, but I believe it’s crucial to show my commitment to pushing our team and our dreams to new heights. Our latest acquisition is a game-changer, bringing Taim and Hot Chicken Takeover into our family! This strategic move will supercharge growth for our beloved Soom Soom and The Budlong Southern Chicken providing them an extraordinary platform to thrive. Additionally, it accelerates the expansion for Sigri Indian BBQ, offering immediate opportunities for two to three new locations. We’re also setting the stage to launch Costeño Rojo, testing a few locations to refine our concept further. But it’s not just about growth—it’s about people. We’re thrilled to collaborate with the fantastic teams at Taim and Hot Chicken Takeover. Their passion and innovation are exactly what we need to reach new heights. I’m excited to see what we can achieve together with this incredible talent. Stay tuned. We’re just getting started! #CraveworthyBrands #BusinessGrowth #Acquisition #FoodIndustry #Leadership #Innovation #RestaurantBusiness #Teamwork #Entrepreneurship #BrandExpansion

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🚨 Outdated Alcohol Laws Alert 🚨 Tennessee’s recent lawsuit against six online retailers for shipping alcohol without proper licensing highlights a bigger issue: the outdated three-tier system. It’s time to ask ourselves when this prohibition-era relic will catch up with modern society. Consumers today expect convenience and choice, yet these antiquated laws stifle innovation and limit access. #Innovation #Alcohol #Laws #ConsumerRights #Modernization https://lnkd.in/g4bQr4bn

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Chipotle Mexican Grill - Anamoly in this economy even with continued price increases and hardly any innovation (they once showed a spicy chocolate shake in one of their documents a long long time ago). Stock is +30% YTD and +60% past year....... comps +5%, transactions +3% and avg check +2% "Chipotle has become the rare restaurant chain to report rising transactions despite higher menu prices. The company once again raised its prices in October, citing inflation. Others in the restaurant industry have turned to limited-time offers and deals to appeal to customers, particularly those with lower incomes." https://lnkd.in/gXuVhgUn

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Great panel discussion yesterday on Foodservice, an often underleveraged side of the food business for CPG brands. Foodservice and Retail both do over $1 Trillion in revenue and while CPG products may typically do 80%+ of their revenue at Retail, the Foodservice sector can represent an early opportunity to sell products at higher margins than Retail. Foodservice (Restaurants, Lodging, Healthcare, Education, deli and cafe areas of Grocery and C-Stores) requires less marketing than Retail where price promotions, merchandising and other trade and consumer marketing are needed to keep turns moving in that highly competitive environment. In a Foodservice environment, marketing may be limited to such simple items as sticker or card signage at the point of sale. The challenge in Foodservice is that it's a different supply chain system than Retail, often with different distributors and sales brokers working those channels, as well as different packaging needs and regulatory governance. As with all business, challenges are meant to be overcome and Foodservice can represent a substantial and more importantly profitable opportunity for food brands. Thanks to Naturally MN, FINNOVATION Lab and the excellent panel of Anna Richardson, Kate Seybold, Lolly Occhino, Jean Ronnel and Erin Denham.

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Pumped to share my recent interview with ECRM’s Joseph Tarnowski where we talked about leveraging data to drive Wild Bill’s growth! 🌟 Navigating the retail landscape can be expensive, especially when you're looking at shelling out $20-30K for a couple of basic reports from traditional data providers. That's why I'm such a big advocate for RangeMe’s premium services. Their offering of NielsenIQ category-level data to Premium and Pro subscribers is a game-changer. 🚀 It’s been incredibly valuable for gaining quick, actionable insights into the beverage category. While it’s easy to get lost in extensive data, the insights offered here—though limited to a few key reports—deliver immense value and excellent bang for your buck. Leveraging these insights has been instrumental in refining our strategy and engaging more effectively with buyers. FULL STOP! 🛑 #RetailData #BrandGrowth #ECRM #CPG #Sales #Marketing #Beverage Byzzer powered by NielsenIQ

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Some very good information here for emerging brands to understand as it relates to getting their brands from the store into the consumer's shopping carts (the hard part) vs. getting their brand into the store (the easier part). Fun stuff!

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Several CPG brands have declared war on Big Soda 🥤 And the main battle isn’t even taste. It’s branding. With seltzer sales going flat amongst Gen Z, the latest trend in the beverage industry is here: Healthy sodas 🥥🍇🍓🥭🥝 Where seltzers failed, brands like Poppi “popped” off. This new generation of sodas boasts eye-catching packaging, setting it apart from the giants like Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Big Soda’s appearance is so recognizable and established at this point it would need a total rebrand to stand out in a healthy soda market. Which they would never do. 🤷‍♂️ Aesthetics are essential and Gen Z is all about it. They love Poppi’s bold design, packaging, AND marketing moves. Last month, Poppi ranked as the 11th fastest-growing beverage brand in dollar sales. Just check out the image below and tell me it doesn’t “pop” out at you! 💥 Looks like Big Soda has some big competition. Product design matters. PickFu polls have shown time and time again that consumers get behind the more aesthetically pleasing images. The soda wars are proof of this. What do you think? Can healthy soda brands like Poppi keep a hold on the market? #HealthySoda #CPGMarketing #BrandDesign #BrandAwareness

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CPG Is Constantly Changing - Except When It's Not (part 15 in a series) The Proverbial 'Chicken & The Egg' While in a meeting the other day, someone stated in an exasperated tone. 'I wish someone had told me to get retailers first before going to a distributor'! It was a very logical comment, and an even more logical emotion. In thinking about it over the last few days, it's really not an 'either - or' situation, is it? If you get a distributor first, you're locked into their programs, requirements, fees, and whatever else comes along or is in the fine print where you need at least +2.50 reading glasses to decipher. On the other hand, securing distribution at a retailer first, may in fact, lock you into using a specific distributor before you understand what you're getting yourself into. Hence, the 'chicken & the egg'. It has to work in tandem, and like most new endeavors, it will take a bit of research. The most effective solution would be to initiate your Go to Market planning right from the start. Yep, when you start thinking about the details of the product, this process should start as well. Some initial key areas: 1. Determining some key, smaller retailers in localized markets. There are smaller chains everywhere that love partnering. They may promote on shorter lead times, provide some data that would be expensive elsewhere, have lower slotting fees, or, depending on your situation, maybe none at all. They may even have some executives in your town or neighborhood. 2. Make a list of all the distributors you can find - simply talking to folks on Linked In, or reading some posts can get you a core list of 5 or 6. Contact all of them, document the information, develop a spreadsheet of comparative costs, identify short- & long-term benefits. Align retailers with (multiple) distributor options. 3. Find a core group of experienced industry experts. Talk to anyone & everyone - one thing for certain, there are no limits on perspective in this industry. Determine who you trust and ask more questions. 4. Then, before making any final decisions, research the retailer's merchandising formats. Walk their stores, read their ads. Talk to friends, neighbors, the people at your kid's baseball games, shoppers in the stores, everyone! Know why they go there, their points of difference, how they feature & display products. 5. Contact the retailer. Ask about margin requirements, validate what you've learned. Trust me, they are not overused in these areas - too few new brands do this or even worry about a spending plan up front. 7. Put together an initial merchandising plan. Ask an expert for help. While it's a huge industry, folks are willing to assist and you're only a contact away! And, finally, if you're not having a lot of fun doing this, find something else to do - this will be your life. Finally, another proverb - 'An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.'

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In the cutthroat world of CPG marketing, it's easy to put up a tough front. But here's a juicy truth: vulnerability isn't a weakness. Being open and genuine can set you apart like a gourmet veggie burger at a fast-food joint. 😋 Over the past few months, I've spoken to many, many business leaders and various professionals and I've witnessed a few common fears that seem to be holding some of you back. 1. Fear of Judgment: Worrying your honest moments will be met with scrutiny. 2. Fear of Rejection: Thinking your true self might not be "good enough." 3. Fear of Failure: Dreading that showing your struggles means admitting defeat. But guess what? Just like adding a pinch of salt to a sweet dessert enhances the flavor, a dash of vulnerability can elevate your game. Here's how: 1. Share Your Stories: Like a well-aged wine, your personal anecdotes can deepen connections with your audience. I've connected with people over our shared love of Bridgerton (what did you think about season 3?!), or my latest hairstyle (who knew hair could inspire so many vulnerable conversations), or even how we share kids of the same age. Bottom line, authentic stories (and connections) resonate. 2. Embrace Feedback: Think of feedback as a necessary ingredient—like yeast in bread-making. It helps you rise. When feedback is constructive and offered to an open and prepared individual, it can unlock serious marketing magic. I was raised in a house where I received buckets of unsolicited feedback that I grew to embrace (thanks mom). 🤣 In truth, this prepared me to be a more active listener and critical thinker. 3. Show Your Humanity: People relate to people, not perfection. Look, sometimes there is a random typo in my blog posts. Will I shrivel up and die of embarrassment because of it?! No! I am a human, not an AI bot. My theory, be the organic, unfiltered juice in a market full of artificial flavors. 🧘‍♀️ So, next time you're crafting your marketing message or maybe your personal brand, ask yourself—are you presenting the polished, picture-perfect façade, or are you sharing the raw, real story behind your story? Remember, in the world of CPG, the best connections are often made when we let down our guard and show a little heart. ❤️ Cheers! Here is a photo of my son demonstrating his version of vulnerability. As he said, "even football players stop to smell flowers, mom." 😊 Want to (re)connect and whip up something authentic together? Start here 👇 https://lnkd.in/gWVEYkbp

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