FMCG Weekly

Эпизоды

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  FMCG Q2 Results: Five Patterns That Matter 30.07.2026 11мин

  Q2 results confirm that FMCG's growth engine has shifted from price to volume, with Unilever posting its best volume quarter since 2010 and Coca-Cola growing unit cases five percent. But the funding differs sharply. Most companies finance volume through productivity programmes, Coca-Cola and L'Oréal self-fund through brand strength, while Essity trades value for volume. PepsiCo's failed American price cuts prove that discounts alone do not create demand. With the consumer world split between ...
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  Who Really Won the World Cup at the Checkout? 28.07.2026 19мин

  The World Cup delivered FMCG sales uplifts across markets, but the underlying sources differed dramatically. UK beer and supermarket sales surged, France saw match-dependent spikes, US growth concentrated in host cities, Germany benefited from extreme heat, Norway recorded strong beer growth, while Dutch campaigns added little corrected market growth. The key RGM lesson is that uplift is not automatically incremental or profitable. Sales may come from category expansion, competitive switching...
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  How Rafa Oliveira Turned Around JDE Peet’s 29.06.2026 25мин

  Heineken appointed a new CEO. It is Rafael Oliveira’s and this episode examines JDE Peet’s turnaround under his leadership as a case study in modern FMCG revenue management. Facing severe coffee inflation, Oliveira shifted the business away from promotional dependency, range proliferation and volume chasing, toward disciplined pricing, portfolio pruning, stronger brands and local price-pack architecture. The headline profit improvement looked modest, but the source of business P&L shows a...
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  How to win the World Cup? 18.06.2026 9мин

  This week on FMCG Weekly: how to win the World Cup. The tournament grows the battleground categories substantially, but the growth comes from base demand, not your promotion, and because everyone discounts at once, the deals largely cancel. You promote not to win, but to avoid the decremental loss of sitting out. The real opportunity is the open goal: adjacent categories like dips, mixers and ice that ride the same occasion uncontested. Capture demand before it perishes, load the pantry befor...
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  The Rise of Personalised Pricing in Grocery 03.06.2026 9мин

  This week examines the rise of personalised pricing across FMCG and grocery, and the regulatory and trust pressures now constraining it. We separate rules-based, dynamic and personalised pricing, and explain why retailers route personalisation covertly through loyalty schemes rather than visible shelf surges. We cover the United Kingdom's dual-pricing model and the competition authority's verdict, then contrast approaches at Albert Heijn, REWE and Carrefour, and the supplier response from Nes...
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  What We Learned Reading Every Major FMCG Q1 2026 Report 21.05.2026 15мин

  Q1 2026 marked a turning point for global FMCG. Across twenty-one of the largest players — from Nestlé and Unilever to AB InBev, PepsiCo and Reckitt — pricing has decelerated and volume is back as the principal growth engine. The new RGM frontier is mix: premium brands, pack architecture, energy and zero-sugar variants, and channel shifts to out-of-home. PepsiCo's Frito-Lay cut US snack prices for the first time in years. Mondelēz exposed the ceiling on chocolate pricing. Emerging markets are...
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  AB Inbev, Amazon, McDonald’s and the Battle for the "Shaky Consumer" 07.05.2026 11мин

  AB InBev has broken an 11-quarter volume slide by pivoting from brewery acquisitions to an "organic growth algorithm," concentrating 70% of its marketing on a few "megabrands." In Europe, retail sales have dipped 0.1% as energy shocks from the Iran conflict suppress consumer confidence. Meanwhile, Amazon has launched a massive price offensive in the UK, undercutting the "Big Four" on 65% of comparable grocery SKUs. Finally, McDonald’s and Burger King are leveraging value-based menu strategies...
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  Coca-Cola’s Post-Inflation Growth Playbook 29.04.2026 14мин

  Coca-Cola’s first-quarter results show a shift from price-led growth toward architecture-led growth. Organic revenue rose 10 percent, volume grew 3 percent, and EPS guidance improved, but the strategic signal is in pack design, affordability, cold availability, and occasion-based innovation. The 1.25-liter bottle and mini cans show how Coca-Cola is addressing pressured consumers without relying mainly on discounting. For FMCG leaders, the key question is whether growth is truly incremental or...
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  From Clubcard to Discounters: Who Owns Value Now? 18.04.2026 18мин

  Tesco’s strong results, affluent shoppers moving into discounters, and the decline of traditional budget ranges. Tesco shows how modern retail advantage now comes from an integrated system of price, loyalty, media, digital fulfilment, AI, and premium own label. At the same time, higher-income consumers are becoming selectively frugal, saving on low-joy essentials while still spending on experiences and chosen indulgences. Meanwhile, explicit value tiers are shrinking because retailers increas...
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  Inside the McCormick-Unilever Mega-Merger 31.03.2026 14мин

  This week’s podcast examines the landmark $66 billion merger between Unilever’s food business and McCormick, a deal creating a $20 billion revenue "flavor powerhouse." Structured as a reverse Morris trust, the agreement sees Unilever pivoting toward beauty and personal care after a century in food, while McCormick significantly scales its global footprint. We also analyze Nestlé’s response to a 12-ton KitKat heist in Italy. By utilizing humor and viral engagement, Nestlé turned a supply chain...
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  Can a Focused Unilever Match P&G and L'Oréal? 23.03.2026 15мин

  This episode analyzes Unilever’s potential divestiture of its food division, valued at over €30 billion, to McCormick & Company. This move would be a fundamental shift toward a pure-play beauty and personal care model, aimed at eliminating the "conglomerate discount" and matching the valuation multiples of peers like P&G. While the food division remains profitable with a 22.6% operating margin, its 2.5% growth lags behind the 4.7% seen in Personal Care. We benchmark Unilever’s RGM cap...
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  From Punk to Pennies on the Dollar. BrewDog, Tilray, and the "Great Narrowing" 04.03.2026 13мин

  BrewDog, once valued at $2.7 billion, sold out of administration for £33 million. This week, we examine what Tilray's acquisition of the brand tells us about a deeper structural shift in FMCG. The industry's biggest players, such as Unilever, Nestlé, and Keurig Dr Pepper, are shedding categories, demerging divisions, and concentrating on a handful of power brands. Meanwhile, a new type of lifestyle conglomerate is doing the opposite, buying distressed assets to build cross-category platforms....
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  Amazon bigger than Walmart, Carrefour's strategy and Nestle divestures 20.02.2026 10мин

  This week’s episode analyzes a major structural realignment in the FMCG and retail sectors. Nestlé is divesting its ice-cream and water businesses to focus on coffee, petcare, and nutrition under CEO Philipp Navratil, amid an infant-formula recall crisis. Carrefour is implementing a 2030 strategy focused on France, Spain, and Brazil, exiting underperforming European markets. Most significantly, Amazon has officially surpassed Walmart in annual revenue ($716.9B vs $713.2B), marking a historic ...
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  The End of Price-Led Growth 12.02.2026 7мин

  This episode of FMCG Weekly examines the structural shift from price-led growth to Real Internal Growth (RIG) in 2026. With global volume growth stalling at 0.9% and private label penetration hitting 40%, the "pricing ceiling" has been reached. We analyze how leaders like PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Coca-Cola are utilizing "right-sizing" and occasion-based Price Pack Architecture (PPA) to drive volume. A key focus is the shift from gross promotional lift to "Source of Business" logic—decomposing vol...
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  How to Survive Price Negotiations in 2026 30.01.2026 17мин

  This episode of FMCG Weekly examines the evolution of price negotiations in 2026, focusing on the shift from cost-plus models to data-driven, category-focused strategies. Matilda, the A.I. host, provides a detailed analysis of best practices for senior executives, emphasizing the importance of quantifying shopper resilience and using switching models to project category growth. Through case studies involving Mars, Nestlé, and PepsiCo, the podcast illustrates the risks of protracted delistings...
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  Davos 2026 for FMCG: AI, Tariffs, and the New Consumer 23.01.2026 11мин

  This week’s episode analyzes four critical themes from the World Economic Forum in Davos (Jan 19–23, 2026) and their implications for Revenue Growth Management. First, we examine the "AI Profitability Gap," emphasizing the need to move from operational efficiency to predictive pricing models. Second, we explore the "Fractured Economy," where declining brand loyalty necessitates a rigorous analysis of volume sources to avoid cannibalization. Third, we discuss the "Time over Price" shift, where...
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  Lidl, Hershey and Lindt’s 19% Price Hike 16.01.2026 13мин

  This week’s episode analyzes three distinct strategies in the FMCG sector amidst high cocoa prices and inflation. We examine Lindt & Sprüngli’s robust financial results, where a 19% price increase drove 12.4% organic growth despite a significant drop in volume, highlighting the risks of premium pricing power. We contrast this with Hershey’s aggressive 20% marketing budget increase aimed at revitalizing its flagship brand and reducing reliance on seasonal sales. Finally, we discuss Lidl Fr...
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  The Victoria's Secret Trap: Why the Grocery Aisle Needs a Promo Reset 05.12.2025 16мин

  Victoria’s Secret’s announced today a successful pivot to fewer discounts (+9% sales, improved margins). At the same time the grocery sector in the UK descended into a promotional price war to combat inflation. We analyze the "Post-Promotional Paradox" facing FMCG executives: as the post-COVID pricing power fades, the traditional reflex to buy volume with trade spend is losing steam. Citing data from Accuris and Circana, we explore how 94% of promotions fail to grow category value, often resu...
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  Retail Media Update: News, Trends, and Measurement Challenges 29.11.2025 14мин

  The retail media landscape is facing a reality check, with optimism dropping due to difficulties in proving incremental sales. While retailers from Morrisons to Walmart rush to implement digital screens and AI-driven ad formats to boost commercial income, fatigue is setting in. In contrast, Costco succeeds by ignoring the hype, prioritizing membership value over monetization, and integrating media directly with merchandising. Meanwhile, FMCG manufacturers face a "jungle" of inconsistent metri...
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  Decision Framework for Christmas and End-of-Year Promotions 18.11.2025 19мин

  In this special episode of FMCG Weekly, we unpack a structured decision‑framework for Christmas and end‑of‑year promotions tailored to FMCG senior executives. We cover twelve critical questions—from category expandability and market position to visibility, discount depth and supply‑chain readiness—to guide promotional strategy away from mere volume toward margin‑generating growth. By aligning mechanics with gifting and consumption missions, securing visibility, and using analytics (including ...