Anthony LaGrasso

CPG Panel — “More than commerce”: 🔥 We are working on a mega panel (June 13) of CPG powerhouses right now including some of my great friends: Jamie Schwab (Colgate-Palmolive) Jamie Decker (Del Monte Foods, Inc.). We will be diving into the importance of driving direct-to-customer engagement through digital, not just commerce. Topics: (4) 1. First-party data strategies 2. Customer engagement 3. Omnichannel marketing 4. No doubt AI! We still have a few panelists spots remaining, feel free send me a DM or comment below if you may be interested or know some who would be great for this topic. #ecommerce #digital #omnichannel #strategy #cmo #cdo #ceo #cro #leadership #retailecommerceclub #cpg #privateequity #playtowin

44

4 Comments

AB InBev has reported a rise of 2.6% in first-quarter sales, in line with forecasts, but the impact of a roughly year-old U.S boycott of key brand Bud Light continued to hurt the brewer. AB InBev also sold slightly more beer than anticipated, with volumes falling 0.6% versus the 1% anticipated by analysts. Own beer volumes declined by 1.3%, while non-beer volumes rose by 3.5%. Read more https://lnkd.in/dCKmtukA

7

latest Snaxshot are you even ready?! 🌶 Momo-fuk-u takes everything back, best naive acting goes to Momofuku and marguerite mariscal just agreeing to everything, WOW! 📈Boisson retail is no more but NA continues to grow 🛒 Erewhon's RTD is apparently debuting in over 100 stores in SoCal 🍻Liquid Death, Not Beer and the vice-fication of water 👀Dr Smood Group's doubling down in CPG CURATION OF NEW BRANDS + MORE! immi's ramen-ventions: a category outlook

135

7 Comments

The non-alcoholic drinks market continues to grow and grow (and mature). Check out recent insights + stats from our friends at Grüvi: March Off Premise Retail Sales: → $48.6M > Identical to February, up 23% YoY → You can see subcategory performance in the chart below. Gruvi predicts: → 30-35% of YoY NA category growth. → 25%+ in off-prem and 50%+ in on-prem. → Premium, high quality craft or import NA beers will capture most of the growth of the NA beer market. → Big bet on NA RTDs to surpass NA wines by end of year. Gruvi has some more great stats in their blog post (link in comments). I’m hearing this same type of growth from members of the Adult Non-Alcoholic Beverage Association (ANBA). There's been some questioning about the growth of the category because of the recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy by non-alc beverage retailer Boisson and the closing of their retail locations. I was going to share some thoughts on this but the Gruvi team summed it up well: “Having served as a supply partner for Boisson, and being intimately familiar with their retail locations, it became apparent that they faced challenges across their retail and e-commerce channels. Boisson positioned itself as the upscale destination for NA beverages, boasting premium locations and a curated assortment. However, despite the overall growth in the NA market, it remains predominantly composed of NA beer (80%) and NA wines/RTDs under $12 (10%). As larger retailers expanded their NA offerings to target the mainstream consumer—the 90% of the market as seen above - Boisson was left with a small addressable market. Unfortunately, the demand proved insufficient for Boisson to sustain its operations.” Andrea Hernández also has a great take on it in her most recent Snaxshot (link in the comments). The adult NA category is maturing. Brands that do not have good business models, have bad product-market, or average quality products will need to adapt or close their doors. And this is not a bad thing. Because what rises out of this are business and products that better serve the consumer. I’m always impressed by the continued release of higher and higher quality NA products, with each raising the bar for the category. And this is great for people looking to moderate or not drink alcohol for whatever reason, and in whatever situation that best suits them. The adult NA category is getting bigger and better each day. And ANBA, our members, and I are here to continue to create a world where everyone has access to great tasting adult non-alcoholic beverages to enjoy in every social situation. And that is something we can all celebrate! 🍾 🥂 🍻 You can join us in growing the category and this movement by visiting ANBA's website and signing up for a soon to launch newsletter (link in comments). And you can follow me, Marcos Salazar 🍺🍷🥃, (& click the bell under my profile banner) to get regular insights and news about NA drinks. ♻️ #Repost if you like this post :-)

147

22 Comments

I think consumer feedback is often under used by emerging CPG brands… Coming from a Kraft Foods general management upbringing and then experiencing start-ups for many years, I’m often thinking about which “big company” practices could bring value to young emerging companies while not screwing up their great entrepreneurial culture and founder brilliance. The one area I continue to see a gap in is “entrepreneurial” consumer feedback/market research—the lack of fast/low cost consumer research options (or even confirmation research) discussed to prevent a low velocity SKU to get delisted, to maximize brand communication, and avoid wasted spend or lost opportunity on the back end. There are some great research companies out there, but their costs (while valid and worth it) are just not in the ballpark for what many founders want to spend for or go through the time on. Sometimes it’s a lot more natural for founders to go with their gut and not get bogged down by research. And I totally get this, and it does work in many instances.   I just wish there were more options out there to efficiently confirm purchase interest between two packages or between new innovation ideas to complement founder gut. In the end, it could save the emerging brand money…. Thought I’d reach out to the linkedin community, PLEASE not from research companies selling their research, but from founders/emerging brand marketers who have been through this dilemma and have found some consumer feedback very helpful and fitting for emerging brand bootstrap budget and speed (even if their own tools or alternative ways they’ve brought in consumers more)?  This sharing might help more companies maximize their moves in the future…so hope it helps… thanks! #ConsumerFeedback #jcbgrowth

70

17 Comments

This is a quick reference by consumer spend from Supermarket News. Across the U.S., the top five retailers for CPG spending are Walmart (21.2%), Costco Wholesale (7.8%), Kroger (6.9%), Amazon (5.3%), and Albertsons Companies (4.3%) This data from Numerator does a deep dive by US Region. https://lnkd.in/eYtynZRm https://lnkd.in/eutpUiku

2

The Power of a Coach 🧠 Tim Johns <> The CPG View #ecommerce #digital #omnichannel #strategy #cmo #cdo #ceo #cro #leadership #retailecommerceclub #cpg #privateequity #playtowin #pattern #thecpgview

15

1 Comment

Hey Network! I am especially excited to share the partnership that The Partnering Group and Groceryshop have developed to bring the REAL industry insights forward that will help CPG's and retailers develop strategies that are 'Ready for Commerce'. I was quoted in the article below: "For more than 30 years, TPG has worked with the global grocery, distributor and CPG community to better understand, navigate and evolve to create sustainable growth in the wake of digital disruption," said Peter Strong, Partner at The Partnering Group. "Groceryshop has been at the forefront of bringing together the decision makers that are thriving in the face of these disruptions, and we look forward to bringing our communities together to share these new and business critical insights later this year." Companies who participate in the survey will get a copy of the report and insights for you - CPG benchmark or retailer benchmark. If you are interested in participating, please reach out to me directly so that we can send you the survey. Thanks in advance for participating! #grocery #groceryshop #ecommerce #digitalcommerce #food #retail #cpg #digital

32

1 Comment

I’m happy to see private brands finally get the star treatment they deserve. This story from The Wall Street Journal Jesse Newman and Stephanie Stamm highlights a key statistic that speaks to the power of private brands: They now capture 22 cents of every grocery dollar. And it’s not just because consumers are cutting back on spending. It’s because private brands today offer not only value, but quality. In many cases not just quality but unique distinctive innovation as well. As retailers make real investments in development, packaging and marketing on private brands, the retail landscape is shifting in a major way. And no one knows that better than Daymon. https://lnkd.in/eFT2edZN   #PrivateBrands #Retail #RetailTrends #ConsumerBehavior #RetailInnovation 

116

It’s official: Grubhub is a permanent, integrated Amazon Prime feature. This isn’t shocking news, but it speaks volumes as to where Amazon and Walmart are headed strategically in their upcoming battle for Supremacy of the food supply chain. 👉 The key is that Grubhub orders are now SEAMLESSLY integrated into Amazon’s platform. This is going to significantly increase the numbers of Grubhub’s transactions. 👉The Amazon Prime ecosystem is increasingly dependent upon the customer traffic of these restaurant orders, and Amazon is betting that even more consumers will turn to “Takeout” over “dine-in” as they continue to feel the pinch of inflation. Food for Thought: 👉Does this mean these certain restaurant chains will eventually carry a selection of Amazon complementary or 365 Private Label products for delivery-only, which can supplement a customer’s Grubhub orders? 👉Imagine a scenario where every Panera in America became a de facto convenience store with a limited online only assortment driven by Private Label. 👉Loyalty and integration are the key drivers here. If Amazon can blur the lines between “food at home” and “food away from home” it opens up a different paradigm of “share of wallet.” 👉This also puts DoorDash in the driver’s seat in terms of how pure play grocery retailers need to respond. 👉Expect to see a domino effect of retailers looking to differentiate with more Private Label, and more FTM exclusives. 👉In particular, there is going to be a battle to capture market share by shepherding strong DTC Brands into exclusive B+M retail relationships as an offset to this type of asymmetrical threat from Amazon. 👉Anything that isn’t exlclusive or otherwise highly differentiated is at risk of becoming indefensible over the next 5 years. Pod Foods #grubhub #emergingbrands #innovation Flowspace Total Quality Logistics CNBC

17

2 Comments

The non-alcoholic spirits category is building amazing momentum in the US. In fact, over Easter the non-alc spirits became the fastest growing category within alcohol. Sales were up a huge 101% YoY and growth was 3x faster than any other category! It's great to see non-alc spirits continue to gain traction amongst consumers, and what's even more impressive is that CleanCo continue to outperform the category so far in 2024! --- Source: NIQ Measured Off Premise Channels (Easter = 2 weeks ending 04/06/24) #nonalcoholic #nonalc #nonalcoholicspirits #drinksindustry

35

7 Comments

The seasonality of CPG is often described as holidays, holidays, holidays. Major holidays, including Memorial Day this Monday, have the opportunity to swing your sales significantly depending on how relevant they are to your business. How significant? Let me tell you a story... In 2015, I was leading demand planning and procurement at Thrive Market. We were coming off a gangbusters year with 20%+ growth. My role was to decide how much product to buy and when. By February, I was already deciding what we’d need for the Q4 Holiday Season. Go too light and we’d disappoint the pumpkin spice chasers; too heavy and we’re selling peppermint chocolate in May! Having just launched our marketplace in 2014, I didn’t have much historical data to go off of. As we got two weeks into November, I quickly realized we were HEAVVVVY on everything but chocolate. I’m talking gingerbread houses, maple candy, advent calendars, the whole shebang. I’m sure a lot of our vendors were stoked about this extra $2M dollars I spent on holiday inventory but boy was I scared. 😨 In the end, I approached our leadership team and told them we needed to put together a plan to move through the product. The answer was a gift with purchase, a surprise and delight that worked to perfection! 🎁 By late December, we had cleared out all the holiday products with the exception of one category: drink mixes. I never need to see mulling spice again. All that to say, seasonality in CPG is somewhat predictable, but you can still be taken by surprise. Have you had a seasonal slip up like me? Share your story and learnings below!

13

1 Comment

Hugely under-appreciated CPG metric: GRABBABILITY The number of sellable units a grocery shopper can grab with one hand. CHOMPS is an example of a product with exceptionally good grabbability due to its long, skinny form factor. Compare it with Clif Bar. Both are $1.99 per unit at Trader Joe’s. And yet, I can wrap my hand around 7-8 CHOMPS, but just 1-2 Clif Bars. The result? More units of CHOMPS end up in my cart. Grabbability is *especially* key for impulse items. Takeaway: lean into items / packs / merchandising setups that allow shoppers to grab as many units as possible with one hand. #cpg #retail #didijustinventametric

236

100 Comments

CPG Is Constantly Changing - Except When It's Not (part 17 in a series) What's the Responsibility of a Broker for A New Brand? For virtually every small & midsize CPG organization, brokers play an integral role in their success as true business partners. Having worked with hundreds directly and indirectly, they are core to the success of most brands and a part of the sales teams. In these successful relationships, brokers are compensated by the same metrics as the sales teams, so objectives, strategies & the tactical plans are aligned, and they complement each other in the sales process. Recently, however, there have been multiple instances which seem very confusing in the launch of new brands, across a couple different areas: 1. Compensation For these brands, in business for 1 to 3 years, commissions ranged from over 25% of gross revenue to well over 40%. In 2 situations, there was difficulty in getting out of the relationship for a period of months. There was not a clear understanding in any situation as to the role of the broker except for their ability to secure appointments. 2. Their Role in New Brand Education We all seen countless posts here dealing with the financial fundamentals of navigating through the distributor network of the industry. To say it is complex for a newcomer is a gross understatement. In multiple situations, and after an extended period of time, there were basic examples of trade accounting that were never brought to the attention of the new brand. This includes combination of the 'free fill' with the upcharge, the fee for deducting, the overlay of the OI and the additional overlay of a scan promotion (with the additional fee) on top of that. These will all be legit deductions, and will happen over a period of time, but when accrued, can represent over 60% over the list case price these brands believe they are accountable to address. Somehow, for the retainer, there should be an education process for each new brand before a broker takes over 40% of a brand's year one gross revenue. Again, there is a recognition that this is not the norm, however, it is also not an isolated situation. It would be great to get some responses & perspectives from brokers here - I am working with quite a few emerging brands and believe everyone would appreciate the input - there are a few brands that certainly could use it.

2

CPG Is Constantly Changing - Except When It's Not (part 17 in a series) What's the Responsibility of a Broker for A New Brand? For virtually every small & midsize CPG organization, brokers play an integral role in their success as true business partners. Having worked with hundreds directly and indirectly, they are core to the success of most brands and a part of the sales teams. In these successful relationships, brokers are compensated by the same metrics as the sales teams, so objectives, strategies & the tactical plans are aligned, and they complement each other in the sales process. Recently, however, there have been multiple instances which seem very confusing in the launch of new brands, across a couple different areas: 1. Compensation For these brands, in business for 1 to 3 years, commissions ranged from over 25% of gross revenue to well over 40%. In 2 situations, there was difficulty in getting out of the relationship for a period of months. There was not a clear understanding in any situation as to the role of the broker except for their ability to secure appointments. 2. Their Role in New Brand Education We all seen countless posts here dealing with the financial fundamentals of navigating through the distributor network of the industry. To say it is complex for a newcomer is a gross understatement. In multiple situations, and after an extended period of time, there were basic examples of trade accounting that were never brought to the attention of the new brand. This includes combination of the 'free fill' with the upcharge, the fee for deducting, the overlay of the OI and the additional overlay of a scan promotion (with the additional fee) on top of that. These will all be legit deductions, and will happen over a period of time, but when accrued, can represent over 60% over the list case price these brands believe they are accountable to address. Somehow, for the retainer, there should be an education process for each new brand before a broker takes over 40% of a brand's year one gross revenue. Again, there is a recognition that this is not the norm, however, it is also not an isolated situation. It would be great to get some responses & perspectives from brokers here - I am working with quite a few emerging brands and believe everyone would appreciate the input - there are a few brands that certainly could use it.

2

1 Comment

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

14

9 Comments

CPG Is Constantly Changing - Except When It's Not (part 19 in a series) Why Are 75% of Your Trade Promotion $'s Going to Increasing Others' Profitability? Seems crazy, no? Isn't the role of trade promotion in CPG rather simple when you break it down? Isn't it to get consumers to look at your brand, try your brand and keep putting more of your brand in their shopping carts, their cars, their homes and eventually their stomachs. You're spending a lot of $ to do this to, right? Look at the last invoice you sent out and what you got back - most of that difference (deduction) is trade promotion. Now, look at the difference between your list price and your net price on the invoice going out. There might be a 15% difference on a lot of them. Now add the two together - probably well over 25%. What are you getting for this? No, in real results. By retailer. If you're like most, 15% of this 25% you are spending on trade is for OI's. Recognize 15% once a quarter is pretty much 15% on everything - analyze it. What are you getting for it? No, not in 'soft' benefits - this is business. In real extra cases. With details. I'd challenge any brand or broker to challenge this will real facts and feel very confident >90% cannot do this. Next, look at all the fees and other charges that are related to scans, MCB's, etc. It's significant. Probably over 5%. Well, just with that, we're at 75% of your trade promotion budget - that's close to 20% of your gross revenue - you could probably use this for other brand building activities, no? Maybe to get consumers to look at your brand, try your brand and keep putting more of your brand in their shopping carts, their cars, their homes and eventually their stomachs. Seems crazy, huh? Let's develop some objectives, a strategy and a process to address this - quickly and painlessly - before 2025 planning hits. We'd look forward to assisting. __________________________________________________________________________________ For more information visit us at www.schroedercpg.com, contact me at fred@schroedercpg.com or just send me a DM - why wait?

3