The FMCG Marketing Daily — May 24, 2026

The essential daily briefing for brand managers and marketers in consumer goods.

In today's episode:

• New WSWA data shows RTD cocktails are the only growth pocket in a US spirits market being squeezed by consumer downtrading — a direct signal for how Diageo, AB InBev, and challenger RTD brands should be prioritising their portfolios right now.

• Spendrups' acquisition of Umida's spirits portfolio is a live example of regional FMCG consolidation strategy — a brewer using M&A to build a multi-category alcohol house and expand brand reach beyond its home category.

• Nestlé France has appointed Camille Falguière as General Director of its Food category — a senior leadership move at one of the world's largest FMCG companies that signals renewed focus on its core food portfolio in a key European market.

Fun fact: Costco has never once run a television commercial in its entire history, yet it consistently ranks among the top 10 global retailers by revenue — a position most chains spend billions in advertising to chase. The warehouse giant relies almost entirely on its $65 annual membership fee as both a revenue engine and a loyalty lock, meaning the product that Costco actually sells is the membership itself, not the merchandise.

Hosted by Marco and Klara.

The FMCG Marketing Daily — May 23, 2026

The essential daily briefing for brand managers and marketers in consumer goods.

In today's episode:

• French's is turning its iconic yellow mustard green for a film tie-in — a bold test of how far a heritage condiment brand can stretch its distinctive asset without breaking it.

• PepsiCo's ten-year licensing extension with its largest bottling partner in India signals a major strategic commitment to one of the world's fastest-growing beverage markets.

• Skittles is doubling down on its long-running surreal brand voice to launch a new gummy sub-line — a case study in using tonal consistency to expand into adjacent formats without diluting brand identity.

Fun fact: Coca-Cola spends more on advertising than Microsoft and Apple combined. In 2023 alone, the company spent over four billion dollars just to remind people that fizzy drinks exist.

Hosted by Marco and Klara.

The FMCG Marketing Daily — May 22, 2026

The essential daily briefing for brand managers and marketers in consumer goods.

In today's episode:

• Nestlé is fighting a live brand credibility battle over its infant formula recall, and how it handles this public rebuttal will define its trust equity with the most risk-averse consumer segment there is.

• Carlsberg is betting that Malaysian consumers' appetite for 'authentic Chinese brands' can turn a regional Chinese beer into a pan-Asian growth vehicle — a brand internationalisation playbook worth watching.

• Zevia is doubling down on its 'radically real' brand platform at exactly the moment when clean-label soda challengers are under pressure to prove they can scale marketing without losing their authenticity edge.

Fun fact: The average supermarket loses roughly 1.3% of total revenue to shoplifting annually, but studies show that self-checkout lanes have a shrink rate nearly three times higher than staffed lanes — a gap so significant that some retailers like Booths in the UK have removed self-checkout entirely and seen customer satisfaction scores jump immediately after. For brand managers, this matters because high-shrink categories near self-checkout are quietly being relocated or locked up, reshaping where your product can even live in-store.

Hosted by Marco and Klara.

The FMCG Marketing Daily — May 21, 2026

The essential daily briefing for brand managers and marketers in consumer goods.

In today's episode:

• Heineken is launching a lower-calorie, gluten-free beer in Brazil, signalling a deliberate portfolio play into moderation-driven consumption ahead of the World Cup.

• Centenario Tequila is activating the World Cup through a Mexican cultural pride platform rather than football itself — a distinct strategic angle in a crowded sponsorship landscape.

• A new Keychain CPG Intelligence Report reveals significant manufacturing overcapacity across U.S. CPG, creating a structural opportunity for challenger brands and private label to scale rapidly at lower cost.

Fun fact: The average supermarket loses roughly 8% of its fresh produce revenue not to theft or spoilage, but to 'shrinkage by touch' — customers squeezing, pinching, and handling fruit until it bruises and becomes unsellable, a phenomenon Tesco formally studied and estimated costs UK grocery retail over £150 million a year. This is why some retailers have quietly shifted to slightly firmer ripeness standards for in-store display, even when softer fruit would taste better at home.

Hosted by Marco and Klara.

The FMCG Marketing Daily — May 20, 2026

The essential daily briefing for brand managers and marketers in consumer goods.

In today's episode:

• Oscar Mayer is scaling up one of FMCG's most recognisable brand assets into a full media property — a case study in turning a brand icon into an earned-attention engine.

• The sale of Old Speckled Hen to Estrella owner Damm signals how heritage British ale brands are being repositioned by international acquirers who see export and off-trade potential that domestic owners no longer want to pursue.

• Starbucks Chilled Coffee has launched a new EMEA brand platform targeting Gen Z authenticity anxiety — a significant strategic move for a chilled RTD coffee brand trying to carve out cultural relevance beyond the café.

Fun fact: The average supermarket loses roughly 40% of its fresh produce revenue not at the checkout, but during the supply chain — and Walmart's investment in ethylene-absorbing packaging technology in 2019 extended average banana shelf life by nearly three days, translating to hundreds of millions in recovered margin annually. That means a banana's journey to your cart is now actively managed at the molecular level.

Hosted by Marco and Klara.

The FMCG Marketing Daily — May 19, 2026

The essential daily briefing for brand managers and marketers in consumer goods.

In today's episode:

• Danone is cutting loose a kefir pioneer it once bet on, signalling a sharper focus on its core portfolio strategy under pressure from activist investors.

• AB InBev is planting a public flag on sustainability targets for 2030 — a move that locks the world's biggest brewer into brand promise commitments it will be held accountable for.

• A reported wave of senior departures at Diageo adds leadership instability to a business already navigating a difficult brand and financial reset.

Fun fact: The average supermarket loses roughly 40% of its fresh produce revenue to shrinkage — not theft, but unsold stock — yet Walmart's 2010 rollout of its 'Great Value' private label redesign actually increased fresh department foot traffic by redirecting shopper trust toward the store brand, lifting overall basket size. Most brand managers still assume private label cannibalizes only their category, when it can quietly reshape where shoppers choose to shop in the first place.

Hosted by Marco and Klara.

The FMCG Marketing Daily — May 18, 2026

The essential daily briefing for brand managers and marketers in consumer goods.

In today's episode:

• L'Oréal's CeraVe is using Carmelo Anthony and NBA fandom to break into a new sub-category — dandruff — signalling how the brand is systematically expanding its dermatology credential beyond its skincare core.

• Premier Foods' debt hitting an all-time low is putting a first overseas acquisition firmly in reach, signalling that a mid-tier FMCG challenger could soon reshape its brand portfolio beyond the UK.

• Swatch's Royal Pop launch triggered teargas in Paris and store closures across the UK — a rare case of a consumer goods brand generating demand so intense it became a public order crisis, raising urgent questions about launch strategy and brand responsibility.

Fun fact: The average supermarket product takes just 0.4 seconds to catch a shopper's eye on shelf, yet Unilever discovered that switching to matte packaging finishes on some SKUs increased purchase consideration by up to 15% — because consumers subconsciously associate gloss with artificiality in food categories. Texture, not color or logo size, turned out to be the silent salesperson.

Hosted by Marco and Klara.

The FMCG Marketing Daily — May 17, 2026

The essential daily briefing for brand managers and marketers in consumer goods.

In today's episode:

• ThaiBev's mixed H1 results — with beer recovering but soft drinks dragging — reveal how emerging-market FMCG giants must manage multi-category portfolios under simultaneous volume pressure.

• A surge in toxic counterfeit pet flea treatments is creating a brand trust crisis for legitimate FMCG players in the fast-growing pet care category, raising urgent questions about how established brands communicate authenticity to price-sensitive consumers.

• The UK competition watchdog's intervention in Vandemoortele's acquisition of Délifrance signals that regulators are tightening scrutiny on FMCG consolidation in ingredient and bakery supply categories, with direct implications for how brands manage M&A strategy in post-Brexit Britain.

Fun fact: The average supermarket product takes just 7 seconds to catch a shopper's eye on a moving shopping trip, yet Kellogg's discovered that simply rotating their cereal box artwork to have the on-pack character's eyes angle downward at 9.6 degrees significantly increased consumer connection scores — because it mimics the natural gaze angle of a child looking up at a parent. Mascot eye direction is now a studied variable in FMCG packaging briefs.

Hosted by Marco and Klara.

The FMCG Marketing Daily — May 16, 2026

The essential daily briefing for brand managers and marketers in consumer goods.

In today's episode:

• L'Oréal's Garnier is using reality TV influencer casting to reintroduce a legacy haircare format to Gen Z — a playbook worth watching for any FMCG brand trying to modernise heritage SKUs.

• The reported private equity interest in Magnum's newly spun-off parent company raises urgent questions about what happens to brand investment and marketing ambition when iconic FMCG brands pass from strategic owners to financial ones.

• Roxberry's funding round to scale a soda brand explicitly targeted at children puts it on a collision course with both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo's youth portfolios — and squarely in the crosshairs of regulators watching kids' marketing closely.

Fun fact: The average supermarket shopper makes roughly 75% of their brand decisions before ever entering the store, yet Walmart found that simply redesigning its grocery cart to include a built-in divider between 'fresh' and 'packaged' items increased fresh produce sales by over 25% in test locations — suggesting the physical act of shopping can still override pre-made decisions.

Hosted by Marco and Klara.

The FMCG Marketing Daily — May 15, 2026

The essential daily briefing for brand managers and marketers in consumer goods.

In today's episode:

• Philip Morris International's new global campaign is being accused of targeting young consumers — a direct challenge to the brand's stated mission of ending cigarette sales, with major regulatory and reputational implications for FMCG brand purpose claims.

• Sazerac's investment in influencer-backed margarita RTD brand Sipmargs signals that legacy spirits companies are increasingly using minority stakes in creator-native brands as a low-risk route into culturally relevant RTD occasions.

• Lacoste's carefully calibrated visual identity refresh — anchored in heritage rather than disruption — offers a masterclass in how legacy consumer brands can modernise without alienating their core equity.

Fun fact: The average supermarket shopper makes around 1.5 unplanned shopping trips per week specifically because they forgot something — and Walgreens has internally referred to this 'distress purchase' behavior as one of its most reliable traffic drivers, shaping how it positions everyday grocery staples near checkout. This means a significant slice of retail foot traffic is built entirely on consumer error, not marketing.

Hosted by Marco and Klara.