Last month Unilever, the CPG giant, released its Q1 sales results. Unlike P&G, which saw an increase of about five percent, Unilever was relatively stagnant. According to Barrons: Sales of the company’s hygiene and cleaning brands, including Cif surface cleaners and Domestos bleach surged by double digits as consumers stocked up to clean their homes… Continue reading
During the coronavirus pandemic, where decades of mismanagement and grift at major retailers led to accelerated bankruptcies, Walmart trended the other direction. Absolute dominance. Walmart, America’s largest retailer, saw overall revenue increase by 8.6% while maintaining higher operating margins. Online sales, arguably the most critical battleground in modern retail, grew 74%. “Our omnichannel investments have… Continue reading
Writing on the Andreessen Horowitz blog, influential tech entrepreneur Marc Andreessen published It’s time to build. The essay laments Western civilization’s response to the coronavirus. To Andreessen, who the New Yorker labeled a “farsighted theorist” and sits alongside Bill Gates and Peter Thiel in the pantheon of serious Silicon Valley thinkers, the issue is desire. He writes: The problem is… Continue reading
The general consensus is that seemingly overnight Zoom went from an unknown company to essential infrastructure. That’s not true. Prior to the coronavirus, it was a major player in enterprise communications. The reason most people didn’t know about it, is that it was designed as a B2B company (business-to-business sales) rather than a B2C (business-to-consumer)…. Continue reading
On March 23, a day when the United States registered 135 coronavirus deaths, Sanderson Farms, America’s third-largest poultry processor, announced one of their workers tested positive for the virus. It was the first reported case from a major meat processor. Three days later, Smithfield Foods joined the fray by announcing an additional case at its… Continue reading
In the age of coronavirus, American consumer product companies, like General Mills, are working overtime to ensure that people stay fed in an era of self-containment. It has been almost two weeks since President Trump declared a national emergency, and numerous states followed with “safer-at-home” orders. In a matter of days, Americans went from eating… Continue reading
Just one week after March 15, 2020, when President Donald Trump claimed the US had ‘tremendous control’ of the coronavirus pandemic, California Governor Gavin Newsome ordered all state residents to stay home. “The order,” the New York Times reported, “represents the most drastic measure any governor has taken to control the virus.” Similar orders may become… Continue reading
Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are everywhere. However, most consumers know them by the brands they produce. Sprite, Tide, and Moleskine notebooks are all packaged goods purchased and used by millions every day. Coca-Cola, P&G, and Moleskine are the CPG companies that produce them. At a high level, a CPG company manufactures products, sells them… Continue reading
Last week the Campbell Soup Company announced that its recent investment in soup marketing paid off. This news is somewhat surprising. Nearly all research shows that consumers want fresh food. According to IRI, in 2017, fresh sales accounted for approximately 30.5 percent of all food sales, with produce, bakery, and deli meats accounting for most… Continue reading
How did things go so wrong for Kraft Heinz, one of the nation’s largest, most recognizable food companies that’s backed by one of the nation’s most beloved investors? In February, Kraft Heinz announced a 2.7% decline in net sales for 2019. This comes just one year after the company wrote down $15.4 billion because legacy… Continue reading