Advice from Steve Bratspies, chief merchandising officer for Walmart US, topped this week’s list of most-read stories among SmartBrief’s food-and-beverage audience. Bratspies believes that CPG firms should bring their most powerful products to store shelves rather than trying to deliver a wide range of SKUs, adding that, “The one challenge I would throw out is the ability to make tougher early decisions on breadth of assortment.”
SUPERVALU’s plans to reorganize its grocery business in order to boost sales of its retail units also proved popular with readers, as well as PepsiCo’s $3.2 billion deal to acquire SodaStream. “We get to play in a business — home beverages — where we don’t play,” said PepsiCo Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston of entering the at-home carbonated beverage market.
On the CPG side, readers were interested in Mondelez’s removal of circus imagery from its animal cracker boxes, along with Kraft Heinz’s rollout of new Oprah Winfrey-branded frozen pizzas. Nestle’s strategy for strengthening its brands also made news.
Cava Group’s $300 million acquisition of Zoes Kitchen proved popular among SmartBrief’s restaurant readers, while those in the culinary world were interested in New York City chef Ashley Eddie’s lighter take on classic eggplant parmigiana.
Read the entire Top 10:
1. Walmart exec urges brands to make tough decisions “on breadth of assortment”
2. SUPERVALU restructuring to boost sale of retail units
3. PepsiCo makes $3.2B deal to acquire SodaStream
4. Mondelez removes circus imagery from animal cracker boxes
5. Kraft Heinz, Winfrey add frozen pizza to O, That’s Good! line
6. Costco strives to make shopping trips enjoyable
7. Cava Group to purchase Zoe’s Kitchen for $300M
8. How Ferrara Candy uses robots to pack stand-up pouches
9. NYC chef crafts a lighter take on eggplant parmigiana
10. How Nestle infuses fresh thinking to strengthen its brands
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