Fernando Gentil, Jr.

The response to Pura Vida Miami's opening in Manhattan validates the rise of the ‘all day café’ as one of the fastest growing trends in consumer retail over the past three years. The strong majority of new growth stage F&B brands that sit within this category show a shift away from the assembly-style quick service restaurant model, now with a large focus on the ‘made-to-order’ service model. This is absolutely where we at Brand Urban are seeing the most consumer demand, as well as the most landlord excitement (from a pure amenity-perspective in both residential and commercial assets). But what constitutes an ‘all day café’? We are seeing concepts of all shapes and sizes: some concepts with limited-service models and others with full-service programs. Some concepts have retail, gifting and gourmet market components, others have great daytime coffee and pastry programs, and some have heavy lunch, happy hour, through dinner business. The key is prioritizing affordability and approachability - while increasing the average check through a touch of hospitality and ambiance. As a New Yorker, some of local OG’s in this category are Westville Restaurant Group, The Grey Dog and Jack’s Wife Freda – all of whom are continuing to show thoughtful growth with a combination of full-service and limited-service offerings. I continue to be amazed by the influx of best-in-class, growth stage brands from Maman NYC, Ruby's Cafe, Tatte Bakery & Cafe and Daily Provisions (to name a few). As I watch the urban and suburban growth on the horizon for these brands, coupled with growing consumer excitement, it is clear that this category is the future of casual dining. #alldaycafeculture #casualdining #consumerretail #trends #hospitality #limitedservicedining #realestate #brandurbanre

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While market dynamics for all grocers are more challenging than ever, consumers are likely to benefit from the improved value, variety, and service offerings as businesses strive to adapt and thrive in a hyper-competitive Connecticut food frontier. 🤠 🛒 🍷 #ShopSmartCT #MarketMakeover #GroceryGameChanger

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Constellation Brands Inc. saw its stock climb during premarket trading on Thursday following an upward revision of its adjusted fiscal 2025 profit forecast, surpassing analyst predictions. The company also reported a robust fourth-quarter profit, driven by the stronger-than-anticipated performance of its beer division. CEO Bill Newlands highlighted the beer business's consistent volume growth over 56 quarters, coupled with impressive margins, although wine and spirits sales experienced a decline. https://lnkd.in/ggNU_G9r Constellation Brands Bill Newlands Branded Hospitality Ventures #Technology #Business #Innovation #AI #investing #venturecapital MarketWatch

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Interesting take on the battle for consumers during months like Sober October and Dry January from Stephanie Cain 👇 Her commentary below with link in comments 🍻🥂🍹 The wine industry has launched an assault on #SoberOctober and non-alcoholic beverages as if the sole existence of the booze-less category is to put a hit against wine. With its new campaign, Come Over October, wine folks are declaring you should grab a glass instead of going sober, because wine brings people together. Instead, #wine should really be looking at their core messaging because that's why wine is declining. At the #ComeOverOctober kick-off party, I had a conversation with a salesperson of a wine distributor. He attempted to be ok with the evolution of wine by explaining that ready-to-drink, single-serve wine brand, BeatBox, marketed to the 21 to 25-year-old set, was crushing the market. He was all for it. While the brand has wacky flavors like blueberry lemonade wine, he felt that every wine consumer “starts somewhere.” It was promising to him because he said they would “continue their wine journey” and start “drinking real wine.” So many problems here but here is the big one: They don’t often continue the wine journey. News flash, wine people! Consumers don’t have time. We don’t desire it. We want to build connections, not spend the evening only discussing what we want to drink. We have jobs and travel and bills to pay and kids and dogs and aging parents and hell, we just want to buy a house. We have no job security. We have been hit with recession after recession. Right now, inflation is making our groceries cost some 40% more. You really think we are jumping at the time-consuming task of learning about wine? Get real. We’ll grab a #Martini. And start ranting. Which is exactly what I'm doing in today's The Mad Ones 👇 Link in comments. #health #wellness #marketing #alcohol #alcoholfree

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While dwarfed by Mars' $36B acquisition announcement of Kellanova earlier this year, the $1.2B Siete Family Foods / PepsiCo is more emblematic of the trends we are seeing in the food & beverage middle market. - Better-For-You (Non-GMO, organic & vegan product lines, grain-free, limited additives, avocado oil vs heavily refined oils) - Ethnic Flavors (Rising Hispanic US population, millennials & Gen-Z seeking international tastes and "experience" eating) A fantastic story of a bootstrapped brand that opted for no Series A financing and just secured a ~12x EBITDA multiple on a $1.2B exit to Pepsi (assuming 20% margins). ~2.3x Revenue of $500MM. - 2014: Veronica Garza founds the grain-free tortilla company due to a myriad of reasons, one she highlights as "utilizing food as medicine". - 2015: Raises $1M in angel capital and begins Whole Foods relationship - 2019: Secures $90MM in growth, minority capital from Stripes Group - 2024: $1.2B announced exit to PepsiCo Great story, great product, and look forward to seeing more better-for-you food options on store shelves across the country.

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“Growing a CPG company, especially in the food and beverage space, ‘is astronomically harder today,’. ” Paul Voge you said it, man. So many truth bombs dropped in this article about the challenges and difficulties growing and scaling a CPG brand in today’s world. The cruel reality is that it takes a whole lot of money or a whole lot of time (and most times both) along with a fair amount of luck to have a chance at making it. If you dont have a ton of money then you better have a ton of time, some good fortune, and a product that can withstand many changes of the seasons (and "trends"). For most emerging brands today its all about survival and just finding a way.  There are lots of traps out there– lots of shiny objects– lots of vanity metrics hoping to be noticed and cared about–but at the end of the day sometimes its just about living to see another one. Here’s to all you day-to-dayers and week-to-weekers out there that are all just finding a way. Keep finding it.

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Edenesque CEO, Leslie Woodward, moves headquarters to Buffalo following support from Launch NY : “Woodward and her company’s HQ have both relocated to Buffalo, where the company will be closer to its new contract manufacturing partner, Elmhurst Dairy, Inc., and its main distribution partner, Sonwil Logistics | Sonwil Transportation. The company is sold in retail stories throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, has a presence in corporate offices such as Calvin Klein and Estée Lauder, and is sold at restaurants and cafes in New York City. Edenesque products will hit the shelves at Whole Foods Market this Fall, and it is planning a marketing blitz that coincides with its reemergence on the market. Edenesque’s chef-crafted, plant-based dairy products provide uniquely superior nutrition to enable its customers to thrive and Be the Love™ — nourishing themselves, their communities, the environment, and their local economy. Edenesque is also participating in the University at Buffalo’s Cultivator accelerator program. Edenesque’s goal is to be a $15 million company within five years.” Edenesque’s #BaristaBlend & #Unsweetened #OatMilks are distributed by Hudson Harvest , Odeko , Premier Perk and ,local specialty grocery stores , https://expcorpusa.com/ Foodservice , Workplace & On-The-Go! https://lnkd.in/eZGFyXYC

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Hey Network: "There is no silver bullet to guarantee product adoption in the marketplace. However, businesses can implement strategies before launch to improve market readiness and increase the likelihood of securing a place in consumers' weekly dinners." If product adoption is something that your company struggles with, please listen to this episode CPG Launch Leaders featuring TPG's own Eleni Shipp and reach out to Eleni or I so that we can share strategies that can help you secure your place in the weekly dinner rotation. #food #CPG #newitems #newitemlaunch #ecommerce

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WHOLE FOODS MARKET vs. KROGER 2025 Food Trends. (And also some MINTEL, see comments below). In mid-October, Whole Foods Market released their 2025 Food Trend predictions. Two weeks later, so did Kroger. Predictions are just that, but they can validate what consumers and what we in CPG are seeing, or what we should take note of, possibly build innovation against, or simply buy to try. A side by side of five (5) food-specific #trends, from each #grocery chain, is compiled below, with G&Co. sentiments on the five. Of interest to me: • That Whole Foods Market visibly supported the #alcohol industry 🍺🍷🥂 in their list, while Kroger did not. And if you track alcohol sales as I do, the industry and those brands needs all the support they can get. • That Kroger plugged #privatelabel directly, with their “Food Dupes” trend, while Whole Foods Market integrated their own private label into brands that fit into trends. What they agree upon, I cite below. And I also flag the lists’ incongruity. Again, this side by side is food-specific, and does not weigh the packaging and sustainability trends called out by Whole Foods. #cpg #foodandbeverage #2025trends #foodtrends Mintel

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A deep dive into CAVA... Everything from our full-service origins to our fast-casual founding, Zoes Kitchen acquisition, IPO, current strategic initiatives, and more... Thanks to Danny Klein, Sam Danley, and QSR for the coverage and telling our story. #restaurants #fastcasual #mediterranean #ipo #categorydefining Take a read here 👇 https://lnkd.in/euKkTdbi

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Aloha Friday! 🤙🏼 Here are some interesting stories from the world of retail for Friday, May 10: 👨🏽‍⚖️ Former retailer Bed Bath & Beyond has filed a lawsuit against Hudson Bay Capital Management, seeking to recover over $300m in trading profits from the hedge fund. 🥕 Instacart reported strong first-quarter results, as the company’s total revenue, number of orders and gross transaction volume were all up sharply year over year. On the bottom line, net income came in at $130,000. 👜 Tapestry, the parent company of Coach, Kate Spade New York and Stuart Weitzman, has expanded its outlet strategy and overall marketing spending in response to evolving consumer behaviors. 👠 Salvatore Ferragamo booked lower revenue for the first quarter, weighed by a weak consumer environment in China and the soft performance of its wholesale channel. Revenues totaled €227m in the first three months. 👓 Warby Parker’s revenue jumped 16% in the first quarter of the year as other brands in the sector struggle to grow sales. The eyewear seller expects full year sales to climb as much as 13 percent to $761 million in 2024. 👨🏻‍💻 Online retail sales in the US have increased by 7% from January to April 2024, driven by strong demand for groceries and cheaper discretionary items, according to an Adobe Analytics report. 🏋🏼‍♂️ The Planet Fitness $10-a-month membership plan is a powerful marketing tool and a central part of its strategy. But the largest gym chain in the United States is hiking that monthly fee for the first time in more than two decades. 🌈 Target has Pride merchandise in fewer stores this year after backlash it received caused it to pull some items from last year's collection. Last year collections went into all stores; this year they will go into select locations. 🍷 More Americans are making lifestyle changes, consuming fewer alcoholic beverages and switching to non-alcoholic brands that resemble booze-filled cans and bottles. 🍏 Apple has apologised for an ad for the new iPad Pro, following criticism for its depiction of an industrial compressor flattening tools for art, music and creativity. 🍓 ALDI USA plans to pass along $100m in savings to customers by reducing prices on over 250 items. The company aims to help customers save money amid concerns of persistent inflation. 🍔 Many consumers are expressing frustration at the surge in fast-food prices, which are starting to scare off budget-conscious customers: about 25% of people who make under $50,000 are cutting back on fast food due to costs. 🧸 Funko taps former Hasbro executive as CEO: Cynthia Williams served as president of Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming units until she resigned last month. 🚛 DoorDash and Uber are pushing back against measures that set a minimum pay standard for delivery drivers in Seattle. NYC and Seattle are the first two cities in the US to pass a minimum wage law for food gig delivery workers. #retail #retailnews #economy #DailyRetailNews

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Not quite West Coast or New England–style, the reemerging label is confusing at best … For a long time, two regionally termed IPA subcategories have dominated U.S. beer cans: “West Coast” signaled clear and bracingly bitter with a piney, citrusy, resinous hop profile, and “New England” meant juicy, hazy and sweeter with tropical hops. Suddenly, however, a label that’s maintained alower profile since craft beer’s early days is showing up on more tap lists … muddying that understanding: “American IPA.” What even is this style? The name suggests some overarching combination of the two coastal substyles, a less-than-helpful and vague umbrella term, or, potentially, its own new thing. The answer, it seems, is all of the above. From the late 1970s into the 1990s, brewers started making IPAs based on their knowledge of English IPAs, but with an American twist. Thus “American IPA” made sense. But two things happened to erode that simple definition. For one, American craft beer took off, and American-brewed IPAs overtook English-style ones. For another, West Coast and New England substyles appeared, further delineating the category. “American IPA” all but disappeared as a label. Now, we’ve started to see the ‘American IPA’ return as a ‘style.” Yet did it ever really leave? While it’s agreed that an American IPA should not be hazy or as sweet as a New England IPA, an American IPA can still capture certain NEIPA notes with tropical fruit characteristics. “It can embody the West Coast’s visual clarity while incorporating the hop profile typical of the East Coast,” says Daniel Sickmen, head brewer at Virginia’s Lost Barrel Brewing, where an American IPA is a menu staple. The “American IPA” label leaves the door open for people to explore some range in terms of bitterness, sweetness, malt character and hop character, and learn what they like. For that reason, American IPA might at this point be more of a vibe than a style. It’s an IPA living in the middle of the tropical-sweet and piney-bitter extremes, open to brewer interpretation as well as to consumer discovery. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s intense. And you know it when you taste it. “The best IPAs are ones we drink with friends.” — Stephen Carter King Read the entire article at: Punch Drink .com Cheers🍻! #ConsumerBehavior #EmergingTrends #BrandAwareness #BusinessIntelligence #Beer #CraftBeer #IPA #AmericanIPA #Microbreweries #Pubs #Taprooms #Brewpubs ✦✦✦ Stephen Carter King Chief of Growth and Marketing and Strategy • Beer Market Analyst • Beerconomy & Co. CEO • Thought Catalyst • Sherpa • Advisor & Speaker sharing beer market trends, insights, forecasts and scoop via The Beerconomist

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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

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Here’s yet another shrink-to-grow portfolio move (speculated) in the food space.  If it wasn’t clear before, it is now: big food companies are VERY focused on improving growth and apparently shedding slow-growth anchors is a preferred lever in this environment. This strategy is understandable, because they can control a divestiture more than trying to make an acquisition, or a series of acquisitions.  Of course, they still need a counter-party to do a deal, but this specific business and others that have been announced, discussed or completed (e.g., Kellogg and cereal, Unilever and Ice Cream, General Mills and Yogurt) is big enough that the public markets are always a viable transaction partner. If you needed any more convincing (which you probably don't), the divestiture bandwagon suggests some conviction about future growth levers in the big food c-suite: 1. The pricing window is truly closed.  Pricing has driven topline in the recent past but now organic growth will have to come from other sources – and the only foreseeable catalysts for unit growth are lower pricing (no thank you, apparently) or innovation (see point 2). 2. Innovation confidence is low.  Small food companies are the innovators and growth-makers in this industry.  They are taking share and have been for over a decade.  Apparently the big guys do not expected this to change anytime soon. 3. Portfolio growth exposure = growth reality.  Big food companies are growth-takers.  They grow at the underlying growth rate of their combined geographies and categories – faster growth will come if they can improve this underlying growth exposure. https://lnkd.in/gaNBYeKS

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Very impressive results from Walmart last quarter: Walmart this morning reported that its third quarter total revenue was $169.6 billion, up 5.5 percent from $160.8 billion during the same period a year ago. Operating income for the period was up 8.2 percent to $6.7 billion. Same store sales for the period at Walmart's US stores were up 5.3 percent, while Sam's Club same store sales were up seven percent, and Walmart International sales were up 12.4 percent. Walmart's e-commerce sales were up a whopping 27 percent globally. The retailer's global advertising business was up 28 percent, including Walmart Connect in the US, which was up 26 percent.

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Is TJX Companies’ Expansion Into Mexico a Good Move? TJX Companies is partnering with Grupo Axo to expand its off-price retail model into Mexico. This strategic venture aims to leverage Axo’s local presence and experience to capture the value-conscious Mexican market. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gcH3Cufg Robert Amster: "This is one deal with lots of promise and a long runway. Partnering with a domestic, successful operator like Grupo Axo gives the foray a much greater probability of success." Pamela Kaplan: "With TJX’s experience and momentum in the US today, this should be a slam dunk." Gwen Morrison: "TJX is making a sound move by entering Mexico…Having Axo’s support will facilitate real estate, logistics and other local market factors."

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Last week, I had an insightful conversation with Joshua Schall, MBA where we explored the fast-changing energy drinks market in the U.S. and Canada, the strategic moves we’re making at GURU, and the balance between risk and opportunity. We also discussed the journey of taking GURU public and how we’re navigating investor expectations to drive long-term differentiation. Tune in for a deep dive into the dynamics of strategy, business, and the energy drink industry!

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Walmart needs to be careful and not lose focus on their main business engine. See more below: MediaPost has a story about how Walmart "is poised to become a non-retail powerhouse." Not that its retail business is taking a back seat to its other initiatives, but the story says that a new report from Deutsche Bank says that Walmart is "gathering steam from alternative value streams, which are boosting revenue and pumping up profits. Specifically, Walmart is doing well in five pools of opportunity within the ecommerce world, including Walmart Connect, its retail media network, membership fees, marketplace transactions, fulfillment services, and data monetization." Advertising, MediaPost writes, "is a significant component" - a $3.4 billion business growing as much as 25 percent annually and contributing 70 percent to margin. Krisztina Katai, an analyst who follows Walmart for Deutsche Bank, writes in an investment letter that management has defined these five new value streams as "key drivers in the underlying transformation of the business."

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Diageo doubles down on non-alcoholic spirits with the acquisition of Ritual Zero Proof & now owns three of the five world's largest non-alcoholic spirit brands Ritual Zero Proof was founded in 2019, and became the #1 non-alcoholic spirits player in the US after joining Diageo’s accelerator program in 2020. Five reasons why this deal makes sense: 1) Fast growing: The US non-alcoholic spirits has been the fastest growing category with +31% L5Y CAGR. 2) Incremental: 94% of non-alc buyers in the US also purchase alcoholic beverages, spending on avg $292 more than households exclusively purchasing alcohol demonstrating the incrementality of the category to beverage alcohol. 3) High Right-to-Win: Ritual is already a #1 non-alcoholic spirits player in the US, with a strong market position and tailwinds 4) Synergistic: being a #1 player globally in both alcoholic and non-alc spirits Diageo is well positioned to build on Ritual’s current success and scale it up further leveraging its GTM muscle and category expertise 5) Close to the Core: being a part of Diageo’s accelerator (Distill Ventures) since 2020, Ritual already knows what it takes to make cooperation with a spirits giant successful, limiting risks of integration challenges Exciting times for Diageo 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘂𝘀: FF&A solves the most complex strategic problems of the world's largest FMCG companies across Corporate Strategy, Organic Growth, Digital RTM (eCommerce, DTC, and eB2B) and M&A. 14 out of the world's 20 largest FMCG companies are repeat Clients 𝗧𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗰𝗳. 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗠𝗖𝗚 𝗠&𝗔 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄: https://lnkd.in/efD5RNWX 𝗧𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀, 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝘀 & 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗠𝗖𝗚 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿: https://lnkd.in/ea4gy65y #fmcg #cpg #mergersandacquisitions https://lnkd.in/dXAZQ242 Pernod Ricard The HEINEKEN Company AB InBev Carlsberg Group Campari Group William Grant & Sons The Coca-Cola Company PepsiCo

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