What's In-Store: August Update

I’ve been in Bentonville for most of July having fun and drinking some excellent coffee. Thanks to everyone who took the time to really delve into what’s driving US retail with me. Good to be back in the UK for summer and getting out to some stores. Safe to say that I’m pretty out of touch of the Children’s Health industry.

July’s Interesting Things

Ferrero Buys WK Kellogg for $3.1bn - Following the split of Kellogg’s businesses in 2023 into Kellanova (snacks - bought by Mars for $36bn last year), and WK Kellogg (breakfast cereals), Ferrero have used the acquisition to continue to expand their portfolio. Nutella Frosted Flakes, anyone?

UK Grocery Inflation is Surging Again - inflation is up >5% YoY according to the latest Worldpanel numbers. Most interestingly, this inflation figure isn’t the whole story, with shoppers still splashing out over the summer. Champagne sales are double-digits up, along with strawberries, Iced Coffee, and Kombucha as the big winners.

Ingredients are Important - as health becomes more prevalent in the news, and the influence of Make America Healthy Again (MAHA), more shoppers are becoming more health aware, and more products that may have once been niche are being launched into the mainstream. The latest launches that caught our attention are below:

• David’s Protein Cod - I’ve done the research, but probably didn’t need to. This is the first protein bar that has expanded into selling frozen fish. Assuming this is a limited edition to demonstrate how much protein is in their core bars versus competitors. But David’s wild caught pacific cod is still available to buy online right now (unlike their out of stock bars, at the time of writing).
• Prebiotic Pepsi - Just two months after the purchase of prebiotic soda brand, Poppi, for a cool $1.95bn (AKA ⅔ of a WK Kellogg), PepsiCo are releasing their first prebiotic cola. With 3g of Fiber in every can, this is Pepsi joining Poppi in the “modern soda” era.
• Caffeine Crisps / Chips - On the wilder side, caffeine has been a driver in the rise of coffee and energy drinks, but now… snacks? Bangers Snacks has launched a new caffeinated chips product - each bag contains the equivalent of two cups of coffee. And requires you to stay as close to the bathroom as possible following consumption (my suggestion, not theirs).
• Morrison’s Launches GLP-1 Subscription Service - UK-based retailer, Morrison’s has set up a subscription service for GLP-1 injections. At £129 per month ($171 USD), this is a first step to see the UK availability of GLP-1s in the mainstream.

The Future of Delivery is… Underground? - Pipedream Labs launched their new food delivery system via underground pipes. With the aim of making deliveries autonomous, there’s still a long way to go, but always interesting to see someone focused on the less-sexy infrastructure side for the future.

New Consumer Trends Report - The 2025 mid-year update from The New Consumer is here. Particularly focused on AI, Health, and a subject close to our hearts - the humanization of pets. As we’ve been tracking how shoppers try and save money in-store, 96% of shoppers are planning to spend the same or more on pet food in the year ahead, compared to ⅓ of shoppers looking to trade down across the rest of the store.

AI In Retail

For too long, planogram data has remained siloed, and the shelf is still a data blind spot.

Whilst AI promises to revolutionise retail, the data foundation is incomplete. There’s plenty of investment going into AI-powered personalisation, pricing, and supply chain optimisation, but one of the most commercially critical areas remains underutilised: the shelf.

To illustrate this point, we go back to the data science hierarchy of needs (above). The top of the pyramid is where everyone focuses - it’s the “sexy” bit - but if you’re investing big in AI whilst overlooking the quality of your foundational data assets, you’re building advanced capability on unstable ground.

Our CTO & Co-Founder has written more about the AI opportunity - one that requires clean, structured shelf data in AI-ready formats. If you’d like to find out more on this (either from retailer or brand), please either reply to this email or pick up with your VST contact.

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