What's In-Store: July Update
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Hello, and welcome to our July newsletter.
This month: a multitude of Celebrity CPG launches (from the sublime to the ridiculous), Ranch Dressing going viral at the World Cup, the myths around alcohol’s decline, and some longer reads on the impact of AI on category management, and practical steps on how to turn your teams into the best category analysts in the world.
As we talk more about the impact of AI in the industry, we’re setting up a separate technology-in-CPG newsletter. We’ll still be feeding in the most significant updates in this monthly newsletter, of course, but for those of you interested in the more technical updates, please register your interest below.
June’s Interesting Things
- Ranch Goes Viral with International Fans at World Cup - Kraft got all over the viral trend of international fans at the World Cup filming themselves trying Ranch Dressing by releasing a TSA-compliant Ranch travel kit. Now to watch this ranch trend go global! So much for that “GLP-1 to take over the world” trend, eh?!
- Sports & Energy Drinks Bigger Than Cola - In the UK, Sports & Energy drinks have overtaken Cola as the biggest segment in Soft Drinks in value sales. The shift shows shoppers looking for benefits from their food and drink - and those benefits are often more than just “great taste”. I’m off to launch my Double-Caffeine-Pre-Biotic-Zero-Sugar-Extra-Fibre-Extra-Peptides Cola. Be right back.
- GLP-1 CPG Boost, but Not Where You Think - Recent research from Strat7 shows that 79% of GLP-1 users across Europe were experiencing side effects from the drug, including changes to skin, hair loss or dryness, and digestive problems. This is being seen by these shoppers transferring some of their food spend to Skin Care, Hair Care, and Digestive Health categories. One to watch out for as we expect to see more new products targeted at GLP-1 users outside of the food space.
- The New Consumer on Alcohol Trends - As ever, The New Consumer’s latest release is excellent. This time on whether alcohol is really the new tobacco. This goes into extra detail on the misconceptions on the premature predictions of the downfall of the alcohol industry. The majority of US drinkers are drinking the same or more, across all generations. Gen Z, in particular, are aging into “normal” drinking behaviour - though younger drinking (e.g. in high-school) has been consistently declining over the past 30 years. Plenty of things to be optimistic about in the alcohol sector.
- Celebrity CPG - it’s BACK - June seemed to revitalise the world of Celebrity Backed Brands. From the ridiculous to the sublime…
Insight Innovation Competition at IIEX Europe 2026 Winners
VST took both the Audience Favourite Award and the Industry Impact Award at the Insight Innovation Competition at IIEX Europe 2026, sharing a vision of the future.
“Can supermarket shelves talk?”
Read the pitch that won the room below.
IGD London, Technology’s Impact on the Future of Category Leadership
I spoke on a panel about AI in Category Management. How to launch, what to be mindful of, and the ready-made solution that can turn your teams into the best category managers in the world.
Thanks to my fellow panelists for joining and sharing an honest view of executing AI strategies and building team capabilities in this emerging space.
You can read a summary of what we talked about below.
Further Reading from VST
- How to fix availability for a beer brand in 30% of stores by spotting just one error on shelf
- How much a pack size can reduce before impacting brand share
- Pet Care - How shoppers make decisions in the most planned purchase in grocery
And if there’s a category challenge on your mind that didn’t make this newsletter, please hit reply. I read everything!
