Vividly

This weekend, our top reads ask… is Kroger’s news-making acquisition of Giant Eagle a strategic win? —> https://lnkd.in/gWZH29Tb ...Or is it unnecessary trouble? —>  https://lnkd.in/gtmWHrCm Sports drinks sales are up 8.5% overall - but according to this Reddit/CPG expert, that’s because of promos not price —> https://lnkd.in/gHB7qnfu It’s been a busy season for food regulation changes. Is your brand up-to-date on the latest regulatory decisions? —> https://lnkd.in/ggY6tUaE

Our favorite summer look is that “just onboarded with Vividly” glow ☀️ Vividly’s TPM platform transforms spreadsheet horrors into big financial wins, bragging rights, and holiday bonuses. Maybe she’s born with it… maybe it’s Vividly.

One year ago, Vividly named our first Chief AI Officer, Alexander W.. Since then, his team has built Transcend AI, an AI layer that overlays and supercharges all of your Vividly tools. Over our years of helping CPG teams, we’ve built a robust set of product modules, with a powerhouse of workflow tools in each area. Transcend AI boosts and transforms the efficacy of each module, helping you and your team make the right decisions in each of these processes. Want to learn more? DM us to schedule your free demo.

It’s this week in CPG! The town is abuzz with news that Kroger intends to acquire leading family-owned food and pharmacy retailer Giant Eagle, Inc. for $1.65B. Giant Eagle boasts approximately $9B in annual sales across 197 supermarkets and 11 standalone pharmacies. We’ll be following how this sale - which should close in 2027 - impacts the state of grocery. Obsessed with coffee but chronically overcaffeinated? Lowkey Coffee has entered the chat with a RTD decaf cold brew, available in two unsweetened varieties: Vanilla and Black. It’s an exciting addition to the growing Premium Decaf category. Uncle Matt's Organic from founder Matt McLean has expanded their offerings with new gallon and 8 oz. 24-packs of its Pulp Free Orange Juice especially for foodservice operators. We love a summer OJ moment. Jennifer Jorgensen, a 25 year veteran of General Mills, will officially be the new CEO of So Good So You, following her notable success as CEO of Back to Nature. So Good So You is a fast-growing organic wellness drink brand, boasting more than 5x growth over the past four years, and a recent majority stake acquisition from Bansk Group. Fabulous frozen empanadas from Latin Goodness Foods/MasPanadas may be coming your way. Maspanadas’ parent company Latin Goodness Foods announced that bite-sized empanada “Poppers” are coming to Walmart stores nationwide. Que delicioso. Nutrabolt, the energy drink and supplements company, has reportedly chosen their investment bank partners for an IPO that could raise up to $1B: JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America. Nutrabolt is known for its energy drink C4 and nutrition brand Bloom. Hats off to all the brands landing new shelf space this week! Bunnie Cakes from founder Mariana Cortez debuted at 100+ Giant Food doors; Something & Nothing | B Corp™ is now at 200+ H-E-B locations in Texas; Milton's landed at Target stores; Gabrick BBQ Sauce Co. from Mark Gabrick is now available in all 247 World Market stores; and Kreatures of Habit from founder Michael Chernow dropped nationwide at Sprouts Farmers Market.

How will your sales team benefit from our AI-powered Scenario Planner? Scenario Planner lets your team review side-by-side comparisons of each scenario's aggregate impact, generated in moments, and compare metrics across plans, such as total expected spend, incremental revenue, expected gross margin, and expected ROI. Combining multiple scenarios? Easily roll multiple scenarios into a draft AOP plan to review their total combined metrics, including the impact on your live plan. Check out our demo below 👇

Our Predictive Analytics interface leverages AI to turbocharge your scenario planning. Predictive Analytics allows you to A/B test every promotion before it’s added to your promo plan - and know how likely it is to succeed long before it ever goes live. With predictive analytics, you eliminate the guesswork and replace “hopefully this promo will do well” with “we got this.” Follow along as Vividly’s Chief AI Officer, Alexander W., demonstrates how simple and easy our new interface makes it to test promo power. 

Weekend Read drop! 🤓 “Zebra-striping” is officially reshaping the adult beverage aisle - but what is it?  →   https://lnkd.in/gM9-DcNC 🤓 Why is Walmart rebranding its enormously successful “Great Value” private label? →  https://lnkd.in/dGRrU2sn 🤓  As Amazon continues its push into grocery, we’re observing its playbook for competing with traditional channels →  https://lnkd.in/g485P2WV

Transcend AI is Vividly's AI layer that supercharges and refines every aspect of our trade process. But that doesn’t mean AI is running the whole show. We've envisioned AI as your co-pilot - processes that help automate low-level tactical decisions, empowering humans to focus on high-level strategies and key sign-offs. Watch Vividly’s Chief AI Officer, Alexander W., present our vision for AI and explain how Transcend AI helps brands transform their trade spend from an expensive line item into a profit lever. 

Welcome to this week in CPG! New summer snack unlocked! Daily Crunch has debuted a nostalgic new flavor: Cinnamon Churro Sprouted Nut Medley. With 6g of protein and minimal added sugar, this vegan, keto, and gluten-free snack is perfect to tuck in your beach bag. Chef-grade algae oil brand Algae Cooking Club has landed $11.6M in fresh funding, bolstering their mission to use teeny tiny microalgae to make a big impact on nutrition and the global food system - without sacrificing deliciousness.  Premium cookie mix My Better Batch has cooked up some incredible distribution results, adding more than 3,000 new points of distribution in Q1 and 400% YoY growth - without any venture capital or institutional funding. Sazerac Company is continuing its acquisition bonanza. In their latest expansion, they’ve acquired Garrard County Distilling for $20M at a court-ordered auction, adding a new 50,000 square-foot distillery to their fleet. We can’t wait to try new premium match brand Muracha, which officially launched on June 30th. Their debut product is Yame No. 89, a single-cultivar ceremonial grade matcha from a female-run farm in Yame. Founders (and sisters) Megan Lore and Katie Roth hope each matcha becomes an invitation to slow down. Hats off to all the brands landing new distribution this week. Stars + Honey expanded into Target stores nationwide; Natty Ice Cream is now at 30+ Spouts doors; @Bebe Got Back debuted nationwide at Sprouts; Nadas Foods debuted at Whole Foods Market; DrinkFolks from founder Tiffany Tang dropped at Erewhon; Mission MightyMe is now available at 240+ H-E-B stores; Kay's Curries dropped at Dave’s Fresh Marketplace across Rhode Island; LiveMore Superfoods is now available at Costco doors in the Midwest; Häppy Candy hit Whole Foods; and New Primal made its nationwide debut at Target.

Strategic Questions for Food Service Brands Branding Iron Holding, LLC's experience raises questions every CPG company with a foodservice channel should ask: 1. Do you know if you’re being double-charged (“double-dipped”)? With GPO agreements, distributor agreements, and redistributor agreements all in play, how confident are you that the same deduction isn’t being claimed twice for the same sale? 2. Can you track deductions through your distribution chain? Manufacturer → redistributor → distributor → GPO → operator. Can your system follow the money through all those layers? Or do you lose visibility after the first hop? 3. How long does it take to identify invalid deductions? If it's more than 30 days, you're likely leaving money on the table. Distributors won't accept disputes filed too late. What's the cost of that delay? 4. How much time is your team spending chasing documentation? If your AR team is emailing sales reps asking for backup on hundreds of deductions, that's time not spent on strategic recovery efforts. What could they do with that time instead? 5. What’s in your oldest AR buckets? If deductions are piling up because you can't clear them fast enough, that's working capital tied up unnecessarily. What's the opportunity cost? https://lnkd.in/g9f6ZAzb