Mar 12, 2019   SOURCE: BusinessWire

BCG and IRI Research Study Reports Promising CPG Growth in 2018

After years of challenging industry dynamics, research released today by IRI® and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found slightly accelerated growth for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies in 2018. Even though sustainable volume growth remains a challenge, the fastest-growing companies are increasing volume by providing an appealing product assortment that is meeting consumers’ wants and needs.

Constellation Brands tops the CPG growth-leader list of large companies, followed by Monster Energy, Procter & Gamble, Keurig Dr Pepper and General Mills. The leaders among midsized companies are JUUL Labs, L’Oreal, Blue Diamond Growers, Post Consumer Brands and Starbucks. Topping the growth-leader list of small companies are Vital Pharmaceuticals, Harry’s, Bodyarmor SuperDrink, Lamb Weston and Rana Meal Solutions.

“Thanks to the power of big data analytics, we are able to take a critical look at companies of varying sizes to glean important insights about industry trends and understand the drivers of the top performers,” said Krishnakumar (KK) Davey, president of IRI Strategic Analytics. “The CPG companies winning in today’s marketplace are doing so because they drive volume, maintain a targeted approach to mergers and acquisitions, and act on the consumer trends influencing purchase behavior.”

“When the full report is released next month, we will provide CPG companies a deeper look into the business decisions that have shaped growth in the industry over the past five years,” said Peri Edelstein, a BCG partner and coauthor of the study.

The findings are based on the seventh annual analysis by BCG and IRI of the growth performance of more than 425 public and private CPG companies with annual U.S. retail sales of more than $100 million in measured retail channels, including grocery, drug, mass-merchandise, club, dollar, military and convenience stores. The study focused on what consumers actually buy in measured channels, leveraging IRI’s granular point-of sale-data, and generated three lists of growth leaders: small companies ($100 million to $1 billion in IRI-measured retail sales), midsized companies ($1 billion to $5.5 billion) and large companies (more than $5.5 billion). Companies were ranked on a combination of three metrics: dollar sales growth, volume sales growth and market share gains.

Some of the other findings include:

  • Large and mid-sized players outside of the top 10 are in decline
  • In addition to driving growth, acquisitions and partnerships facilitate entry into new categories, acquire new consumers and build new capabilities
  • Acceleration in acquisition and investment in small growth leaders over the last few years

To arrange an interview with one of the authors, please contact BCG’s [Nidhi Sinha at 646-455-4615or Sinha.Nidhi@bcg.com] or IRI’s Shelley Hughes at 312-474-3675 or Shelley.Hughes@IRIworldwide.com.

About Boston Consulting Group

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world’s leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients from the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors in all regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their enterprises. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with offices in more than 90 cities in 50 countries. For more information, please visit bcg.com.

About IRI Strategic Analytics:

IRI Strategic Analytics drives competitively advantaged, shopper-centric business decisions for CPG and retail clients by leveraging predictive analytics and prescriptive solutions, powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning in combination with deep strategy, analytic and activation expertise.

About IRI

IRI is a leading provider of big data, predictive analytics and forward-looking insights that help CPG, OTC health care organizations, retailers, financial services and media companies grow their businesses. A confluence of major external events — a change in consumer buying habits, big data coming into its own, advanced analytics and personalized consumer activation — is leading to a seismic shift in drivers of success in all industries. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated on an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI is empowering the personalization revolution, helping to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to remain relentlessly relevant, capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth. For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com.