January 2013

We've witnessed a major transformation of retail industry strategies during the past several years.

In the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, we talk a lot about collaboration, a cooperative arrangement in which two or more parties work jointly toward a common goal.

We're all aware of it. We notice it as a customer and as an employee, when it's good and especially when it's bad.

Before 2009, department managers at Publix Super Markets would make stocking decisions based on their own knowledge of how things were selling and what promotions were planned.

Few retailers have received more press recently than Supervalu, which is reviewing its strategic options after struggling for profit and sales growth for several years.

A loyal customer is a prize every grocery retailer covets.

In 2012, Katrina Markoff set her sights on doubling sales of her premium chocolate company within three years by launching a lower-priced brand to be sold by other retailers.

What's "green" or "natural" to a food company isn't always green or natural to consumers. In an effort to lure health- and environmentally conscious consumers who want to know what's in the products they purchase, a growing number of food and CPG manufacturers are adding nutritional and green

As healthful eating becomes a priority among mainstream consumers, the opportunity for food and beverage products that claim nutritional benefits is promising–provided CPG manufacturers and retailers invest in consumer education.

European and U.K.

The personal attention Anthony Mongiello's employees devote to hand-stretching fresh mozzarella provides what he calls the Formaggio difference.

Each day our world becomes more complex. We're being bombarded with information and choice while leading busier lives. A typical supermarket in the U.K.