This week’s edition is the 200th Pick of the Week!

I have chosen three highlights – the value of our BG20 datasets in understanding growth through thousands of brands; the importance of long term trends from the Europanel Barometer; and our ongoing #WhoCaresWhoDoes study showing how environmental beliefs translate into actual behaviour.

Thousands of brand examples in BG20 show that across any period of time and in any country, the rules of growth are unchanged – penetration is key

Brands that gain share also increase the percentage of category buyers they reach almost on a one for one basis – whilst the opposite is true for losing brands. This is shown here in a period of inflation and downturn. It is also the case in better times, during Covid and by country and category.

Long term datasets in the Europanel Barometer are key to understanding the way in which the FMCG market reacts to events like inflation, downturns, covid

Tracking the dynamics since 2007 clearly shows the relationship between FMCG value growth and inflation – volumes have been quite stable and so differences indicate tough times (down-trading) or up-trading during better times. The current gap is a combination of extreme inflation rates, tentative consumption given the economy and a drop in consumption versus COVID peaks.

#WhoCaresWhoDoes has shown the critical nature and continuing importance of the most Eco-Active shoppers – they care and they buy accordingly

Eco-Actives are worth over $260 billion. They care about all sustainability issues. But even within this group, 20% can’t always buy as sustainably as they would like. Yet they do translate their beliefs into behaviour and this is reflected in many of the brands they buy.