According to Mike Van Houten, he has “maybe the coolest job” at Nestlé USA. No, he doesn’t taste-test chocolate chips, but as VP and head of consumer and marketplace insights, he gets to “look after the consumer” during an era in the food and beverage industry that is equally exciting and volatile.

Van Houten told Retail Brew the CPG giant has consumer teams that “live and breathe” specific food, beverage, and frozen food category consumer insights, and others that have a wider purview looking at how societal behavior changes—like demographic fragmentation as the US becomes more diverse—impacts the food and beverage industry. They also, of course, speak face to face with consumers and connect with them on social media to determine long- and short-term trends.

As we jump into the new year, consumer trends within food and beverage are in a flux: Some of those that emerged prior to the pandemic have been accelerated, and some have remained steady, and some have faded away. Van Houten shared a few notable trends Nestlé USA is keeping an eye on this year.

Keep reading here.—EC

Here’s a cold, hard truth to start your week: Pure DTC might help you reach retail customers directly, but it doesn’t mean you’re reaching more customers overall.

Okay, now for some good news. The most practical solution to diversifying your sales channels is actually a simple one: barcodes. Need more deets? The not-for-profit org GS1 US is here to help.

Once you get an official barcode on your products, you can manage, track, and uniquely identify your inventory. GS1 Standards include UPCs and 2D barcodes to assist with everything from identification within the supply chain to helping customers breeze through checkout.

If your pure DTC is lagging, read all about how barcodes can become your biz’s BFF.

A new year means a fresh start for retailers, whether they’re opening new storefronts to test their brick-and-mortar bona fides, or closing underperforming stores to make room for new opportunities down the road.

Store closures increased 80% year over year in 2023, due in large part to Bed Bath & Beyond’s bankruptcy. Still, last year’s 4,600 store closures were offset by nearly 5,500 openings, according to Coresight Research data cited by CBS News.

We’re going to take a look at a handful of ribbon-cuttings and farewells that have kicked off 2024.

Adidas

Adidas’s only San Francisco store closed up shop on Jan. 13, joining a list of retailers including Nordstrom, Hollister, and Lego that recently exited the SF Centre mall.

• The company does have locations outside city limits; the nearest outlet is located 40 miles away in Livermore.
• But it’s not all bad news for the Bay Area; Ikea and Banana Republic opened new storefronts in downtown San Francisco last year.

Keep reading here.—KM

What do Crocs and Claire’s have in common? Both companies made significant comebacks in recent years after hitting a low point financially and culturally in the late 2010s.

“When you Googled Claire’s, the only thing that came up was a bankruptcy,” Kristin Patrick, chief marketing officer for accessory and jewelry brand Claire’s, said during a session at the National Retail Federation’s annual Big Show conference. “Skip to two and a half years later, and we were one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies.”

Crocs CMO Heidi Cooley told a similar story: As recently as 2016, she said, the slipper-shoe brand was mostly known as the punchline in online memes. Now it’s become a cultural phenomenon all over again, with rising sales and a number of high-profile corporate and celebrity partnerships under its belt.

Keep reading here.—AV