the Joshua Schall Audio Experience

It probably doesn’t need repeated, but Nike is the heavyweight champion of consumer brands. There are only a few brands that ever achieve ubiquity in popular culture like Nike. No matter where we turn, it feels like there’s a swoosh just around the corner. That being said, there's several current “lesser known” Nike business strategies that are key to overcoming the increasingly crowded and changi...

Pivotal is an interview-style segment that tackles topics in consumer packaged goods (CPG) and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) from the business leaders that live it EVERY DAY! This episode, we talk with my good friend and co-founder of Fit Butters Ryan Bucki (aka Fitness Informant) about how they went from idea to launch in only a two weeks later. Plus, he shares some of his really creative bus...

With a robust loyalty program, attractive off-mall real estate strategy, and successful retail partnerships like Sephora under its belt, Kohl's once seemed immune to many of the troubles of department stores. For months now, however, the retailer has been on the defensive from activist investors, and could be on the brink of being sold. Franchise Group, Inc., the owner of The Vitamin Shoppe (and o...

Is MusclePharm finally embracing the fact that they are a protein company now? MusclePharm (OTCMKTS: MSLP) just disclosed that the company is expanding into the ready-to-drink (RTD) protein category with the launch of its new whey protein drink line in the summer of 2022. This is a bit of a “what took you so long” kind of moment for me. I’ve been advocating for MusclePharm to ditch the pursuit of...

With Quest Nutrition making the shift from being a protein bar company to a successful lifestyle brand, can The Simply Good Foods Company do the same thing with Atkins Nutritionals? Should The Simply Good Foods Company be worried about the possible upcoming recession after the yield curve inverted? In this latest episode, I'll utilize the 2022 Q2 Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ: SMPL) earnings r...

Will slapping Paw Patrol characters on a powdered hydration supplement be enough to drive success for SOS Hydration in the public markets? SOS Hydration is more than just a company that utilizes entertainment IP from Paw Patrol. Founded in May 2013 by brothers and elite track athletes James and Tom Mayo and James' wife (licensed medical doctor), SOS Hydration has a strong founder-market fit that’s...

Pivotal is an interview-style segment that tackles topics in consumer packaged goods (CPG) and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) from the business leaders that live it EVERY DAY! This episode, we talk with my good friend and Divisional Merchandise Manager at The Vitamin Shoppe Jack Gayton about sports nutrition categorical performance at the specialty retailer and what he’s seeing in terms of chan...

Gen Z is just a more extreme version of Millennials, right? No cap I used to think the same thing a few years ago, but they are completely different, and your functional CPG brand better be ready for it. To be honest, if you’re a functional CPG brand and you aren’t thinking about Gen Z already…you’re behind! In my opinion, functional CPG brands are the inspiration epicenter for the entire CPG indu...

Depending on how deep you follow the supplement industry, you might be asking yourself who is Smart for Life? Well, Smart for Life is a vertically integrated brand portfolio that has major exposure to the weight loss and weight management category. The company went public on February 16, 2022, on the NASDAQ under the stock ticker SMFL. Smart for Life currently owns several interesting assets; Doct...

The NCAA ruled in July 2021 that college athletes can be compensated for their name, image, and likeness (known as NIL). While there was an initial summertime burst of attention-grabbing student-athlete NIL headlines in the functional CPG industry (e.g. PlantFuel & Six Star Pro Nutrition), most are still sitting on the sidelines. Leading up to the landmark change, I felt NIL could offer fertil...

Can you guess my favorite podcast of all-time (besides my own of course)? Here’s a hint…it’s a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built. Each episode of the “How I Built This” podcast features a compelling story about someone who builds a successful company from the ground up, with each guest having a unique backstory. The host is Guy Raz, a...

Man those “Cola Wars” with Coca-Cola in the late-1970s into the early-1980s must have really made Pepsi angry because did you know they went out and made a deal with the former Soviet Union to acquire a whole bunch of naval ships including attack submarines? The story starts with the Soviet Union getting a taste of Pepsi during the 1959 American National Exhibition in Moscow. More than a decade la...

Can we officially say now that Glanbia Performance Nutrition is back on track after a few hiccup years? Glanbia Performance Nutrition had 2021 full-year revenue of $1.44 billion, which increased 17.1% YoY on a constant currency basis from both strong pricing and volume increases. They also benefitted 1.2% from the mid-year acquisition of LevlUp, a gamer (esports) nutrition brand. Glanbia Performan...

Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH) set more company records as the business almost triples in revenue, but will that continue in 2022? The current set-up looks great, but it won’t be without marketplace challenges and competition breathing down on Celsius Holdings from all directions. This includes the important female energy drink buyer for Celsius, as upstart brand Alani Nu is growing at 600%+ YoY...

With Russia invading Ukraine this past week, what effects could it have on the functional CPG industry? I think the easiest way to understand this topic would be for me to provide a zoomed out CPG industry view, before zooming back into the functional food, functional beverage, and nutritional supplement CPG categories. Many might not be aware that Ukraine is nicknamed the breadbasket of Europe. T...

The Vitamin Shoppe grew topline revenue to its almost matching the company's history peak in 2014-2015. This is along with achieving operating profit growth of over 1800% YoY. Yet, I would guess that most still haven’t fully grasped the results of massive multi-year turnaround plan at The Vitamin Shoppe. I know I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but it’s time to wake up people. S...

Unilever might have been lacking direction over the last few years, but a recent strategic transformation decision now has the European CPG conglomerate positioned squarely inside my wheelhouse. According to comments made during the latest Unilever earnings call, CEO Alan Jope stated, “after months of careful review, we have concluded that accelerating the shift of Unilever's portfolio into consum...

Are several converging consumer trends finally putting enough pressure towards getting a public health tax policy approved that’s more than a decade in the making? Public health? Taxes? I know what you’re thinking, but I assure you that how these topics relate to the supplement industry is quite important. It revolves around reclassifying certain meal replacement products and dietary supplements,...

As in-person trade shows come roaring back in 2022, it’s the perfect time to talk about how you can make impact at these events without spending tons of money being an exhibitor. For a lot of you that work at or own functional CPG brands, being involved at trade shows (B2B or B2C) or heck even just having the opportunity to live sample at events/retailers is very important. B2B events like Natural...

Have you heard the joke about the time a baseball card, pack of chewing gum, and a piece of sports apparel walked into a retail store? No? It’s OK…there probably isn’t a joke in the entire historical catalog of jokes that combine those things. That being said, all those consumer products categories do have a commonality and that’s because it was announced in early January that Fanatics would acqui...

If you’ve been online for even a short period of time during the past few weeks, you’ve probably encountered social media posts made up of green and yellow blocks. My thesis when I started to research Wordle was that it’s just another pandemic-era viral phenomenon. Things go viral on the internet for no good reason all the time, but that fact seems to have become more random during the last two ye...

Have you noticed the rocket ship that is the Dymatize Nutrition brand? If you are a hardcore sports nutrition consumer, I would guess you haven't and that's by design with the strategic shift that made a few years ago. In this latest episode, I'll utilize the recent BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR) earnings report, earnings call, and publicly disclosed news as the backdrop to discuss what it could mea...

You often hear me say “a great product is only the entry fee to compete in today’s CPG market”, but what’s at the heart of that statement? The hard truth is that there have never been as many CPG brands and products as there are today. If you didn't realize that, the easiest way to experience this reality is to do a non-branded search on Amazon within some sizable CPG category. I guarantee you wil...

I’ve always believed that Hip Hop and CPG entrepreneurship are linked together. Firstly, Hip Hop is seen as counterculture to other music genres, which is similar to CPG entrepreneurship in today’s “technology” filled founder landscape. Additionally, Hip Hop and CPG entrepreneurship are both centered around being salesmanship and the ability to hustle. Moreover, Hip Hop music is rooted in remixing...

Would you like to play a game [in my best John Kramer aka Jigsaw from the SAW movie franchise voice]? So, what’s this game exactly that I’m wanting to play? It’s inspired by a random Twitter post I made in November 2021. It’s really a fool’s game to be honest. One that I seem to enjoy playing a lot in my content creation. It’s where I try to put my oracle hat on and see if I can predict the future...