Episodes

The CPGGUYS are joined in this episode by Delta 181 plane crash survivor from 1985 and now founder/CEO of the nutritional wellness brand Lucky Energy. This is the story of resilience, tenacity, courage and curiosity. Laver's daughter, Kate, had cerebral palsy and couldn't eat solid foods. He created a plant-based protein shake, which led to the founding of Kate Farms and then inspired by being a survivor - Lucky Energy. Find Richard Laver on Linkedin at : https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-l...

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Nicole Collida Davis, Managing Director & SVP US National Accounts and Jennie Bell Managing Director & SVP US Global Clients at NielsenIQ, the world’s leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. Today NIQ has operations in 95+ countries representing 97% of the world’s GDP. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive consumer insights—delive...

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Alison O'Keefe, Partnership Director at WHSmith North America Media Network, Powered by SMG. WHS Media is the first-ever in-store travel Retail Media Network, connecting brands to consumers across travel hubs in North America. Find Alison on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alison-o-keefe-42b1a830/ Find WHSmith Media on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/whsmith-north-america-media-network/ Find WHSmith Media online at: https://smg...

The CPGGUYS are joined in this episode by Vice President of grocery merchandising at Wakefern Food Corp. Jeff is a remarkable example of a pharmacist expert and leader now transformed into an everyday grocery merchant. We were so impressed by his leadership, he is the winner of the DSN (Drug store news) + CPGGGUYS retail merchandiser of the year for 2024! Find Jeff Mondelli on Linkedin at : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-mondelli-95a72148/ Find Wakefern Food Corp on Linkedin at : h...

The CPGGUYS are joined in this episode by Shaan Modi, from New Jersey. Shaan is still in high school but was spotted by us at CAGNY (the annual consumer analysts gathering with senior CPG brand leaders) down in Florida in February. We observed him attend several sessions, and we quite surprised to see someone from Gen Z in this conference. We asked him what he thought, and his answers both intrigued and challenged our own biases of how he saw the notion of a 'brand'. We decided to bring him on t...

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Brandon Nutter, co Founder and CTO of Ampd, which connects Google Ads directly to the world’s largest marketplaces like Amazon and turn incremental revenue all the way up, and Steve Pet, Antitrust Associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Find Brandon Nutter on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonnutter/ Find Steve Pet on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-pet-22b12040/ Find Ampd online at: https://www.ampd.io/ Brandon & Steve...

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by returning guest Nik Modi, Co-Head of Global Consumer & Retail Research at RBC Capital Markets. In this episode, Nik discusses his recent communication equity research newsletter called “Attention CPG Management/Boards: It’s Time to Cut EPS Significantly” Nik argues that cutting numbers significantly would not only provide a floor on valuations, but also provide ample flex for investments that are critically needed, especially in marketing, innovat...

In this episode, Sri interviews Jordan Berke, founder & CEO of TOMORROW, a leading digital retail advisory firm, enabling global retailers to accelerate growth through digitization. Sri and Jordan tour an Amazon Fresh store as Jordan offers his expert analysis of how this brick & mortar format is performing. Find Jordan on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-berke-tomorrow/ Find TOMORROW on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tomorrow-retail-consulting/ Find TOMORROW ...

In this episode, the CPG Guys are joined by Greg Pulsifer, SVP of eCommerce at Sam’s Club, the club format division of Walmart. Find Greg on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregpulsifer/ Find Sam’s Club on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sam's-club/ Find Sam’s Club online at: https://corporate.walmart.com/about/samsclub/sams-club-suppliers? Greg answers these questions: Tell us about you the person? Take us through your career growth journey in digital and ecommerce...

The CPGGUYS are joined in this episode straight from Sydney, Australia by Imteaz Ahamed, founder and CEO of an artificial intelligence platform called Applied Intelligence. This episode is contextual for the CPG industry and covers many topics related to what YOU as a listener - either from a brand or retailer are faced with today. Find Imteaz Ahamed on Linkedin at : https://www.linkedin.com/in/imteaza/ Find Applied Intelligence on Linkedin at : https://www.linkedin.com/company/applied-intell...

The CPG Guys are joined by Michael La Kier, Vice President Brand Development at the Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) the largest affiliation of independent grocers in the U.S. andaround the world, boasting 2,500 U.S. stores and 7,500+ globally. This episode was recorded at the 2025 Commerce Media Brand Summit produced by WB Research. Find Michael on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaellakier/ Find IGA on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iga-inc./ Find IGA online at:...

In this episode, the CPG Guys are joined by Cristian Arcangeli, Vice President of Omnichannel and Customer Experience at illycaffè, an Italian family business, founded in Trieste in 1933 and committed to offering the greatest coffee to the world. Find Cristian on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carcangeli/ Find illycaffè on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/illycaffe/ Find Illycaffè online at: https://www.illy.com/en-us Apply to join the Cornell retail media program https...

The CPG Guys welcome the senior editor of the Path to Purchase Institute, Cyndi Loza, to discuss the latest retail media networks benchmarking report produced by them and the results. Some outcomes will surprise you, some are a confirmation and some retail media networks have missed the opportunity completely. Apply to join the Cornell retail media program https://ecornell.cornell.edu/certificates/marketing/retail-media-strategy/ Find Cyndi Loza on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyndil...

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by the founder of Doughlicious - the London dough company. Indulgent, yet healthy cookies - yes, that's whipping up treats in her kitchen to becoming London’s cookie queen, Kathryn Bricken turned her American baking magic into a sweet success story. Her legendary homemade cookies, crafted with clean, premium ingredients and free from artificial nasties, sparked such a frenzy among friends—who begged for her secret dough to bake at home—that she knew she ha...

The CPGGUYS cover the recently concluded Shoptalk spring 2025 from Las Vegas. What a show! Besides our opening networking reception, we had a chance to meet up with many brands, retailers and of course all our sponsors. This episode is collectively sponsored by Epsilon, Dunnhumby, Osmos, Apply to join the Cornell retail media program https://ecornell.cornell.edu/certificates/marketing/retail-media-strategy/ Find Sri Rajagopalan on Linkedin at : https://www.linkedin.com/in/sri-rajagopalan-0...

The CPGGUYS are joined in this episode by NA GM for Mars Pet Nutrition - Alanna McDonald. With brands such as L'Oreal & Procter & Gamble in her background, we knew this would be a solid foundational discussion on ways to think through today's category shaping trends and opportunities. This episode was shot LIVE at New York City at their office. Apply to join the Cornell retail media program https://ecornell.cornell.edu/certificates/marketing/retail-media-strategy/ Find Alanna on Linkedin at :...

The CPGGUYS are joined in this episode by Sargento Foods General Manager, Erin Price. She is a General manager with significant experience in strategic planning, marketing, communications and brand management at leading CPG firms like General Mills, Johnson & Johnson & spectrum brands. Apply to join the Cornell retail media program https://ecornell.cornell.edu/certificates/marketing/retail-media-strategy/ Follow Erin Price on Linkedin at : https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-price-5199008/ Fo...

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Tracey Massey, Chief Operating Officer at NielsenIQ, the world’s leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. NIQ combined with GfK in 2023, bringing together the two industry leaders with unparalleled global reach. Today NIQ has operations in 95+ countries representing 97% of the world’s GDP. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive cons...

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Simone Lumsden, SVP of Triangle Loyalty & Retail Media at Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (“CTC”), one of Canada’s most admired and trusted companies that includes a retail segment, a financial services division and CT REIT. Their retail business is led by Canadian Tire, which provides Canadians with products for life in Canada across its Living, Playing, Fixing, Automotive and Seasonal & Gardening categories. Party City, PartSource and Gas+ are key ...

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Emma Helsloot and Ana Laura Zain - cofounders of the Women in Retail Media Collective. Their mission :Connect, grow, and lead via a community designed to empower women to shape the future of retail media. Find Emma Helsloot on Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-helsloot-78767a64/ Find Ana Laura Zain on Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/analaurazain/ Find WRMC on Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/women-in-retail-med...

In this episode, the CPG Guys are joined by Chelsey Alexander, Vice President, Emerging Digital Platforms at Bayer Consumer Health. The episode was recorded in Atlanta GA at the Commerce Brand Media Summit in March 2025. Follow Chelsey Alexander on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsey-alexander-a3269757/ Follow Bayer on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bayer/ Follow Bayer online at: https://www.bayer.com/en/personal-health/better-health-for-all Chelsey answers these q...

The CPGGUYS Sri Rajagopalan & Peter VS Bond muse the month that passed by. February means CAGNY - the annual Wall St analyst conference (Consumer Analyst Group of NY). Here, we got to meet several of the financial analysts and were able to discuss and learn what 2025 holds for us in the CPG industry. Find Sri Rajagopalan on Linkedin here : https://www.linkedin.com/in/sri-rajagopalan-09a0062/ Find Peter VS Bond on Linkedin here : https://www.linkedin.com/in/pvsbond/ Find the CPGGUYS on L...

In this episode, the CPG guys speak with Carrie Sander, Chief Customer Officer at Kellanova, formerly the snacks division of The Kellogg Company. Find Carrie on LinkedIn at: http://linkedin.com/in/carrie-sander-b634b04 Find Kellanova on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kellanova/ Find Kellanova online at: https://www.kellanova.com/us/en/home.html Carrie answers these questions: You’ve spent almost the entirety of your professional career with the same company. What were some ...

The CPGGUYS were joined live at CES during the annual show in Las Vegas by Sam's club Chief experience officer & EVP - Diana Marshall. This is a leadership class for vendors on how to be successful at Sam's club and her own leadership of people, data and MAP. This is the first episode of Women's month. In March, we will feature the amazing female leaders who have shaped the CPG industry and Omnichannel retail. **NOTE : at the time of this recording, Diana's title was Chief growth officer, and...