Growth, Brands and More

Filiberto Amati
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Growth, Brands, and More is the FMCG Growth Operating System in podcast form. Each episode breaks down how consumer goods brands win (or lose) in competitive markets. Hosted by Filiberto Amati, a growth consultant with 25 years of experience across P&G, Philips, and Campari, the show goes deep into the levers that drive real commercial results: portfolio architecture, route to market, pricing logic, brand strategy, shopper behaviour, and category dynamics. Guests are operators, not theorists — senior executives and founders from Heineken, Diageo, Coca-Cola, Unilever, P&G, Danone, and Pernod Ricard, alongside entrepreneurs building the next generation of FMCG brands. No generic marketing advice. No thought leadership filler. Built for the people running brands or advising the ones who do. For more on FMCG intelligence: https://www.filibertoamati.com/ For more on GOS: https://www.amati-associates.com/diagnostic/ www.filibertoamati.com

  1. 6d ago

    Sensory Research, Semiotics & GLP-1 | Pippa Bailey

    Host Filiberto interviews Pippa Bailey, Head of Strategy and Innovation at CRG Global, about her career in sensory and consumer psychology, research innovation, and sustainability across consumer packaged goods. They discuss how to make research more useful by clarifying real business questions, using multiple data sources, and testing hypotheses while maintaining methodological rigour. The conversation explores category “blurification,” the role of micro- and nano-content creators for early ideation and communications, and how technology enables self-ethnography and passive measurement in shopper and product testing. Bailey explains sensory semiotics—how meaning and expectations from cues like texture, colour, and language shape product experience and repeat purchase. They close on GLP-1’s wide-ranging impact on consumer behaviour, households, and research norms.00:00 Welcome and Introductions 00:44 Pippa’s Research Journey 05:45 Blurring Categories and Needs 08:07 Making Research Useful 13:59 Experimentation and Rigour 18:14 Micro Creators for Insight 24:03 Shopper Research Evolution 31:28 Sensory Semiotics Explained 40:01 Beverage Taste and Polarisation 42:59 When Semiotics Don’t Travel 47:08 GLP-1 Disrupts Consumption 56:54 Wrap Up and Thanks This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.filibertoamati.com/subscribe

  2. Sep 21

    FMCG Portfolios in a K-Shaped Economy - Live with Filiberto Amati & Todd Wirk

    The K-shaped economy didn't create the barbell in FMCG portfolios. It accelerated a trend already twenty years in the making, and most manufacturers still measure it wrong. In this episode of Growth, Brands and More, I'm joined by Todd Kirk of Middlegame, an FMCG marketing analytics firm. They build market structure models on Nielsen IQ data, increasingly with AI in the loop. Todd worked both sides of that data. He started at IRI (now Circana), then moved client-side to Coca-Cola's brand teams. Today he applies that lens at Middlegame, built specifically for FMCG. We open with the shrink-to-grow thesis and why the mainstream is being pinched from both ends. Then Todd walks through a live case study: a decomposition of sparkling wine sales in Ireland. It separates real incrementality from transfer demand, and shows exactly where a 2.3% retail value gain actually came from. We close on why revenue growth management and commercial teams keep talking past each other. And on where AI genuinely earns its place in this kind of analysis. If you manage a portfolio that's being pulled toward value on one side and premium on the other, this one is for you. In this episode: 00:03:49 — Welcome back: Todd Kirk and Middlegame's read on the "first moment of truth" 00:07:54 — Defining the K-shaped economy: 00:13:48 — Beyond price: multi-banner shopping and the private label upgrade 00:16:02 — From price-pack architecture to portfolio interactions 00:26:06 — Case study: decomposing sparkling wine sales in Ireland 00:40:44 — RGM vs. commercial, market structure as a Rubik's cube, and where AI fits This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.filibertoamati.com/subscribe

    FMCG Portfolios in a K-Shaped Economy - Live with Filiberto Amati & Todd Wirk

  3. Sep 7

    International Brands & Polish Supermarkets | Dominik Wilk

    How can international brands enter the ‘hot’ Polish Supermarket scene? What kind of insights should they use, and which should they dismiss? Host Filiberto Amati interviews Dominik Wilk, now Poland country manager for German wholesaler Crevel Europe, on what international brands need to know to enter Poland's modern trade. He covers logistics, trade promotions, currency and payment-term variability, and how listings often begin as “in-and-out” supported by leaflets and social media before permanent placement. Key mistakes include pitching only product quality, ignoring shopper differences and geography, and treating listing as success; Winning requires ongoing support, preparation, patience, and a consistent strategy. 00:00 Polish Retail P&L Basics 07:19 Logistics, Pricing and Competition 14:37 Listings, Promotions and Retail Maze 23:27 Route To Market Playbook 29:16 Pitching And Listing Mistakes 35:13 Promotions, Trends And Final Advice This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.filibertoamati.com/subscribe

  4. Aug 24

    Health as a Board Risk for F&B | AJ van Triest

    Is nutrition the next board-level risk for food and beverage companies? Do we need to install a Chief Nutrition Officer? Aart Jan recounts a career spanning Unilever (including roles in Singapore, China, and leading the tea division), a Coca-Cola/Nestlé joint venture, and FrieslandCampina. In the latter, he served as corporate CMO and developed a nutrition policy distinguishing daily versus occasional products to grow healthier sales. After leading fitness and nutrition platform fitchannel.com and selling it to investors, he now consults on applying marketing to public health, arguing health harm is driven more by consumption frequency and usage intensity than by penetration. AJ goes to the core of his vision of a shift from ingredient accountability to impact and outcome-driven nutrition, enabled by wearables and glucose monitoring. For our guest, health is an emerging board-level portfolio risk alongside shifts in consumer demand and regulation. Finally, we discuss GLP-1’s effects on cravings, category volumes, and family repertoires, and propose a chief health officer and portfolio KPIs focused on product role, frequency, and health outcomes. 00:00 Career Journey in FMCG 02:45 Health Platform Lessons 09:56 Health as Corporate Risk 37:45 GLP-1 and Demand Shifts 49:09 Chief Health Officer Future This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.filibertoamati.com/subscribe

  5. Aug 10

    Olivier Rouche: a spirits industry veteran on RTDs and trends

    What is happening in Spirits? Why are RTDs growing while the rest of the categories are not? Filiberto hosts a discussion with Chris Maffeo and spirits veteran Olivier Rouche. Olivier recounts his 35 years at Pernod Ricard in commercial strategy & negotiation and his new consultancy, training, and coaching work. They examine the spirits industry’s rapid transformation as premiumization stalls, consumption slows in traditional markets, and demand shifts toward lower-alcohol options. The group highlights operational and margin challenges for spirits companies entering RTDs, including reliance on third-party production, canning and small-format constraints, best-before dynamics, promo pressure, and retailer assortment tightening. They distinguish multiple RTD sub-markets (value retail, grab-and-go, multipacks, premium on-trade cocktails) and expect more partnerships with bottlers/distributors. Olivier advises aligning RTDs with company strategy, quantifying margin dilution versus volume-driven value expansion, and ensuring sustainable long-term operations, while warning against rushed launches, cost-driven pricing, and ignoring local consumer differences. 00:00 Meet the Guests 01:12 Olivier's Career Shift 04:17 Spirits Industry Shakeup 13:27 RTDs Strategy and Execution 24:08 RGM Mistakes and Wrap-Up This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.filibertoamati.com/subscribe

  6. Jul 27

    The Art and Science of Water | Ganesh Iyer

    What is a water sommelier? Selling water is both an art and a science. In this Growth Brands and More episode, host Filiberto interviews beverage veteran and water sommelier Ganesh Iyer, who recounts entering the beverage industry before focusing full-time on water sommelier work. Iyer defines the role of the water sommelier and explains the art of pairing meals and beverages. He argues that water education lags in India compared to Europe due to a lack of cultural respect and hospitality training. He highlights common branding mistakes (such as generic messaging or an unclear value proposition) and emphasises tailored on-premise training, moving conversations from procurement to revenue, and future opportunities like water menus, culinary pairing, and meaningful functional benefits, and advises new entrants to define an uncopiable “moat.” 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:00 Ganesh Career Origins 04:59 Water Sommelier Explained 09:16 Key Water Attributes 16:42 Premium Water Positioning 25:34 Common Branding Mistakes 36:21 Training That Actually Works 47:35 Future Opportunities in Water 51:01 Final Advice and Wrap Up This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.filibertoamati.com/subscribe

  7. Jul 13

    Beyond Carbon | Adam Pawelas | Part 2

    What if sustainability needed to go beyond Carbon management to become a strategy? In this episode, Adam discusses sustainability in FMCG, with an emphasis on localised water risk management. He touches on technologies for water efficiency and closed-loop systems, which are constrained by regulation in some regions, and highlights India’s zero liquid discharge practices. Water savings can also strengthen the business case through energy recovery and loss reduction, with wastewater serving as a bioindicator of inefficiency. He points to regenerative agriculture, intermodal transport, supplier engagement to decarbonise scope 3, growing customer demands for sustainability data, and future trends including nature metrics, risk pricing maturity, shorter supply chains, financial instruments, digital traceability, and collaborative action. 00:00 Water Risk Hotspots 02:25 Mitigation and Closed Loops 06:01 Resilience in Supply Chains 13:27 Scope Three and Supplier Pressure 18:39 Future Trends and Leadership This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.filibertoamati.com/subscribe

  8. Jun 29

    The Strategic Evolution of Sustainability | Adam Pawelas | Part 1

    What if sustainability were not about doing good or looking good? What if it were about risk management?? In this episode, Filiberto interviews sustainability professional Adam Pawelas - a sustainability veteran in food and beverages - about how sustainability has evolved over 20+ years from compliance to operational excellence, CSR, and now ESG embedded in business strategy and finance. They discuss universal sustainability practices across industries: mapping stakeholders, identifying material topics, and clarifying internal and external motivations, with leaders differentiating themselves through future-proof asset design, portfolio choices based on product footprints, responsible sourcing for scope 3 impacts, embedding sustainability in risk frameworks, and resourcing commitments via incentives tied to sustainability KPIs. They address myths that sustainability is only a cost or is fading, arguing it is becoming more structured and important for resilience amid extreme weather and geopolitical shocks. The conversation highlights packaging complexity, regional differences in recycling systems and recycled content, and the growing role of EU reporting frameworks and peer pressure in driving action. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 03:04 Sustainability From CSR to ESG 10:57 What Comes Next: Resilience 14:07 Leaders vs Laggards in Practice 20:53 Packaging Regulation and Reporting This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.filibertoamati.com/subscribe

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About

Growth, Brands, and More is the FMCG Growth Operating System in podcast form. Each episode breaks down how consumer goods brands win (or lose) in competitive markets. Hosted by Filiberto Amati, a growth consultant with 25 years of experience across P&G, Philips, and Campari, the show goes deep into the levers that drive real commercial results: portfolio architecture, route to market, pricing logic, brand strategy, shopper behaviour, and category dynamics. Guests are operators, not theorists — senior executives and founders from Heineken, Diageo, Coca-Cola, Unilever, P&G, Danone, and Pernod Ricard, alongside entrepreneurs building the next generation of FMCG brands. No generic marketing advice. No thought leadership filler. Built for the people running brands or advising the ones who do. For more on FMCG intelligence: https://www.filibertoamati.com/ For more on GOS: https://www.amati-associates.com/diagnostic/ www.filibertoamati.com

Information

  • Creator
    Filiberto Amati
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    101
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Filiberto Amati
  • Show Website
    Growth, Brands and More