Ritesh Kulkarni 
Packaging now has to do three jobs at once: protect the product, satisfy the retailer and still look premium on shelf. For FMCG brands, that makes supply reliability and verified sustainability credentials just as important as print quality. That is the commercial pitch behind Formakote packaging, which WML Paperboard positions as a locally made paperboard … Read more
Gluten-free biscuits have moved from niche to mainstream, and Mondelez is now putting one of the category’s most recognisable names behind that shift. The launch of Oreo Gluten Free Original gives the brand access to a grocery segment that is already large enough to matter on shelf, not just in health aisles. For buyers and … Read more
A brand can look established in one market and still be only half-built when it tries to travel. Kings Domain Melbourne’s Aaron Chan has been speaking about scaling a brand globally, and that matters because expansion now demands more than a tidy product story. For FMCG teams, the real issue is not just ambition. It … Read more
A Coles-exclusive personal care range with a Matildas star on pack tells me this is about more than shelf appeal. Dove is using Ellie Carpenter to push a body-confidence message into a category where purpose-led branding still has to earn its space at the checkout. The move matters because it links a fast-moving social cause … Read more
Sigma Healthcare has walked away from a $14 billion Boots UK bid just days after telling the market it was exploring the deal. That shift matters because it redraws the capital map for one of Australia’s most aggressive pharmacy players, and it does so while the company still wants a bigger offshore footprint. For FMCG … Read more
Liquor consumption set to shrink in the next decade, and that is a bigger commercial warning than another soft quarter from a drinks giant. The IWSR forecast points to a market where volume declines continue even as population grows and some emerging markets expand. For FMCG professionals, the message is blunt: category growth will not … Read more
Ben Buckler has moved from a founder-led whisky story to a more commercial growth play, and that shift usually starts with leadership. Kristy Bloomfield’s appointment signals the brand is preparing to scale beyond novelty and into a harder-edged distribution and export push. For FMCG and drinks executives, this is the sort of move that matters … Read more
Wine retailing rarely changes its shape, but this new Brunswick East format is trying to break the habit of sorting bottles by grape, region and intimidation. Drop Shop reinvents wine retailing by organising drinks around the way people actually buy them: by occasion, budget and convenience. That matters because the old bottle-shop model assumes shoppers … Read more
Pams seafood has reached a point many supermarket own brands still struggle to claim: every product in the range now sits under a responsible sourcing framework. For Foodstuffs, that matters because seafood is one of the most exposed categories in the private label aisle, where traceability, ethics and shelf confidence all intersect. For buyers, brand … Read more
Mr Chen’s is trying to do something clever in the meal kits aisle: make Asian flavours feel familiar enough to buy on a weeknight, but different enough to win a second look at shelf. The Asian Mac & Cheese range does that by wrapping spice-led flavours inside a format shoppers already know. For FMCG teams, … Read more