Building Better Top-to-Tops, Ferrero’s $850M Bet, Chomps’ Category-Creation Play
👉 THIS WEEK’S MAIN STORY
How to Structure Your Top-to-Top Around the Retailer’s Priorities
Most CPG leaders already know this intuitively: retailers don’t want a product pitch. They want a story that reflects their priorities. But in practice, decks still end up loaded with product slides, often because that’s what teams default to under time pressure. The shift isn’t about knowing better. It’s about structuring the conversation differently from the start.
Our favorite framework for this is SCQA, and it can help you develop the arc of your presentation. It gives your deck (and the conversation with buyer) a natural flow: open with the Situation (what’s happening with consumers and the category), surface the Complication (the real problem through the retailer’s lens… this is your hook), frame the Question (turning it into a joint problem to solve), and then build toward the Answer (your strategy as the solution, which is the bulk of the conversation). Most teams are strong on the Answer. The value of SCQA is in sharpening everything that comes before it.
Real world Top to Top example:
Here’s how it played out. We worked with a dairy company preparing for a top-to-top with a major national grocer. Their instinct was to lead with products. But through data digging, we found the real hook: this grocer was growing the category slower than the market in many of its regions. The question became: how can we increase retailers’ household penetration so it grows above market?
See the slide-sorter preview below to see the 4 chapters and suggested slides for each.
In the Answer chapter, the CPG’s five-pillar solution strategy didn’t change materially from what they had shared with us earlier. However, the framing before that chapter changes everything. Now, the buyer understands the why before listening to your pitch. You are still selling products, but instead of leading with “here are products we want you to consider,” the conversation became: “here’s what’s happening in your market, here’s the problem we see, and here are five (product) initiatives that solve it.”
The recommendations were now grounded in the retailer’s problem rather than the company’s selling agenda. The result: the CPG secured alignment on a $10M+ three-year joint business plan.
➤ Read more: The full article walks through the SCQA breakdown and how it translates into a presentation structure. How to Structure Your Top-to-Top Presentation Around the Retailer’s Priorities
What’s Moving in CPG
Here’re a few reads from around the internet that caught our attention
Ferrero acquired Purely Elizabeth for $850M, a granola and oatmeal brand.
Acquisitions like this reshape shelf sets, so watch for wider distribution, new SKUs beyond its original category, and pricing changes over the next 18 months. If your retailer carries the brand, your category story may need updating.
Chomps and New Primal created buyers who’d never eaten jerky before, including roughly two-thirds of Chomps’ base.
Meat sticks are now a $4.2B category, growing 18.4% a year versus 2.1% for jerky.
It’s a case study in growing the category vs. stealing share, and useful framing for any innovation sell-in where you’re trying to show a retailer that your product grows the pie rather than just splitting it
California is considering a “California Certified” label for non-ultraprocessed foods.
This is less about labeling and more about consumer trust and shelf placement.
If the label gets prominent placement at large retailers, it could change planogram conversations and create new merchandising dynamics.
What’s Coming to the Aisle
Interesting new products and ideas showing up on shelves
1/ Chobani is bringing protein to its Flip line. Four new flavors with 20g of protein and zero added sugar, layered with the same treat-like mix-ins that made Flip one of Chobani’s most popular products.
2/ Peanut butter packaging is getting more interesting. Australian brand Drizzy is bringing the squeeze bottle format to the U.S. I’ve also stumbled upon ‘One Trick Pony’, which flipped the traditional jar upside down to tackle one of the category’s oldest frustrations: oil separation.
Learn More About OUTKREATE’s Sales, CatMan & Insights Solutions
OUTKREATE develops retailer-facing presentations for top CPG Cat Man & Insights teams, equipping them for success, be it Top to Tops, Innovation Selling Stories, Line Reviews & JBPs, and more.
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