After years of challenging industry dynamics, research released by IRI® and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found slightly accelerated growth for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies in 2018. Even though sustainable volume growth remains a challenge, the fastest-growing companies are increasing volume by providing an appealing product assortment that is meeting consumers’ wants and needs.
 
Constellation Brands tops the CPG growth-leader list of large companies, followed by Monster Energy, Procter & Gamble, Keurig Dr Pepper and General Mills. The leaders among midsized companies are JUUL Labs, L’Oreal, Blue Diamond Growers, Post Consumer Brands and Starbucks. Topping the growth-leader list of small companies are Vital Pharmaceuticals, Harry’s, Bodyarmor SuperDrink, Lamb Weston and Rana Meal Solutions.
 
“Thanks to the power of big data analytics, we are able to take a critical look at companies of varying sizes to glean important insights about industry trends and understand the drivers of the top performers,” said Krishnakumar (KK) Davey, president of IRI Strategic Analytics. “The CPG companies winning in today’s marketplace are doing so because they drive volume, maintain a targeted approach to mergers and acquisitions, and act on the consumer trends influencing purchase behavior.”
 
“When the full report is released next month, we will provide CPG companies a deeper look into the business decisions that have shaped growth in the industry over the past five years,” said Peri Edelstein, a BCG partner and coauthor of the study.
 
The findings are based on the seventh annual analysis by BCG and IRI of the growth performance of more than 425 public and private CPG companies with annual US retail sales of more than $100 million in measured retail channels, including grocery, drug, mass-merchandise, club, dollar, military and convenience stores. The study focused on what consumers actually buy in measured channels, leveraging IRI’s granular point-of sale-data, and generated three lists of growth leaders: small companies ($100 million to $1 billion in IRI-measured retail sales), midsized companies ($1 billion to $5.5 billion) and large companies (more than $5.5 billion). Companies were ranked on a combination of three metrics: dollar sales growth, volume sales growth and market share gains.
 
Some of the other findings include:
 
• Large and mid-sized players outside of the top 10 are in decline

• In addition to driving growth, acquisitions and partnerships facilitate entry into new categories, acquire new consumers and build new capabilities