How is the American economy doing? According to the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book, prospect of COVID-19 vaccines has bolstered business optimism for 2021 growth, but what about the CPG industry specifically? The Beige Book is a Federal Reserve System publication that collects mostly qualitative information, gathered directly from District sources. This consumer data creates an opportunity to characterize dynamics and identify emerging trends in the economy that may not be readily apparent ...
Jan 20, 2021•18 min
After giving it a lot of thought, Lebron James has decided to take his talents to Purchase, NY (PepsiCo Headquarters). Since his rookie year in 2003, Lebron James has had a sponsorship agreement with The Coca-Cola Company. You've seen him on countless Sprite and Powerade commercials throughout their deal together. That contract ended September of last year, effectively making the second highest paid athlete endorser a free agent. While Lebron James could have followed other celebrities, such as ...
Jan 18, 2021•13 min
GNC and The Vitamin Shoppe had a wild ride in 2020, but did either stay on the bull long enough to get a score? GNC and The Vitamin Shoppe are both specialty retailers with an emphasis on brick & mortar locations GNC and The Vitamin Shoppe both sell health and wellness products GNC and The Vitamin Shoppe both faced challenging COVID-19 business environments Yet, GNC and The Vitamin Shoppe came out of 2020 with two very different trajectories for their prospective businesses. In this podcast ...
Jan 13, 2021•23 min
This podcast episode breaks down of the 2021Q1 Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ: SMPL) earnings report, earnings call, and supplemental presentations that were filed on 1/6/2021. Those public financial documents will be used as the backdrop to provide broad health and fitness snacking market insights that will be valuable to you. Quest Nutrition and Atkins Nutritionals each continued to have a mixed bag of performance at the product category level, including protein bars and nutritional bars pe...
Jan 11, 2021•15 min
Welcome to the 2nd annual J. Schall Consulting year-end awards show that focuses on the "better for you" CPG product category, along with the grocery, brick and mortar, and internet retailers. This is the pinnacle of award shows that are light on tradition, peppered with randomness, and heavy handed with personal bias. While the awards categories were selected at random, the winners were thoughtfully considered and I provide my accompanying logic to make the content more insightful. A few of the...
Jan 10, 2021•18 min
What happens when a bunch of brotato chips circle around the 5 pound protein powder container and start making sports nutrition industry event predictions? This episode is basically the personification of that imaginary scenario. So, what do I see as 5 outlandish events that I could happen within the sports nutrition industry in 2021? The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ: SMPL) Eats or Gets Eaten FDA Will Not Finalize Regulatory Framework for CBD to be included in Food, Beverage, or Nutritional...
Jan 07, 2021•11 min
Happy New Years! Now that the celebrating is over and you’ve told everyone on social media how this will be your year…reality is setting in, right? Well don’t fret because I’m here to help you actually make that statement come true. I’ve always been a goal-oriented person and can vividly remember writing up little goals for my lemonade stand or trading card collection when I was a young kid. I never had any formalized method of goal setting until 2009 when I was getting ready to finish up my las...
Jan 06, 2021•12 min
I'm not one to look back and congratulate myself on any accomplishments, but I figured why not keep with the tradition I started on YouTube in 2018 of being transparent and recapping my performance throughout the year. Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for making this my most impactful year as a professional. The stuff I’ve been barking about publicly the last few years seemed to have come into favor even more than ever, as the world became engulfed in uncertainty and there was elevated ri...
Jan 05, 2021•14 min
After one of the most transformational years in recent history, I figured I would continue my fool’s game of trying to predict the future. What do I see being the Top 5 Retail Industry Predictions in 2021? In no particular order; Grocery Stores and Farms Converge Facebook Acquires Patreon Amazon "Other Revenue" Reaches $10 Billion in a Quarter Facebook and Uber Form Strategic Partnership Costco "Bends the Knee" to Ecommerce...
Jan 02, 2021•16 min
Which is bigger? Dan Bilzerian’s Instagram follower count or Ignite International Brands revenue since its founding in 2017? With dropping YoY revenue and bloated historical operating expenses, I'll explore what's below the surface of the internet personality's premium lifestyle brand. While Dan Bilzerian is a central figure throughout the video (for obvious reasons), I’ll spare you most of the personal details around him because my channel focused on business insights gained from storytelling.....
Dec 30, 2020•21 min
Based on the popularity of this trend prediction video from the last two years, I decided to again put my reputation on the line and try and predict the Top 5 Sports Nutrition Industry Trends in 2021. If you're interested how I did in my 2019 and 2020 predictions, I made a recent Instagram post recapping my performance - https://www.instagram.com/joshua_schall/ In no particular order, here are my prediction for Top 5 Sports Nutrition Industry Trends in 2021; Don't Go Chasing Trends Commercialize...
Dec 29, 2020•15 min
On this Pivotal interview-style episode, we talk with Jess Windell, Founder & CEO of Maven Consulting Co., about the real value of strategic public relations in the CPG industry. Jess shares how she pivoted from advertising to public relations early in her academic career and why she's made it her life's work. We also talk about why she chose this year as the perfect time to become a first-time entrepreneur. Additionally, we talked about her 6 years at Perfect Snacks (Perfect Bar) and how pu...
Dec 28, 2020•43 min
Based on the popularity of this trend prediction video from the last two years, I decided to again put my reputation on the line and try and predict the Top 5 Functional Food and Beverage Product Trends for the upcoming year. If you're interested how I did in my 2019 and 2020 predictions, I made a recent Instagram post recapping my performance. In no particular order, here are my prediction for Top 5 Functional Food and Beverage Product Trends in 2021; Burnout Syndrome Kids Off Limits No More Mu...
Dec 24, 2020•15 min
On this episode of the Pivotal interview-style series, we talk with Sean Folkson, Founder & CEO of Nightfood Holdings Inc. (OTCMKTS:NGTF), about how his love for EAS Myoplex bars and following the Body for Life diet by Bill Phillips created curiosity for the "better for you" nighttime snacking category. This is partly why Nightfood initially started with nutritional bars before pivoting to sleep friendly ice cream in 2018. While this shift to the ice cream category of CPG might seem easy on ...
Dec 23, 2020•53 min
On this episode of the Pivotal interview-style series, we talk with Jared Strain, Co-Founder & Partner of the strategic digital brand agency Super Top Secret (STS), about how his involvement in sub-cultures throughout his life has created a unique perspective for top-level creative and design output. We also talked about how the "COVID-19 Effect" accelerated some creative trends in 2020. Additionally, how CPG packaging has changed as its optimized for ecommerce, but also how the importance o...
Dec 21, 2020•34 min
We are coming to the end of 2020, which gives us a perfect reason to reflect over the past year. Over the next few weeks, I will be sprinkling in some "Top 5 Lists" of different functional "better for you" CPG and FMCG topics that will be insightful, valuable, and/or just plain entertainment. In this first "Top 5 List" video of the year-end season, I cover my biggest sports nutrition brand winners of 2020. #5 - Outright Bar #4 - MyProtein #3 - Redcon1 #2 - Alani Nu #1 - GHOST Lifestyle Honorable...
Dec 18, 2020•21 min
On this episode of the Pivotal interview-style series, we talk with Ben Hartman, Founder & CEO of Morphogen Nutrition, about how he has been able to double his brand's revenue year after year by always staying true to himself. Ben and I have known each other for around 15 years, as we both went to Kent State University and worked at the rec center together. We also both started out at the ground level in the sports nutrition industry at the same time and would frequently pair up during sampl...
Dec 11, 2020•41 min
I consume more content weekly than total varieties of crafts you can create from just utilizing Heineken packaging materials. While not all of the content is good, some are awesomely interesting, so instead of keeping it all in the labyrinth they call my brain, I figured I would start highlighting five of the most interesting things I've read, listened to, or watched during the week. Within this sixth episode you'll hear about; ◼️ Heineken, Dos Equis, and Tecate Put the Craft in Craft Beer ◼️ Do...
Dec 09, 2020•8 min
How is the American economy doing? According to the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book, economic expansion has been moderate and optimism is waning, but what about the CPG industry specifically? The Beige Book is a Federal Reserve System publication that collects mostly qualitative information, gathered directly from District sources. This consumer data creates an opportunity to characterize dynamics and identify emerging trends in the economy that may not be readily apparent in the available q...
Dec 04, 2020•16 min
When you have a proven content and commerce mechanism that does $1B+ in revenues, you build an iterative second version, right? What does that have to do with the breaking news that the sports nutrition brand that Lebron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger founded named Ladder was just acquired by Openfit? Openfit is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Beachbody, the multi-level marketing company known for fitness programs like P90x and Insanity. Openfit is Beachbody repositioned within a different segment...
Dec 02, 2020•8 min
In this latest podcast episode, I'll breakdown the most important key quarter-end financial data from the recent MusclePharm Corporation (MSLP) 2020Q1 through 2020Q3 earnings reports that were released on 11/24/2020. I'll explain why the sports nutrition brand filed a clustering of quarterly financial reports again (Note: they are not caught up to SEC disclosure requirements). Additionally, I'll update you on MusclePharm important events through a collection of publicly-disclosed news and cover ...
Dec 01, 2020•13 min
On this episode of my Pivotal "interview series", I chat with Robert Oliver, Founder & CEO of The Genius Brand, about how he saw early the power of using an Amazon strategy to build up his extremely successful supplement brand. Robert shares about how he got started working on the Amazon platform and why he launched The Genius Brand. Additionally, we talk about how unique The Genius Brand is on the Amazon platform when it launched and how that's now providing some massive value against the o...
Nov 27, 2020•31 min
Premier Protein is once again ringing the sales bell after it rebounds from its first slip up as a publicly-traded company last quarter. Premier Protein is the key holding of the BellRing Brands (BRBR) portfolio that owns a collection of Active Nutrition businesses that also includes Dymatize Nutrition, Powerbar, Joint Juice, and Supreme Nutrition. A fast-paced and busy lifestyle is pushing consumers to switch to quick and healthy meal options. This has resulted in the increased household penetr...
Nov 23, 2020•16 min
I’m excited to hit you with the fifth episode of this new content series, and since the Thanksgiving holiday is fast approaching, I wanted to thank each of those in my community that have consumed any of the previous episodes. This week, I had a number of content pieces make me stop the infinite scroll, including some with a Thanksgiving theme. On this episode you'll hear about; ◼️ The "Most 2020" Thanksgiving Main Dish ◼️ How you can get Thanksgiving Insurance ◼️ A Metaverse will Become Publicl...
Nov 21, 2020•11 min
How is the largest nutrition company in the world performing against a global pandemic that severely interrupts the value of their distribution strategy? The Herbalife Nutrition multi-level marketing (MLM) structure relies a great deal on a distribution model that brings value through; (1) Frequent Interaction (2) Results Shared To Customers (3) Personal connection with customers (4) Hyper-localization (5) Brick & Mortar community done mostly through what they call nutrition clubs. Theoretic...
Nov 19, 2020•11 min
Today’s social media platforms and digital marketplaces don’t have walls or borders, but how does that affect your functional CPG brand? With a few clicks of your mouse, you can fire up your functional CPG brand’s multinational marketing and retail distribution. It's really crazy how fast and easy things can be done in 2020. Despite uncertain global markets, entrepreneurship is still in the middle of the golden era because of the growing importance of ecommerce and social media. That all being s...
Nov 17, 2020•12 min
I'll use the Celsius Holdings (CELH) 2020Q3 earnings report and conference call (released on 11/12/20), as the backdrop to talk about bigger functional energy drink categorical and strategic insights. Key points within the content includes; retail and DSD distribution increases, digital sales details with Amazon highlights, and other positive insights that show you why Celsius Holdings broke just about every internal record in the company's history this quarter. Celsius energy drinks are heating...
Nov 16, 2020•13 min
Did you miss not having my most interesting list to listen too last week? I decided to not compete with the craziness that is called the American Election Day or I guess week or maybe month, who the heck knows really this year. Regardless, I’m excited to hit you with another episode because I had a number of content pieces make me stop the infinite scroll this week that I believe you’ll enjoy hearing about. On this episode you'll hear about; ◼️ Mountain Dew is Getting Spicy ◼️ Is Veblen a Specie...
Nov 14, 2020•10 min
This episode of Pivotal, we talk with Frank Beard, Director of Special Projects at CStore Decisions and Director at Shop Safe, about the huge changes happening within the convenience sales channel. Frank Beard broke onto the convenience and fuel retailing thought leadership scene by traveling across the country and only eating at convenience stores for 30 days. We discuss how COVID-19 has affected convenience and fuel retailing and why those trends are only a dress rehearsal for the future. Fina...
Nov 12, 2020•41 min
The Vitamin Shoppe 2020Q3 earnings report was released on 11/4/2020 under its owner Franchise Group Inc.. While the financial information in the report continues to be relatively small, I was able to collect insightful information on the quarterly performance from the Franchise Group Inc. conference call, previous corporate press releases, and public interviews from CEO Sharon Leite and other leadership team members at the specialty supplement retailer. Additionally, I shared some sports nutriti...
Nov 10, 2020•21 min
