The FMCG Marketing Daily — May 17, 2026

The FMCG Marketing Daily — May 17, 2026 The essential daily briefing for brand managers and marketers in consumer goods. In today's episode: • ThaiBev's mixed H1 results — with beer recovering but soft drinks dragging — reveal how emerging-market FMCG giants must manage multi-category portfolios under simultaneous volume pressure. • A surge in toxic counterfeit pet flea treatments is creating a brand trust crisis for legitimate FMCG players in the fast-growing pet care category, raising urgent questions about how established brands communicate authenticity to price-sensitive consumers. • The UK competition watchdog's intervention in Vandemoortele's acquisition of Délifrance signals that regulators are tightening scrutiny on FMCG consolidation in ingredient and bakery supply categories, with direct implications for how brands manage M&A strategy in post-Brexit Britain. Fun fact: The average supermarket product takes just 7 seconds to catch a shopper's eye on a moving shopping trip, yet Kellogg's discovered that simply rotating their cereal box artwork to have the on-pack character's eyes angle downward at 9.6 degrees significantly increased consumer connection scores — because it mimics the natural gaze angle of a child looking up at a parent. Mascot eye direction is now a studied variable in FMCG packaging briefs. Hosted by Marco and Klara.