Mars Inc.

Articles about Mars Inc.

  1. Department: Beverage

Beer, Basket Building: How 7-Eleven and Budweiser Turn a Holiday into High-Margin Momentum

  Let’s get straight to it: beer isn’t just a beverage—it’s a traffic driver, a margin enhancer, and when merchandised correctly, a meal solution multiplier according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. The latest limited-time promotion from 7-Eleven proves exactly that, leveraging National Beer Day (April 7) as a strategic […]
4 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

McDonald’s Has Lost the Plot — and Consumers Are Walking Away

  For decades, McDonald’s has been the gravitational center of American fast food — a brand so large, so omnipresent, that it seemed immune to the pressures reshaping the rest of the restaurant industry. But in 2024–2026, the Golden Arches have begun to flicker. Not because of a single scandal or a fleeting trend, but […]
4 min read
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  1. Corporate Strategy

Sansolo Speaks:  Nothing But Net

by Michael Sansolo It’s pretty easy to find endless examples of massively successful people who have found it impossibly hard to move on when it’s time. As you’ve read repeatedly here at MNB, we’ve talked about executives such as Howard Schultz at Starbuck’s who seem to make a second (and sometimes third) career out of […]
3 min read
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  1. CPG: Food

Mars Wrigley launches M&M’s Cookie Dough

Mars Wrigley has unveiled its latest M&M’s innovation that contains a soft cookie‑dough flavoured centre, M&M’s Cookie Dough. The new flavour is designed to meet shoppers’ preference for uplifting snacking experiences and unlock new penetration within the bitesize sub‑category. With cookie dough flavours already over‑indexing… This story continues at Mars Wrigley launches M&M’s Cookie Dough […]
< 1 min read
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  1. Merchandising

Mars Wrigley offers guide to boost Easter sales

Easter offers a significant sales opportunity and Mars Wrigley has created a downloadable guide, ‘Hop To It’, to make the most of the season. The guide offers category insight, display guidance and sales advice to help convenience retailers make the most of the last-minute Easter… This story continues at Mars Wrigley offers guide to boost […]
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  1. Shopper & Customer

Event Marketing Still Matters: Why Valentine’s Day Proves Timely Food Messaging Wins

In a persistently challenging macroeconomic climate, Valentine’s Day once again proves that event marketing—when done with relevance and restraint—still moves wallets and behavior. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics, Valentine’s Day spending is projected to hit a record $29.1 billion, eclipsing last year’s $27.5 billion. Even more telling: shoppers […]
4 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

OpenAI’s Latest Mega-Fundraise, Big Tech Earnings Week, Amazon Layoffs?

Sam Altman is fundraising again and the next round could be historic. The OpenAI CEO is reportedly in early talks with Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds about raising $50 billion, a round that could give his company a valuation between $750 billion and $850 billion and eclipse its own record-setting $40 billion SoftBank investment fulfilled […]
5 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

NRF 2026 Takeaways: AI, Authenticity & the Human Factor

The NRF Big Show is always a whirlwind and this year was no exception. In this special episode of Retail Remix, host Nicole Silberstein is joined live from the show floor by her colleagues Adam Blair of Retail TouchPoints and Kate Robertson of Shop Eat Surf Outdoor to break down what stood out while everything […]
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  1. Department: Food

Fresh Prepared Foods Fuel Service Deli Growth as Consumers Redefine “What’s for Dinner?”

  The grocery sector may be facing headwinds, but one department continues to outperform expectations and reshape consumer behavior: the service deli. As mealtime habits shift and consumers seek faster, fresher, and more flexible solutions, the service deli has emerged as a powerful engine of growth—pulling traffic away from restaurants and into retail foodservice. According […]
3 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

Mars Wrigley reveals its Easter 2026 range

Mars Wrigley has unveiled its new line-up for Easter 2026, building on the strength of its best-loved brands to deliver innovation across both Easter treating and gifting occasions. The new launches include Maltesers Mini Eggs and Galaxy Minstrels Mini Eggs in the small sharing format,… This story continues at Mars Wrigley reveals its Easter 2026 […]
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  1. Department & Category

Multigenerational Households Are Redefining Food Retail—and Fueling the Grocerant Niche

  More than a decade ago, Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® documented an early but powerful shift: the rise of multigenerational households was accelerating demand for mix-and-match meal components and driving growth in Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared foods. That observation has not only held true—it has intensified. According to the most recent Pew Research Center […]
5 min read
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  1. Media & Marketing

Why Foodservice Family Promotions Separate Growing Brands from Dying Ones

  Are your restaurants, grocery stores, or convenience stores behaving like Kodak Cameras—or like Disney Movies” That’s the question Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® asked his team recently.  Here is some of what he thinks. Kodak was once untouchable. In the 1960s and 1970s, nearly every American household owned a […]
5 min read
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  1. CPG: Food

New ‘Bunny-Off’ in-store campaign from Mars Wrigley

Mars Wrigley has unveiled its 2026 Easter activation that invites shoppers to vote for their favourite Easter bunny and get the chance to win £10k plus hundreds of instant cash prizes. The Great Easter Bunny Off brings together three seasonal favourites – Maltesers Bunny Milk Chocolate,… This story continues at New ‘Bunny-Off’ in-store campaign from Mars […]
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  1. Trends & External Forces

2026 Food Price Forecast: Relief or Rebound? CPI Data Reveal What Shoppers Will Face Across Grocery, Convenience, and Restaurant Sectors

  As 2025 wraps up, labor statistics and industry forecasts point to continued food price inflation in 2026 — but at moderated levels compared with recent years. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that overall food prices rose about 2.6 percent over the last year, with food at home (grocery store purchases) up 1.9 […]
5 min read
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  1. Channel: Restaurants

Restaurant segments a fact-filled marketing overview by the Grocerant Guru®

  Quick snapshot (industry scale & context), restaurants remain a large consumer sector: eating & drinking places post seasonally adjusted monthly sales in the tens of billions (e.g., ~$99.4B in October, per U.S. Census/industry reporting), and industry output is roughly on the order of $1.4 trillion in direct economic output measured in recent estimates. These […]
7 min read
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  1. Department & Category

Evolving C-Store Daypart sales Will Drive Success

  Convenience stores (c-stores) have quietly remade themselves over the last five years from fuel-anchored retail lots into multi-daypart foodservice operators according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Rising consumer demand for hot, fresh, grab-and-go options combined with investments in foodservice, beverage bars and made-to-order (MTO) capability have pushed c-stores […]
5 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

Sheetz Levels Up: Why Relevant Gamification Is a Long-Term Loyalty Engine

  For decades, Sheetz has understood something many brands still struggle to grasp: relevance is not declared — it is earned through participation. With its move into gaming-specific social channels and the launch of @SheetzGaming, the brand is not chasing a trend; it is reinforcing a playbook it has been refining for years — interactive, […]
4 min read
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  1. Shopper & Customer

Back to the Future: McDonald’s Rediscovers Its Low-Cost, Fast-Service DNA

  Why McDonald’s Return to Value Matters More in 2025 Than Ever Before In the earliest days of American quick-service dining, McDonald’s wasn’t just a restaurant—it was a revolution. A low-cost leader with faster service than anyone else, powered by the Speed of Service System and a radical idea: offer familiar flavors at a price […]
5 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Why Restaurant Customers Are Eating Lunch — and Everything Else — at Convenience Stores

  Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson has been spotlighting restaurant customer migration toward grocery stores and convenience stores since 1991, long before it became a headline trend. Yet here we are in 2025, and the data has clearly caught up with what our 125,000 regular readers have known for decades: C-stores are now full-fledged […]
5 min read
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  1. Department: Food

Hand Held Power: How Finger-Ready Food Is Re-Shaping Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

  At the intersection of the consumer, meal-time fragmentation, and digital engagement sits the most powerful driver of retail foodservice growth today: hand held food; that according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Whether it’s breakfast burritos at 6:15 a.m., a grab-and-go protein wrap at noon, or portable sliders for […]
5 min read
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  1. Department: Food

The Great Stay-at-Home Shift: How the New HDTV Lifestyle Is Reshaping Retail Foodservice

  Retail foodservice continues to be transformed by a powerful force I first identified more than a decade ago, by Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru®, at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, Tacoma, WA.  Back in 2012, I called it “The 65-Inch HDTV Syndrome.” Today, with the average U.S. household TV now measuring 72 inches and home […]
4 min read
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  1. Stores & Formats

Applebee’s: 15 Years of Reinvention Through Customer Focus, Value, and Interactive Food Experiences

  For more than fifteen years, Applebee’s has been quietly—and steadily—rewriting the rules of casual dining. Long before its recent two-quarter streak of same-store sales growth, the brand began laying the groundwork for a comeback rooted in customer value, food discovery, and a keen understanding of America’s evolving eating behaviors according to Steven Johnson Grocerant […]
4 min read
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  1. Holiday & Events

Halloween Happiness with Mars Wrigley’s Tim LeBel

The CPG Guys are joined in this special Halloween episode by Tim LeBel, Chief Halloween Officer and President of US Sales at Mars Wrigley, Follow Tim on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-lebel/ Follow Mars Wrigley on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mars/Follow Mars Wrigley online at: https://www.mars.com/ Here’s what we asked Tim:  Tim, what does ‘Chief halloween officer’ mean to […]
2 min read
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  1. Channel: Restaurants

The Quiet Shift Reshaping the Restaurant Industry

  The dining world is undergoing a silent but powerful transformation. Fresh-prepared, grab-and-go, mix-and-match, and ready-to-heat food from grocery, convenience, and drug-store channels is eroding the once-secure restaurant mealtime monopoly according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA Based Foodservice Solutions®. Welcome to the Grocerant Era, where non-traditional food retailers—from Buc-ee’s to Whole Foods, […]
5 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Meal Customization: The Power of Mix & Match in the Grocerant Era

  The niche category of “grocerant” fresh prepared food — including ready-to-eat (R2E) and heat-n-eat (HNE) meals sold in restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores, drug stores and other non-traditional foodservice channels, is increasingly driven by one universal factor: meal component bundling and customization. As articulated by the Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson of Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, […]
8 min read
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  1. Department & Category

Takeout, Drive-Thru, and the Viral Value Equation: How C-Stores and QSRs Are Outpacing Grocery in the New Meal Economy

  The Off-Premise Economy Is Now the Main Course The U.S. food landscape has permanently shifted toward portability. According to Circana (formerly NPD Group), 63% of all restaurant orders are now consumed off-premise, and drive-thru transactions have increased 30% since 2019. While grocery stores still account for roughly 52% of at-home meal spending, they are […]
5 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

Raising Cane’s taps Emperia technology for Halloween themed virtual restaurant experience

Raising Cane’s is inviting customers to step inside a haunted version of its restaurants in partnership with Emperia. It has created its first ever haunted restaurant Halloween virtual experience, an interactive, limited time digital adventure anchored around a collectible Cane’s glow in the dark cup. Designed to bridge the real life experience with the digital […]
2 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces
  2. Shopper & Customer
  3. Technology & Innovation
  4. Trends & External Forces
  5. Associates & Employees
  6. Merchandising
  7. Stores & Formats

Walmart to Expand Digital Shelf Labels Chainwide

Walmart will deploy digital shelf labels (DSLs) chainwide this year, doubling the approximately 2,300 U.S. locations currently using the technology (Walmart U.S. operates more than 4,600 stores). With more than 120,000 items in a typical Walmart store, managing price changes manually requires significant associate hours. Additionally, these DSLs are equipped with LED lights that make […]
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