This is what everyone was talking about at Groceryshop this year

Retail Brew was in Las Vegas last week, but not to gamble, see a 4D version of The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere, or attend the Backstreet Boys residency (they weren’t in town—we checked). We were in Sin City for Groceryshop to hear retail and CPG leaders break down the winning strategies and continuing struggles in the grocery business today. Here are the topics everyone was talking about.

Value

The word “value” has long been used in the grocery industry, but as the topic’s meaning has shifted and risen in importance amid continued inflation and consumers’ spending constraints, the topic was especially emphasized during this year’s edition of the show.

In a session centered on “value-obsessed” shoppers, Ryan Draude, head of loyalty and digital at Giant Food, noted that value has historically centered on convenience, assortment, and being a one-stop shop, but the grocers need to pivot as customers—even those that are part of its loyalty program—are heading to different retailers to chase deals, leading to dropping sales.

In a keynote session, Joel Rampoldt, CEO of Lidl US, said consumers are more focused on value than ever before, and as a discount retailer, it’s focused on finding efficiencies to “really grind out every nickel, dime, and penny of the cost to get to the best possible value.”

Even Whole Foods, once known as “whole paycheck,” is doubling down on more deals and sales than ever, its chief merchandising and marketing officer, Sonya Gafsi Oblisk, said. It aims to have a “sea of yellow” sale signs when customers enter the store, and customers are relying on it; growth on sale items is double that of non-sale items year over year, she said. The retailer has also been expanding its private label offerings with both conventional and organic items, to emphasize both “relative value” as well as “absolute value,” AKA, a low price point, Oblisk said.

AI

While AI and its applications remain a buzzy topic among retailers and brands, with companies like Walmart, Colgate-Palmolive, and DoorDash eager to dig into the topic, many leaders and showgoers also showed signs of being jaded, too—a few even joked about the obligation to talk or ask about it.

“There is such a focus on AI, if you take a shot every time you hear it in this conference, you’d be drunk by 10am,” Giant’s Draude noted. While he said the grocer will be using AI-powered personalization through a new partnership with Upside, he also noted that 40% of its consumers don’t even use the Giant app, so it’s also turned to offering deals through in-store kiosks.

“Don’t try to force something that’s not meant to be,” he said.

Others touched on the importance of humans being involved in the AI process. When asked about AI, Nitin Murali, VP of supply chain excellence at Gallo, referenced the recent “workslop” study from Harvard Business Review and said the wine giant is “focused on human collaboration,” and that companies need to fix “human-to-human problems” before bringing in AI.

“AI is an amplifier,” he said. “It amplifies great collaboration. It amplifies bad collaboration as well. It makes bad collaboration catastrophic.”

Similarly, Sambit Dutta, VP of digital strategy and transformation at Nestlé, noted the CPG giant aims to keep “humans in the loop” when using AI, ensuring humans are ultimately the final decision-makers.

GLP-1s and ingredient scrutiny

GLP-1s and their impact on retailers and brands was also mentioned across a number of sessions (including one with Danone North America CMO Linda Bethea, moderated by Retail Brew).

Joe Sta-Romana, US chief customer officer at Haleon, mentioned a successful information campaign with Walgreens that emphasized its brands like Centrum and Tums aimed specifically at the needs of GLP-1 users. Whole Foods’s Oblisk, meanwhile, said the retailer isn’t marketing directly to consumers using GLP-1s with specific campaigns or devoted in-store sections because she said it naturally (pun intended) has a focus on foods suitable for these consumers.

But the retailer is emphasizing the 500+ ingredients it bans from stores with new paper bags listing them on the outside, in line with many discussions at the show that also centered

around terms like “ultra-processed foods,” the movement to remove artificial food dyes from products, and shifting consumer preferences as more shoppers scrutinize ingredient labels. While neither RFK or his MAHA initiative tied to these efforts were mentioned by name, Thrive Market CEO Nick Green alluded to a “political moment where folks are really standing up and taking a stand.”

And the closing main stage keynote featured two “better-for-you” brands, Poppi and Sweet Loren’s, with Allison Ellsworth, Poppi’s co-founder and chief brand officer, underscoring that products with a lack of artificial ingredients and dyes and lower sugar will continue to be big.