In the seventh episode of Season 3 of The FMCG Insider, in association with HRA Global, Hamish talks to Cat and Catherine, the founders of Truthbrush, the beautiful bamboo brush.  Hamish chats with Cat and Catherine about what prompted them to go into the oral care industry with a strong focus on sustainability and design. The founders share their passion for innovation, but also the difficult challenges they have faced from designing a product that is completely new to the market.  If you would like to feature on the podcast or have any questions, get in touch at [email protected].

In the sixth episode of Season 3 of The FMCG Insider, in association with HRA Global, Hamish talks to Emma Lewisham, founder of Emma Lewisham Beauty, the world’s first Carbon positive beauty brand. Emma has built a pioneering health and beauty brand, with a circular beauty model that is now transforming the beauty landscape. Join Emma and Hamish as they dive into the future of clean vs natural beauty and how explore how Emma Lewisham is paving the way for more ethical & sustainable practises within the beauty scene.  If you would like to feature on the podcast or have any questions, get in touch at [email protected].

In the fifth episode of Season 3 of The FMCG Insider, in association with HRA Global, Hamish chats to Cafédirect's John Steel. CEO of the UK's very first certified B-Corp Certified coffee company, John has been instrumental in making the unique coffee company's business model a success.  Over 30 minutes, John and Hamish discuss advantages of social enterprises and how these appeal to the younger generation coming into the workforce as well as the importance of being ethically motivated whilst maintaining a profitable business. If you would like to feature on the podcast or have any questions, get in touch at [email protected]. 

In the fourth episode of Season 3 of The FMCG Insider, in association with HRA Global, Milena Prinzi joins Hamish in discussing the new landscape of the hair & beauty category. As Editor-in-Chief of AllThingsHair, Milena has a breadth of knowledge of the industry as it is now, how it has changed over lockdown and what the future has in store for the category. She also has her own blog where she delves into more science-based discussions on the category which you can read by visiting Foodvsevil.com. If you would like to feature on the podcast or have any questions, get in touch at [email protected]. 

In the third episode of Season 3 of The FMCG Insider, in association with HRA Global, we talk to Mark Field, an Australian-based consultant with a breadth of experience within the food and drink industry. Mark, now Director of Prof. Consulting Group, has previously worked for big-name multiple Coles as the Head of Brand as well as Technical Director of 2 Sisters Food Group giving him a clear insight into the supply chain processes of retailers and the buying perspective.  To speak to Mark about how Prof. Consulting Group can help your brand, e-mail [email protected]. If you would like to feature on the podcast or have any questions, get in touch at [email protected]. 

In the second episode of Season 3 of The FMCG Insider, in association with HRA Global, we talk to an expert panel within the beer and wine trade about upcoming trends in the industry. We speak to; Dom South, founder of Brand Fitness Ltd and former Marketing Director at Green Kind; Ben Lockwood, the On-Trade Marketing Manager for BrewDog and Fran Bridgewater, a fellow CIM member currently working at the Drinks Network.  We talk about: Beer and wines in through the off-trade channel What has Covid done for the brewing trade? Has this caused an uptick in sales through the multiples Have there been particular product trends? Hard Seltzer, Kombucha and Alcoholic Teas Will these become popular in the UK? Who's buying these? Retailer attitudes towards trends Are the retail buyers aiming to get behind the trends now or later? Are online wholesalers more innovative? Low and No Alcohol Will these become popular once the on-trade is open? Is there a market for this? Looking to the future What will the on-trade look like in 12 – 36 months time? Will contactless change shopper behaviour? The importance of the sommelier If you would like to feature on the podcast or have any questions, get in touch [email protected]

In the first episode of Season 3 of The FMCG Insider, in association with HRA Global, we welcome Stephanie Romizsewski, an established Consultant Sleep Physiologist and founder of Sleepyhead Clinic. With an impressive career history to date, Stephanie shares with us her experience of sleep physiology and tips on how to optimise your 40 winks.  To speak with Stephanie personally and see how her clinic can help you, contact [email protected]!  If you would like to feature on the podcast or have any questions, get in touch [email protected]  

In this week's episode of The Grocery Insider, in association with HRA Global, we speak to Joe Welstead, co-founder and CEO of Motion Nutrition. For more insights, consultancy, marketing and market research solutions, visit https://hra-global.com/ 00:00 - 08:48 minutes: Introduction to Joe Welstead An insight into Joe's former life as a professional swimmer for Scotland and forage into sports management following his retirement after the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Joe describes his struggle to find performance enhancing supplements that were also beneficial to his long-term health. How this gap in the market sparked the inception of Motion Nutrition. 08:49 - 13:31: Bringing nutritional supplements to the wider market Joe discusses how the supplement market has expanded beyond performance enhancements for athletes. How organic supplements can benefit the consumer day-to-day. 13:32 - 15:29: Sleep Hygiene How Motion Nutrition can benefit sleep. Joe's adversity to supplements being used as a sole tool to enhance sleep and how he encourages a healthy lifestyle as a foundation for supplements to work optimally. 15:30 - 27:14: The evolution of consumer Joe discusses the importance of improving the daily well-being of consumers, relieving stress and aiding a good night's sleep when conceptualising new products. How the Motion Nutrition customer has inadvertently evolved into a female-dominated audience through it's accessible branding and marketing. Benefits of retail partnerships fo consumer convenience and product exposure. 27:15 - 29:14: Influencer culture Are influencer partnerships still relevant and effective in advertising brands? 29:15 - 33:26: Joe's Favourites Joe shares his favourite well-being brands including Heckles and Bare Biology. 33:27 - 40:39: Nutrition news and quick thoughts Hamish asks Joe his quick thoughts on emerging nutrition trends and products including; Continuous glucose monitors Ketones and the Keto Diet Red-light therapy for better sleep SARMs and peptides 40:40 - Future of Motion Nutrition Joe discusses new product launches to keep an eye out for including his interest in balancing hormones as mood stabilisers and sustainable all-day energy supplements. If you would like to feature on the podcast or have any questions, get in touch [email protected] 

In this week's episode of The Grocery Insider, in association with HRA Global, we speak to Jacob Leadley, winemaker and CEO of Black Chalk and Fran Bridgewater, owner and founder of Drinks Network. For more insights, consultancy, marketing and market research solutions, visit https://hra-global.com/ 0:00 - 7:35 minutes: Introduction Introduction to both Fran and Jacob. Fran gives us an overview of the English Wine scene. Is English wine still an onlooker or is it starting to make a dent in the volumes of European and New World wines? 07:35 - 16:10 minutes: Jacob and Black Chalk Jacob tells us about his journey to creating Black Chalk wine. How the name of Black Chalk wine came about. How do you choose the grapes and the ratios within the wines that you produce? 16:10 - 22:40 minutes: The Consumer When creating the alchemy of the wines, is there a consumer in mind within this process? Jacob, are you going to bring out a third wine? 22:40 - 30:10 minutes: The Market Are you seeing a resurgence of wine, with a bounce in sales? Jacob discusses his increase in driest sales. We hear about Jacob’s huge social media success to bring together and help English wine makers, The Big English Wine Good Friday. 30:10 - Social and Environmental impact What sorts of things do you do to keep on top of your social and environmental impact? Jacob and Black Chalk is a member of the UK Sustainability Group. Fran, what names should we look out for in the English wine scene? If you would like to feature on the podcast or have any questions, get in touch [email protected]

In this week's episode of The Grocery Insider, in association with HRA Global, we speak to Martin Rand, CEO of Pactum AI. For more insights, consultancy, marketing and market research solutions, visit https://hra-global.com/ 00:00 - 06:15 Introduction to Martin He was a project manager at Skype, moving into his own company in farm management systems for farmers. A look into how Martin’s work with Walmart came about. An insight into how Pactum was started, by aiming to make negotiations more efficient, to get better outcomes for both sides. 06:15 - 15:35 Pactum’s aims. The primary driver is a lack of resource from retail side? Where margins are squeezed, is AI better at getting to the further reaches of their supply base? Pactum interacts through a ‘chat’ based system, which aims to make better, more win-win, efficient deals for both sides. Where does it gather its data from? What makes Pactum different in that this is a very technical conversation between two specialists?  15:35 - 20:10 The ‘Bot’ What is most important to the bot? Is it price, quality, service level, footfall? Does this technology lose that important ‘human’ factor in the deals done? 20:10 - 23:25 Incorporating AI into your negotiations What advice would you give a food and drink brand that has an AI approach from a retailer? How would you advise a brand to engage with bot buying? How tough times allow companies to innovate more. What type of retail is interested in working with Pactum? 23:25 - end: The future With the delayering of head offices, are companies creating new roles to program, monitor and supervise the AI? Does this not create a two-tier supply base with bigger suppliers with more selling power vs smaller suppliers relegated to negotiating with the bot? 10 years from now, will the technology has taken root and how wide do you think it will be? If you would like to feature on the podcast or have any questions, get in touch [email protected]