The annual Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) Conference this month apparently saw many CPG execs and analysts swarming tables of free products to get their hands on Shaq-a-licious XL gummies and Jolly Rancher Ropes. But beyond the mad dash for gratis goods, CPG giants from Hershey to L’Oréal shared presentations detailing where their businesses are headed next and the strategies that’ll get them there.
The conference, held last week in Boca Raton, Florida, featured presentations from more than 30 CPGs across food and beverage, personal care, and beauty, highlighting strengths, potential shortcomings, plans for the future, and even breaking news, from acquisitions to rebrands. These were the most notable takeaways from the week.
Food and beverage
A day ahead of its CAGNY presentation, energy drink maker Celsius announced its plans to acquire female-focused energy drink brand Alani Nu for $1.8 billion, which the company said would establish a “better-for-you, functional lifestyle platform at the intersection of consumer megatrends.” At CAGNY, Celsius chair, president and CEO John Fieldly emphasized the acquisition’s potential to help the company, whose audience is largely “gender balanced,” to reach more woman consumers, as 92% of Alani Nu’s social media followers are women. Alani Nu’s sales grew 64% to $800 million last year, and combined with Celsius’s $2.7 billion in sales, Celsius believes the two can capture 16% combined market share in the energy drink category.
Hershey is “reinvigorating” its SkinnyPop popcorn brand, including rebranded packaging, new sizes 4.4 oz. and 8 oz., with new corresponding price points, and a new spokesperson, actress Jennifer Aniston, with a commercial that premiered during the Oscars on March 2. (Unlike last year, when Hershey brought out Shaquille O’Neal at CAGNY to tease its Shaq-a-licious XL gummies, Aniston was not in attendance in Boca Raton, CEO Michele Buck informed the crowd).
Continued growth outside confection is essential for Hershey as inflated cocoa prices persist, though CFO Steve Voskuil said “we see a path” for growth despite this. While Voskuil wouldn’t share plans for future price bumps as a result of cocoa inflation, he noted “you can imagine this is going to be important to us as we look to the future and watch what’s happening in commodities,” he said.
Toblerone maker Mondelez also focused on the cocoa market during its presentation, with CEO Dirk Van de Put outlining a five-pillar plan to address cocoa inflation, including higher prices and boosting marketing and sales efforts.
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“Consumers will need to get used to a chocolate that is 30%, 40%, 50% more expensive than it used to be, because that’s what we’re going to see,” he said. “But I do think volume will hold up.”
Beauty, personal, and home care
Fragrance was the fastest growing beauty category based on dollar sales, both in prestige and mass, in 2024, according to Circana, and a number of beauty and personal care CPGs at CAGNY expressed intention to keep following the scent.
Coty’s prestige business is driving 60% of sales and 75% of profit, with projections for prestige to take over nearly three-quarters of sales by 2027, the company said. Fragrance continues to be a significant growth driver, with prestige fragrance accounting for 56% of its revenue. In the US, much of that growth has come from Gen Z consumers’ increased tendency to spritz on scents, Coty said. But to keep growing, it’s fighting off “upstart brands” and “dupes” by “strengthening the competitive moat,” CEO Sue Nabi said, with a five-pronged strategy that includes proprietary tech and methods to combat reverse engineering, patents, and use of “rare and exclusive ingredients.”
In 2025, Coty will introduce Kylie Cosmetics’ second fragrance, Cosmic 2.0, announced earlier in the week, as well as expand Adidas Vibes and launch another unnamed mass fragrance, CFO Laurent Mercier said, with several fragrance launches also slated for 2026.
For L’Oréal, fragrance has also been the top growth driver, with sales up 14% in 2024. As the US beauty market sees continued competition in all categories, David Greenberg, CEO of L’Oréal USA and president, North American Zone, said L’Oréal is “deeply underpenetrated in some high-growth categories,” pointing to skin care, fragrance, and hair care as spaces ripe for innovation.
As it looks ahead, the company hopes to grow its consumer base—an effort it calls “consumer cluster conquests”—by targeting Gen Z with new innovations. It aims to add 150 million Gen Z consumers and 200 million Gen A customers by 2030, and reach more consumers over 60, aiming to hit 1 billion by 2030.
And even The Clorox Company is finding success with scents. The company spent a chunk of its presentation highlighting fragrance-forward cleaning line Clorox Scentiva, which this year is getting a rebrand and expanding to bleach and toilet cleaners. This year, Clorox anticipates 58% sales growth for the line, which was first introduced in 2023.