The latest Horváth CxO Priorities Study points to a simple challenge for FMCG private label manufacturers and retailers: growth is getting harder, while pressure on margins is increasing.
The survey shows that 72% of manufacturing revenue growth is expected to come from selling more products, rather than charging higher prices. Pricing power remains limited because of strong competition, excess capacity and high price transparency.
This makes the growth equation relatively straightforward: sell more, offer the right products and keep costs under control. For manufacturers, this means focusing the product range, speeding up innovation, improving pricing where possible, and making supply chains and production more efficient. Innovation and R&D remain important, but companies are also looking closely at how and where products are made.
There are also costs that can easily be overlooked. The survey highlights not only materials and direct production, but also indirect factory costs, R&D and engineering, IT, SG&A and other overheads. Manufacturers are therefore looking beyond simple cost-cutting and towards simpler processes, better use of materials, automation and more efficient ways of working.
Across the wider CPG landscape, the main priorities are AI and digital tools, improving costs and profits, supply-chain resilience, innovation and cyber security. AI is increasingly being used in everyday operations, although poor data, lack of skills and difficulties connecting AI to existing processes are still holding companies back.
Horváth Management Consultancy will discuss “The New Growth Equation: What Consumer Goods Leaders are Prioritising for 2027” at PLMA’s Lunch and Learn webinar on Wednesday, 2 December from 12:30-13:30 CET. To request a registration link, click here.
