CPG & F&B Leaders - Hiring Market Signals Great Inversion

Six weeks ago I published our first annual report on CPG and F&B hiring trends. I called it The Great Inversion. Since then I have had more conversations about it than about anything else I have put out. Some of you agreed. Some of you pushed back. A few of you called me to argue, which is honestly my favorite kind of feedback. Here is what I got wrong, or at least what I would update: I underestimated how fast private label hiring would move. In the six weeks since publication, I have seen two more national-brand VPs take retailer-brand roles. The shift is accelerating. I overemphasized the GLP-1 innovation gap for mid-market brands. Several founders told me they are already well ahead on reformulation and the real bottleneck is distribution, not innovation talent. Fair point. I still think the hiring gap is real at larger companies, but the mid-market is further along than I gave them credit for. What comes next: we will update the field report quarterly. If you are a CPG or F&B leader and you are seeing something in the hiring market that does not match what I wrote, I want to hear about it. Seriously. This report is better when it includes more perspectives than just mine. And if you missed it: the full report is still free, still ungated, and still at the link in the comments. No email required. Just a useful thing I wanted to exist in this market. Thank you for reading, arguing, and sharing. More soon.