Episodes

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment breaks down the explosive June 2025 e-grocery data from Brick Meets Click and Mercatus, which showed a 28% year-over-year surge to $9.8 billion, with delivery, pickup, and ship-to-home all posting gains of 25% or more. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn dig into what's really driving the growth, from the rise of the free delivery era to why time-starved consumers are leaning on online grocery harder than ever. Chris makes the case that regional grocers shouldn't ...

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment examines Ahold Delhaize's decision to appoint former Amazon Fresh executive Claire Peters as CEO of Ahold Delhaize USA and what the hire could mean for one of the largest grocery retailers in the U.S. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn discuss why Ahold Delhaize looked beyond traditional grocery talent, what Claire Peters' experience at Amazon, Woolworths, and Tesco brings to the role, and whether an unconventional leadership hire is exactly what the company need...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Ayla Ziz, Chief Commercial & Customer Officer and SVP Sales Europe at Danone, to discuss how AI, sustainability, and industry collaboration are shaping the future of consumer health. Ayla shares how Danone is integrating AI into its commercial operations, why the company views AI as an enabler rather than a threat, and how skills-based workforce development i...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Pablo Perversi, President of EMEA at Danone, to discuss how one of the world's leading food companies is navigating the growing consumer focus on health, nutrition, and sustainability. Pablo shares how the rise of GLP-1 medications is influencing consumer behavior, why protein has become one of the most important growth drivers in food, and how Danone is inve...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Wesley Wilson, Regional Director, North America at the Consumer Goods Forum, to discuss the biggest trends shaping the future of retail and consumer goods. One year into his leadership role, Wilson reflects on how the Consumer Goods Forum is expanding its innovation initiatives ahead of the 2027 Global Summit in San Francisco. He explains why AI is becoming a...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026, Chris Walton sits down with John Ross, President & CEO of IGA, as the organization celebrates its 100th anniversary and reflects on the evolving role of independent grocers around the world. Ross explains how IGA's network of more than 8,000 independent stores across 30+ countries is helping local retailers compete at scale while preserving their community-first approach. He also shares why colla...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Rhiannon Thomas, Global Lead of Consumer, Retail, and Luxury at Kearney, to discuss how retail and consumer goods companies are redefining value creation in an AI-driven world as Kearney celebrates its 100th anniversary. Rhiannon explains why traditional scale advantages are becoming less important than category expertise, how leading organizations are creati...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Sharon Bligh, Director of Health and Sustainability at the Consumer Goods Forum, to discuss the evolving intersection of consumer health, sustainability, food waste, climate action, and AI. Drawing on insights from CGF's latest Healthier Lives report, Sharon explains why global attitudes toward health and well-being are rapidly changing, how retailers and man...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Özgür Tort, Migros Türkiye Group CEO, to discuss how one of the world's most advanced grocery retailers is combining e-commerce, automation, AI, and omnichannel operations to serve consumers across Türkiye. Özgür Tort, Migros Türkiye Group CEO, shares how Migros began experimenting with e-commerce as early as 1997, why digital commerce now accounts for more t...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from The Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton is joined by Alex Holt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Ahold Delhaize, and Christine McGrath, SVP & Chief Impact and Sustainability Officer at Mondelēz International, to discuss how collaboration is reshaping sustainability across the consumer goods industry. Alex and Christine share how the CGF CSO Forum has quickly become a valuable platform for sustainability leaders to...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton is joined by Darren O'Brien, Chief Corporate and Government Affairs Officer and Chief Cocoa Officer at Mondelēz International, to discuss the global cocoa crisis and what it will take to build a more resilient cocoa supply chain for the future. Darren shares how Mondelēz responded to unprecedented disruptions in cocoa production, why the company created the role of Chief Co...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton is joined by Ruth Lewis, Senior Manager at Bain & Company, to discuss the findings from Bain's new State of Food Habits report and what retailers, brands, and food manufacturers need to understand about the future of consumer eating behaviors. Ruth shares insights from Bain's latest research into how consumers across the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany are preparing meals, ...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton is joined by Béatrice de Noray, Chief Growth Officer at Bel Group, to discuss how organizations can turn ideas into impact by combining innovation, technology, and collaboration to drive meaningful growth. Béatrice shares how Bel Group has organized its business around an end-to-end growth model that connects research, innovation, marketing, and sales, and explains why AI i...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton is joined by Justin Honaman, Global Head of Worldwide Retail, Restaurants, and Consumer Goods Business Development at AWS, to discuss the realities of scaling AI and why data remains the biggest challenge standing in the way. Justin shares how the conversation around AI has rapidly evolved from generative AI to agentic commerce, how retailers and consumer goods companies ar...

In this 5 Insightful Minutes episode, Rita Kerbaj, Chief Strategy Officer at the Rohlik Group, joins Omni Talk to discuss the evolving economics of online grocery and what retailers need to do to build a profitable e-grocery business for the long term. Drawing from Rohlik Group's success operating one of Europe's leading online grocery businesses, Rita explains why the industry's early struggles with profitability stemmed from inefficient fulfillment, small basket sizes, and costly last-mile op...

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl. In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses: Prime Day is generating conflicting signals, and both matter. Adobe reports $8.3 billion in online spend on day one — the biggest e-commerce day of 2026 — while Numerator shows per-household Amazon spending down 16% year-over-year. A federal judge blocked USDA-approved SNAP restrictions in five states, ruling the agency exceeded its legal authority by a...

In this week's Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Quorso and Veloq, Chris Walton checked in from Vienna, Austria, one of the final stops on Walton World Tour 2, alongside recurring Fast Five favorite Jenn Hahn, Founder & CEO of J Recruiting Services, to discuss: • Ahold Delhaize naming former Amazon Worldwide Fresh executive Claire Peters as its next U.S. CEO, and whether hiring an outsider is the right move as the company navigat...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Tobias Wasmuht, CEO and Managing Director of SPAR International, to discuss how one of the world's largest independent retail networks is using collaboration, data, and AI to drive innovation across more than 14,000 stores worldwide. Tobias shares how SPAR's unique model balances local independence with global scale, why the organization's network structure c...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Luiza Reguse, Senior Manager of Sustainable Supply Chain Initiatives at the Consumer Goods Forum, to discuss the growing complexity of sustainability compliance and how the industry is working toward greater consistency, transparency, and accountability across global supply chains. Luiza explains how the Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI) helps compan...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Chen Yiyi, Vice President of Mengniu Group, to discuss how one of China's leading dairy companies is navigating changing consumer expectations, health trends, and digital transformation. Chen shares how Mengniu has grown into one of China's leading dairy companies, how changing consumer preferences are reshaping the industry, and why the company is investing ...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Scott Price, Group Chief Executive of DFI Retail Group, to discuss how AI is reshaping retail and consumer goods, and why strong business fundamentals still matter more than ever. Scott shares how AI is accelerating innovation across retail and consumer goods, why decentralized organizations are increasingly winning in today's marketplace, and why collaborati...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Nicolas de Bellefonds, Managing Director of BCG X for EMEA and South America, to separate AI hype from business reality. Drawing on more than 15 years of experience building AI capabilities and insights from BCG's latest research, Nicolas explains where consumer goods companies and retailers are actually creating value with AI, why so many organizations remai...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Will Zhao, Executive President of Neolix AI, to explore what it really takes to scale autonomous delivery from a technology experiment into a viable business. With more than 20,000 autonomous delivery vehicles operating across 300+ cities and over 160 million autonomous kilometers logged, Will shares the lessons Neolix has learned about fleet density, network...

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Chris Walton sits down with Erika Rodríguez Cuervo, General Manager of Latin America at the Consumer Goods Forum, to explore why one of the most important growth stories in global retail is unfolding far beyond Europe. Erika discusses how Latin America's rapidly evolving consumer markets are shaping conversations around sustainability, packaging, supply chains, and AI. She also shares h...