PLMA’s Keynote, Retail Trends Topic: Outlook for Economic Growth in 2023 and PL Responses to Consumer & Retail Changes
The outlook for the economy amid the highest inflation in four decades and the changes needed to stabilize today’s market, will be the focus of the keynote, “Economic Growth in 2023: Will It Impact Your Business Strategy?” on Monday, Nov.14 at PLMA’s 2022 Private Label Trade Show in Chicago.
Kicking off PLMA’s much anticipated show, Arjun Chakravarti, Ph.D., Managing Partner of Cogknition Analytics, will deliver the address at 8 AM in the Hyatt Regency O’Hare’s Grand Ballroom.
Chakravarti will provide an overview of U.S. consumer spending, labor markets and global supply chains giving focus to what needs to change for each to naturally stabilize inflation. Among the issues he will address are how likely these changes are to occur given current conditions; which will shed light on how aggressively the Federal Reserve will need to intervene to meet its goals; and the implications for economic growth and private label demand more than the next six to 18 months.
Michael Sansolo, President, Sansolo Solutions, will be the moderator of the Retail Trends Breakfast panel, “How has the Upheaval of the Covid era Impacted Store Brand Products and Shoppers” at 8 AM, Tuesday, Nov. 15 in the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt. The panel of industry experts will include David Bishop, Partner, Brick Meets Click; Laurie Demeritt, CEO, The Hartman Group; Caroline Davidson, Director, Agency and Channel Partnerships, SPINS; and Anthony Schelich, Partner, Marketing Concepts Group.
Sansolo will lead the discussion on consumer trends, how they’ve changed, why they’ve changed and what will be the lasting effects of today’s economy on consumer buying habits. Experts will delve into retailer responses during past inflationary times and its lasting impact on private label; what are the fundamental changes currently happening to the foundation of retail; how has the Omnichannel changed consumer purchasing habits; and how to take lessons from the past and turn them into retail and private label opportunities.
More About the Speakers:
Chakravarti is a highly regarded expert on the impact of macro and consumer-level economics on business strategy, he has worked closely with several companies in the food and grocery industry and has served in leadership roles both in industry and academia.
Prior to Cogknition Analytics, a leading strategy and analytics consultancy, he was a member of the executive leadership team Global Experience Specialists (GES), serving as Senior Vice President of Strategy, Analytics and Insights. He was also an award-winning business school professor at Illinois Tech, having published in top academic journals and developed graduate and executive programs in analytics, design and management.
Chakravarti serves on the board of the Center for Event Industry Research (CEIR) as well as Consulting Economist for Winsight-Technomic. He received his Ph.D. and MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Sansolo is a consultant, speaker, author and blogger with a unique and diverse view of the changing nature of trends impacting shoppers, employees, competition, economics, supply chains and management.
He’s currently the research director of the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Councils for both supermarkets and convenience stores and in his 13 years as senior vice president at FMI, the biggest food retail association in the United States, he was responsible for all education, supply chain and research activities. Prior to joining FMI, Sansolo was editor-in-chief of Progressive Grocer magazine.
The show, which is themed, “Consumers Are Back In Charge,” a nod to the evolving attitudes and demands of post-pandemic shoppers, will feature more than 1,400 outstanding suppliers of high-quality food and non-food products in 2,300 booths. More than 50 countries are represented on the floor, including more than 500 booths in national pavilions from Europe, Latin America and Asia. PLMA is expecting 5,000 attendees at the private label industry’s first in-person trade show in three years.
Located in the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, the South Hall is devoted to health and beauty, household goods, kitchenware and general merchandise; food, snacks, beverages, refrigerated and frozen are in the North, South and Sky Halls. Innovation is featured up and down every aisle and viewable in PLMA’s popular Idea SupermarketTM, New Product Expo and Salute to Excellence displays. There are also showcases for wine and spirits, hemp-derived CBD products and plant-based meat and entrees.