Focus, scale, fund: The AI playbook CPG leaders are missing

For decades, food and beverage companies could count on population growth and geographic expansion to create results. That engine has sputtered out, and investors have punished the sector for it—the industry shed nearly $1 trillion in enterprise value. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Senior Partners Duncan Miller and Frank Sänger speak with Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro about what’s behind the massive valuation drop, why the industry’s old moat—scale and brand loyalty—no longer holds, and why consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) leaders should view AI not just as a cost-cutting tool but as the engine that funds growth itself. The McKinsey Podcast is cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro. Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at: [email protected] Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information