News Briefs

Conagra Brands continues its portfolio optimization strategy, growing its snacking category with the acquisition of Sweetwood Smoke & Co. The company manufactures Fatty Smoked Meat Sticks, a snacking product made of pork and beef smoked with hickory wood. 

The acquisition is the next step in reshaping Conagra’s portfolio for faster growth, according to Conagra president and CEO Sean Connolly.

• Also read: Learn how Conagra is using AI and intelligent automation to elevate operations.
   

"Adding a premium brand such as Fatty to our growing, better-for-you snack portfolio is consistent with our strategic focus on the snacking and frozen categories," he added.

During the last investors call, Connolly said frozen and snacks are the two most critical businesses in the company’s portfolio. They held or grew market share in 80% of the combined business, according to Q4 2024 earnings reports. 

Retail data and technology company Trax Retail has promoted Brittany Billings to chief marketing officer. 

In the role, Billings will oversee the company’s global marketing efforts for both B2B and B2C segments, developing strategies that tap proprietary data and technologies like AI, computer vision, and AI. She will also manage product marketing, corporate communications, and Trax’s in-house creative team. 

She has held several senior leadership roles in marketing, media, PR, and partnerships over the last 15 years. Most recently, she was EVP of global marketing at Trax, where she helped lead streamlined marketing operations across the company’s global footprint. 

• Also read: Campbell’s recently named Jill Pratt as VP, CMO of its Meals & Beverages Business
   

During her tenure with Trax, she has helped lead marketing for the companies’ shopping rewards app Shopkick, focusing on integrated marketing, customer acquisition and retention, social media, demand generation, partnerships, and more. 

"Brittany has been instrumental in Trax's overall growth and transformation, developing innovative strategies and customer experiences to engage consumers and drive incremental value for our global CPG and retailer partners," said Gary S. Laben, CEO of Trax, in a statement. "Her expertise and proven track record make her the ideal leader to enhance Trax's global marketing efforts and support our continued expansion."

Billings’ career includes time spent at Hudson’s Bay Company, Gilt, and Olivela. 

Product return companies Loop and ReBound have partnered to integrate global logistics capabilities, elevate omnichannel returns, and reduce costs. 

The partnership will expand capabilities related to return shipments, advanced local processing, and consolidation. 

It brings together the intelligent technology and logistics capabilities of ReBound — which handles over 100 million return transactions annually — with Loop’s optimized consumer experience within returns and exchanges, with native integration capabilities for Shopify. 

• More technology news: Learn why BlueConic acquired Jebbit

The partnership will optimize returns operations, drive brand loyalty and increased retention, and ensure participating companies have a well-integrated tech stack with a comprehensive reverse logistics program, said Jonathan Poma, CEO at Loop.

“Both Loop and ReBound will be able to benefit from the other’s extensive partner network. Working together, we will redefine the e-commerce returns journey for brands who want a competitive advantage in the online retail industry,” Schoenmaker said.

Customer data platform company BlueConic has acquired first-party data-capture technology provider Jebbit. 

Jebbit’s AI-powered interactive tools to manage first-party data, including custom quizzes, surveys, and lookbooks, will be able to integrate with enterprise data within BlueConic’s platform.  

Combined, the companies account for over 500 global customers. 

"We are thrilled to band together with Jebbit, enhancing our capacity to serve our dedicated marketers and strategists,” said Cory Munchbach, CEO of BlueConic. “Together, we’re combining our strengths to offer an unmatched range of capabilities that empower our customers to glean deeper insights, take decisive actions, and accelerate growth. With our platforms, marketers are able to unlock the potential of their data.” 

• See more M&A activity from the CPG industry

“Our mission at Jebbit has always been to make digital experiences assumption-free by directly engaging people about their interests, motivations, and preferences in an enjoyable, engaging, and value-driven way,” said Tom Coburn, CEO and co-founder of Jebbit. “Every marketer strives to understand the multi-dimensional nature of their customer. With the power of BlueConic and Jebbit, users will be able to leverage diverse types of data and redefine the concept of a customer profile.” 

Collaborative commerce platform Crisp is being recognized for its capabilities in pinpointing demand, boosting efficiency, and reducing waste in the supply chain and logistics. The company received a SupplyTech Breakthrough Award from independent market intelligence firm SupplyTech Breakthrough. 

“Crisp represents a breakthrough in supply chain visibility and data-driven retail execution. We’re pleased to name them ‘Overall Data Solution of the Year’ as their platform strengthens relationships with retail partners and frees up supply chain teams to focus on higher-value tasks that positively affect the end-consumer,” said Bryan Vaughn, managing director of the awards.

Capabilities include:

• Integration of real-time inventory and point-of-sale data from 40-plus retail and distribution channels for a centralized view into product movement and cross-channel sale
• Data cleaning and harmonization service
• Adherence to the security requirements of every retailer and distributor data portal, including data encryption and secure warehouse storage
• Data delivery to any cloud or BI application, where it can be combined with third-party data sets
• Analytics and demand predictability, and optimized inventory and assortments

"The easier you make it for suppliers to access their data, the better they can operate and service the retailer or distributor,” said Are Traasdahl, CEO and founder of Crisp. “This SupplyTech Breakthrough award is a testament to the mission-critical insights we deliver and the quality of our future-forward technology that empowers brands to implement a collaborative commerce approach, where advanced analysis improves forecasting, pricing strategies, inventory management, and expansion plans.”

SAP recently announced a series of partnerships that are helping to drive growth in artificial intelligence-powered capabilities. The company is working with Google Cloud, Meta, Mistral AI, and NVIDIA to "use the power of AI-ready technology to innovate at speed and deliver richer real-world results."

Through a collaboration with Google, the companies will pair AI assistant and cloud technology with integrated business planning. This will help enterprises better predict and mitigate supply chain risks to minimize disruptions and maintain optimal inventory levels. 

With Meta’s Llama 3 platform, the company will also be able to generate scripts to render customized analytics within SAP’s analytics cloud solution and translate enterprise business requirements into tangible outcomes.

• Also read: AWS and SAP Expand Partnership With Generative AI ERP Integration

NVIDIA also lends an infrastructure that will help SAP run, scale, and manage its AI assistant capabilities as SAP embeds Joule in the ABAP Cloud model to generate ABAP code for SAP developers. Partnering with NVIDIA also allows the company to simulate complex manufacturing processes through digital twins. 

"Today's AI announcements and partnerships build on our commitment to deliver revolutionary technology that drives real-world results, helping customers unleash the agility and ingenuity they need to succeed in today's fast-moving business landscape," said Christian Klein, SAP CEO.