Before you read any further, you already have ties to FMCG. Not professionally … yet. But before you’ve even left the door this morning, you may have used Dove in the shower, L’Oreal on your face, had Heinz for breakfast and a cup of PG Tips to start your day.

This is all part of the FMCG industry, which stands for Fast Moving Consumer Goods. Yes, another corporate abbreviation to add to your vocabulary. Think food and drink, beauty and healthcare, and these are only a few of the many products that count as FMCG, all of which we’ll break down later on.

So, whether or not you realise it, you’re already involved. And we’re here to help you take that one step further - this is your guide to landing a job in one of the most dynamic industries, offering a variety of roles from marketing and brand to supply chain, finance, HR, IT and beyond. Whether you’re a Business student, a Chemistry graduate, a History or a Languages student, FMCG has a role for you.

The Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry and its direct supply chain employ tens of millions of people worldwide and our bootcamp alumni are working across multiple functions in companies such as Unilever, P&G, Danone, Nestle and L’Oreal, as well as smaller brands that are disrupting their categories.

But, before we get into career tips, let’s start by building a strong foundation of knowledge about this fast-moving industry.

What is the FMCG Industry?

FMCG refers to everyday, low-cost products that sell quickly and are frequently restocked on store shelves. Because they are consumed rapidly and replaced often, they are also commonly known as Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG). This includes food and drink, toiletries, cosmetics, cleaning products and everyday household essentials.

If you want to understand how business truly works in practice, the FMCG sector is the perfect microcosm. From the way the brand is built, to pricing, packaging, retail placement, consumer psychology, forecasting and supply chain execution - every part of the process is connected.

So, those cleaning supplies you don’t give a second thought to when picking up from the shelf in your local shop have just been through a vigorous business process to end up in front of you. It’s all bigger and more interesting than you think.

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The value of FMCG

When people imagine powerful industries, they may think of finance or technology. But few industries touch daily life quite like FMCG.

We’re talking of an industry that has a global market value of nearly $14 trillion, whose companies feature on the S&P 500 (Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and Mondelez International), FTSE 100 (Unilever and Reckitt) and the CAC 40 (Danone, L'Oréal and Pernod Ricard), whose operations are shaped by global politics and whose products drive millions of consumer decisions every single day.

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A marketing battleground

One of the most exciting aspects of this industry is just how competitive it is. With brands constantly having to compete against one another, they spend billions on marketing and advertising to stand out to the consumer. UK advertisers spent £46.7bn in 2025, up 6.4% year-on-year and outpacing the wider economy, with FMCG brands among the most aggressive spenders. In Q3 2024 alone, household FMCG ad investment grew by 21%, making it one of the strongest-performing categories that quarter. Even as profit margins are being squeezed, brands continue to allocate considerable funds to marketing, demonstrating how important brand-building is to the success of FMCG. 

And, when you think about it, you’ve probably felt the pull. Have you ever been convinced to turn around and grab a bright yellow pack of Mini Eggs at the supermarket checkout? Reached for a new flavour of Lay’s on holiday? Been stopped by the cute packaging of Wild deodorant? Or, found yourself intrigued by an alternative milk brand featuring a man in glasses dressed in a duck suit when you reach for your usual semi-skimmed? 

All of these products are working to catch your eye; and the more money the industry invests into marketing, the more creative each company needs to become. 

Creative people thrive in FMCG, and if marketing is something of interest to you, we’ll be exploring marketing roles in detail later in the guide. 

Given the scale of marketing spend, politics also influences FMCG, through regulation and policy that shapes everything from what goes on a label to what can be advertised to children. There are even dedicated roles in this space, which we will explore in our “Where Will You Fit in?” section.

The rise of the challenger brand

Not every FMCG company sits on the FTSE 100, CAC 40 or S&P500, but that shouldn’t make these companies any less significant when trying to figure out your way in the industry. The challenger brands that keep the big companies on their toes are some of the most exciting places to build a career right now. Exciting new names, like TRIP drinks or Minor Figures, the funky milk brand we mentioned earlier, may not have their place on the market indexes yet, but they are growing fast, and people like you can help them get there.

For example, the staple brands within Unilever like Dove, must regularly compete toe-to-toe with new brands like Wild deodorant, which brings fresh thinking at every level of the market, and the giants take notice. Unilever’s acquisition of Wild Deodorant is a perfect example of a major player recognising the power of an independent brand.

You may be enticed to limit your FMCG career to one of the giants, but we recommend that you  keep your eyes open to other opportunities as well. The bigger companies don’t necessarily equate to the best place to work for you and we’ll help you figure this out later in our “Heart Brands” section. 

Nevertheless whether you’re drawn to the stability of a FTSE 100, CAC 40 or S&P 500 giant, or the daring challenger brand on the rise, we want to make clear that FMCG is an industry with financial weight, global outreach and no shortage of opportunity. And there is a place for you in it. 

The question is, where do you start?

Where will you fit in?

FMCG isn’t a singular career path, it consists of an interlinked and interdependent network of roles that move products from idea to production to shelf. 

The question to ask isn’t “Do I fit into FMCG?”, it’s “which part of FMCG fits me?” 

We believe the best way to understand FMCG companies and the roles within is to break them into what we define as the ‘Consumer-Facing Side’, the ‘Operational Backbone’ and the 'the Glue'.

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The Consumer-Facing Side (Outward-Facing Roles)

What catches your eye when you scan for a product? Is it the packaging, the colours, or the design?

Are you intrigued by what makes a product pop on the shelf or stops you scrolling online

These are exactly the kinds of questions that sit at the heart of consumer-facing FMCG roles, where understanding consumer behaviour, what attracts attention and drives choice ultimately pushes the product to be seen, and then chosen.

If this sounds exciting, have a look at these roles:

Marketing and Brand

Without marketing and brand management, companies would struggle to make sales. As we mentioned earlier, the FMCG industry invests heavily in brand-building, which is a great place for strategic and creative people to shine.

These are the roles within Marketing and Brand:

Marketing Assistant

As a Marketing Assistant you would support campaigns and marketing teams across a range of tasks, from writing copy and managing social media to analysing campaign performance data and coordinating sales and production teams. It’s a varied entry-level role that builds a broad commercial foundation quickly.

Social Media Manager

In this role, you would be responsible for building and managing a brand’s presence across digital platforms. Creating content, monitoring engagement and translating consumer conversations into actionable insights for the wider marketing team. In FMCG, where brand identity is key, this role sits at the interaction of creativity and commercial awareness.

PR Executive

A PR Executive, manages the brand’s reputation by building relationships with journalists, influencers and media partners. Securing coverage that keeps the brand visible, relevant and in line with company values. In FMCG, where competition for consumer attention is fierce, effective PR can make the difference between a product launch that lands and one that flops.

Consumer Market Researcher

This person gathers and analyses data on consumer behaviour, market trends and competitor activity to inform product development and marketing strategy. In FMCG, this is about figuring out what consumers want before they even know it themselves. Doing this well is a significant advantage for the company, as it puts them ahead of others in the race to grab consumers’ attention.

Sales and Commercial

In FMCG, sales and commercial teams are the engine that drives revenue, turning brand strategies into results on the shelf. Whether negotiating with major retailers or analysing distribution data, this is where commercial acumen meets real-world impact.

Within Sales and Commercial you can have roles including:

Sales Executive

As a Sales Executive you are responsible for managing relationships with retailers and distributors, negotiating listings and driving volume targets. You would work closely with both the marketing and supply chain teams to ensure products are available, visible and selling. In FMCG, where shelf space is fiercely contested, a strong Sales Executive can be the difference between a product thriving or being delisted.

National Account Manager

In this role, you take ownership of key retail accounts such as major supermarkets or wholesale partners, managing the commercial relationship end to end. From joint business planning and promotional activity to analysing sales data and identifying growth opportunities. It's a high-stakes, high-visibility role that sits at the heart of how FMCG companies grow their market share.

Trade Marketing Executive

A Trade Marketing Executive bridges the gap between brand marketing and the sales team, developing in-store activations, promotional plans and point-of-sale materials that drive purchase at the moment it matters most. In FMCG, where buying decisions are often made in seconds at the shelf, this role plays a critical part in converting consumer interest into actual sales.

Commercial Analyst

In this role, you dig into sales data, pricing trends and market performance to identify opportunities and flag risks across the commercial function. In FMCG, where margins are tight and competition is relentless, the ability to turn data into clear commercial recommendations is an increasingly valuable skill that can shape strategy at the highest levels.

Market Research and Consumer Insight

Understanding the consumer is at the core of every successful FMCG business. Without robust market research and insight, companies would be launching products into the dark, spending heavily on campaigns aimed at the wrong people, at the wrong time. This is where analytical and curious minds thrive, translating data and human behaviour into strategies that give brands a genuine competitive edge. Within Market Research and Consumer Insight you can have roles including:

Market Research Executive

As a Market Research Executive you would support the design and delivery of research projects, from writing surveys and briefing research agencies to analysing results and presenting findings to internal teams. It is an entry-level role that quickly builds your understanding of consumers, categories and the commercial decisions that shape a brand's direction.

Consumer Insights Analyst

In this role, you dig into data from multiple sources, sales figures, consumer surveys, social listening and panel data, to uncover patterns in how and why people buy. You would translate those patterns into clear recommendations for marketing, innovation and commercial teams. In FMCG, where shelf space and consumer attention are fiercely contested, sharp insight can be the difference between a product that connects and one that gets delisted.

Category Analyst

A Category Analyst examines how an entire product category performs across the market, looking at trends, competitor positioning and shopper behaviour to help retailers and brands make smarter ranging and promotional decisions. In FMCG, where retail relationships are critical, this role sits at the intersection of data, strategy and commercial negotiation.

Trends and Foresight Researcher

Here, you would monitor emerging consumer behaviours, cultural shifts and market developments to help the business anticipate where demand is heading, rather than simply reacting to where it has been. In a fast-moving industry like FMCG, the ability to spot and act on a trend early is a significant commercial advantage.

E-commerce and Digital Commerce

As an E-commerce Executive you would support the day-to-day management of a brand's presence across online retail platforms, ensuring product listings are accurate, visually strong and optimised to convert browsers into buyers. It is an entry-level role that builds a solid grounding in both the commercial and operational sides of digital retail.

Digital Shelf Analyst

In this role, you monitor and analyse how a brand's products appear and perform across online retailers, tracking availability, search rankings, content quality and competitor activity. In FMCG, where a poorly optimised product page can cost significant sales, this role plays a quiet but critical part in protecting and growing revenue online.

Performance Marketing Executive

A Performance Marketing Executive plans and manages paid digital campaigns across channels such as search, display and social, using data to optimise spend and maximise return on investment. In FMCG, where marketing budgets are large and scrutinised closely, the ability to demonstrate clear commercial impact from digital activity is a highly valued skill.

D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) Coordinator

Here, you support the management of a brand's own online store, coordinating everything from product launches and promotional activity to customer communications and fulfillment logistics. As more FMCG brands look to build direct relationships with their consumers, this role sits at the heart of a growing and strategically important channel.

The Operational Backbone (Inward-Facing Roles)

While we refer to these roles as “inward-facing” that doesn't make them any less important and by no means would you be hidden from the outside.

The roles in this section make sure products exist and reach the shelf in-store and online. Each cog in the machine is valuable. And if you’re drawn to structured thinking, problem-solving, and working with complex systems, you may be interested in this side of the industry.

Supply Chain and Operations

Every product that reaches a consumer shelf begins its journey in Supply Chain and Operations, the engine room of any FMCG business. These teams manage the end-to-end flow of goods, from sourcing raw materials and managing supplier relationships to manufacturing, warehousing, and last-mile delivery. You can have roles including:

Supply Chain Analyst

As a Supply Chain Analyst you track and interpret data across the supply chain, from demand forecasting and stock levels to supplier performance and distribution costs, identifying inefficiencies and recommending improvements. It is an entry-level role that gives you a broad view of how a large FMCG business connects its sourcing, production and commercial functions.

Demand Planner

In this role, you use sales data, market trends and promotional activity to forecast how much of a product will be needed and when, helping the business avoid both costly overstocking and damaging shortfalls. In FMCG, where demand can shift rapidly in response to seasons, promotions or consumer trends, accurate planning is essential to profitability.

Logistics Coordinator

A Logistics Coordinator manages the movement of goods between suppliers, warehouses and retailers, ensuring deliveries are on time, costs are controlled and any disruptions are resolved quickly. In FMCG, where retailer relationships depend heavily on reliable service levels, this role plays a direct part in protecting the business's commercial reputation.

Procurement Assistant

In this role, you support the sourcing and purchasing of raw materials, packaging or services, working with suppliers to ensure quality, cost and availability targets are met. In an industry where margins are tight and input costs can fluctuate significantly, strong procurement is a key lever for maintaining profitability.

Finance

Every commercial decision in FMCG, from launching a new product to entering a new market, is underpinned by financial analysis and planning. Finance teams ensure that ambition is matched by commercial reality, keeping the business profitable, compliant and strategically focused. This is where numerate, detail-oriented people with strong business acumen can have real influence across an entire organisation. Within Finance you can have roles including:

Finance Graduate Analyst

As a Finance Graduate Analyst you support budgeting, forecasting and financial reporting across business units, helping senior stakeholders understand how the company is performing against its targets. It is an entry-level role that builds both technical financial skills and a broad understanding of how an FMCG business operates commercially.

Commercial Finance Analyst

In this role, you work closely with marketing, sales and supply chain teams to analyse the financial performance of products, promotions and investment decisions, translating numbers into clear commercial recommendations. In FMCG, where product portfolios are large and margins are constantly under pressure, this role sits at the heart of strategic decision-making.

Financial Controller (Assistant)

An Assistant Financial Controller supports the management of a company's financial reporting, internal controls and compliance processes, ensuring the business's accounts are accurate and in line with regulatory requirements. In FMCG, where operations span multiple markets and product lines, strong financial governance is critical to long-term stability.

Tax and Treasury Analyst

In this role, you support the management of the company's cash flow, currency exposure and tax obligations, helping the business manage financial risk across its global operations. As FMCG companies increasingly operate across borders, this is a growing and highly specialised area of finance.

Research and Development (R&D)

New products do not appear by accident. Behind every successful launch is a team of scientists, food technologists and development specialists who have spent months, sometimes years, refining a formula, perfecting a taste or finding a way to improve nutritional value without compromising on experience. R&D is where innovation becomes reality in FMCG, and where technically minded, creative problem solvers can have a lasting impact on what consumers find on shelves. Within Research and Development you can have roles including:

R&D Graduate Technologist

As an R&D Graduate Technologist you would assist in the development and testing of new products or the reformulation of existing ones, working in laboratories and alongside cross-functional teams to move ideas from concept through to production-ready reality. It is an entry-level role that combines scientific rigour with real commercial context.

Food Scientist

In this role, you apply your knowledge of food chemistry, microbiology and ingredient functionality to develop products that meet taste, safety, shelf life and nutritional targets. In FMCG, where consumer expectations and regulatory requirements are both constantly evolving, food scientists are central to keeping a brand's portfolio competitive and compliant.

Sensory Analyst

A Sensory Analyst designs and runs tests that evaluate how consumers perceive a product's taste, texture, smell and appearance, using the results to guide development decisions and ensure quality is consistent across production batches. In a consumer-driven industry like FMCG, understanding how a product feels to eat or use is just as important as how it performs in a laboratory.

Packaging Technologist

In this role, you develop and test packaging solutions that protect the product, meet sustainability targets and appeal to consumers on shelf. In FMCG, where packaging is both a functional necessity and a powerful marketing tool, this role requires a balance of technical knowledge and commercial awareness.

Manufacturing and Engineering

Manufacturing and engineering is where FMCG products are physically brought to life, at speed, at scale and to an exacting standard. Factories must run efficiently, safely and sustainably to keep up with the demands of retailers and consumers alike. This is where technically skilled, practically minded people can have immediate and visible impact, ensuring that what has been developed in the lab can be produced reliably in the real world. Within Manufacturing and Engineering you can have roles including:

Graduate Manufacturing Engineer

As a Graduate Manufacturing Engineer you support the optimisation of production lines and manufacturing processes, identifying inefficiencies, troubleshooting technical issues and contributing to improvement projects that increase output and reduce waste. It is a hands-on entry-level role that puts you at the operational core of the business from day one.

Continuous Improvement Analyst

In this role, you use structured methodologies such as Lean and Six Sigma to analyse manufacturing performance, identify areas of waste or inefficiency and lead projects that make production faster, cheaper or more sustainable. In FMCG, where operational excellence is a key competitive advantage, continuous improvement thinking is embedded across the best-performing factories.

Quality Assurance

Consumer trust is one of the most valuable assets an FMCG brand can hold, and quality assurance is what protects it. Whether it is ensuring a product meets food safety regulations, tastes exactly as it should or arrives undamaged at the retailer, QA teams are the guardians of standards across the entire production and supply process. This is a role for methodical, detail-focused people who understand that in FMCG, consistency is not just a goal, it is a commercial necessity. Within Quality Assurance you can have roles including:

Quality Assurance Technician

As a Quality Assurance Technician you carry out routine checks and tests on products and production processes, identifying any deviations from agreed standards and flagging issues before they reach the consumer. It is an entry-level role that builds a strong foundation in food safety, regulatory compliance and manufacturing best practice.

Quality Systems Coordinator

In this role, you support the maintenance and development of a company's quality management systems, ensuring documentation, audits and compliance processes are kept up to date and in line with industry standards. In FMCG, where companies are subject to rigorous retailer and regulatory scrutiny, robust quality systems are non-negotiable.

Regulatory Affairs Executive

A Regulatory Affairs Executive ensures that products meet the legal and labelling requirements of every market in which they are sold, working closely with R&D, marketing and legal teams to manage compliance from development through to launch. As FMCG brands operate increasingly across international markets, this is a growing and business-critical area of expertise.

IT and Data

Technology is reshaping every part of the FMCG industry, from how products are developed and manufactured to how they are marketed and sold. IT and data teams are the people who build, manage and extract value from the digital infrastructure that modern FMCG businesses depend on. This is where technically skilled, analytically minded people can drive genuine business transformation, turning systems and data into smarter decisions and stronger performance. Within IT and Data you can have roles including:

IT Graduate Analyst

As an IT Graduate Analyst you support the management and development of the company's technology systems, from troubleshooting day-to-day issues to contributing to larger digital transformation projects. It is an entry-level role that provides wide exposure to the technology platforms that underpin every function in an FMCG business.

Data Analyst

In this role, you collect, clean and analyse large datasets from across the business, turning raw information into clear insights that help commercial, marketing and operations teams make better decisions. In FMCG, where vast amounts of data are generated daily across sales, supply chain and consumer behaviour, the ability to find the signal in the noise is increasingly valuable.

Data Engineer

In this role, you design and maintain the data pipelines and infrastructure that allow the business to store, access and analyse information reliably and at scale. As FMCG companies invest more heavily in data-driven decision-making, data engineers play a foundational role in making sure the right information gets to the right people at the right time.

The Roles In-between (Hybrid)

There are also roles that link the customer-facing side with the operational backbone for those that enjoy being the glue between projects, thinking between analytical and creative, and enjoying the connection between strategy, people and performance.

Perhaps you can see yourself creating ties between teams, ensuring everyone is aware of each other's work and ensuring a smooth running across teams - a valuable skill in the FMCG world, where multiple functions must work seamlessly together to bring a product to life. 

If this sounds like you, then you are doing what some call “glue work.” This term encompasses the ability to nurture relationships across the business, spot problems and actively try to fix them before they grow into a bigger issue. 

You can think of the FMCG industry like a machine with lots of moving parts, every team and individual a cog. With so many different functions that rely on each other to get a product concept to shelf, this skill is more valuable than most people realise. 

And, this is one thing that AI hasn’t grasped yet, and may never will. As businesses have started to introduce AI agents capable of replicating core technical skills, such as coding or processing data, the question then lies in who manages them? Who shows them the bigger picture? Who coordinates the teams to make sure the technology is working in service of the business?  

If you find the prospect of being the “glue” exciting, then take a look at these roles:

Strategy and General Management

Strategy and general management roles sit at the top of the decision-making chain, shaping the direction of the business and ensuring every function is pulling in the same direction. In FMCG, where markets shift quickly and competition is relentless, the ability to think long-term while staying commercially sharp in the short term is what separates good businesses from great ones. This is where big-picture thinkers who are comfortable with both data and ambiguity can have an outsized impact. Within Strategy and General Management you can have roles including:

Strategy Analyst

As a Strategy Analyst you support senior leadership in evaluating market opportunities, assessing competitive positioning and building the business cases that inform major commercial decisions. It is an entry-level role that demands strong analytical thinking and the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly to stakeholders across the business.

Business Development Executive

In this role, you identify and develop opportunities for the company to grow, whether through new markets, partnerships, product extensions or acquisition targets, translating those opportunities into concrete proposals for leadership to act on. In FMCG, where category boundaries are constantly being tested by new entrants and changing consumer behaviour, business development thinking is increasingly central to long-term growth.

General Management Graduate (Graduate Scheme)

A General Management Graduate rotates across multiple business functions, gaining exposure to commercial, operational and strategic decision-making before stepping into a more defined leadership role. In FMCG, these schemes are designed to develop future leaders who understand the business end to end, making them one of the most sought-after entry points into the industry.

Human Resources (HR)

People are an FMCG company's most important asset, and HR is the function responsible for attracting, developing and retaining them. From graduate recruitment and learning programmes to culture, performance and employee wellbeing, HR shapes the environment in which everything else happens. This is where emotionally intelligent, people-centred individuals who also think strategically can build a genuinely impactful career. Within Human Resources you can have roles including:

HR Graduate

As an HR Graduate you support a range of people processes, from recruitment coordination and onboarding to employee relations and HR data reporting, building a broad understanding of how the HR function operates within a large organisation. It is an entry-level role that develops both interpersonal skills and commercial awareness in equal measure.

Talent Acquisition Coordinator

In this role, you manage the end-to-end recruitment process for roles across the business, working with hiring managers to define what they need, sourcing candidates and ensuring a positive experience from first contact through to offer. In FMCG, where competition for graduate and early-career talent is fierce, effective talent acquisition is a genuine strategic priority.

Learning and Development Coordinator

A Learning and Development Coordinator designs and delivers training programmes that help employees build the skills they need to perform and progress. In a fast-moving industry like FMCG, where roles are constantly evolving and capability building is closely tied to business performance, this is a role with real commercial significance.

Project and Product Management

If strategy sets the direction and operations deliver the output, project and product management is what connects the two. These roles exist to make things happen, on time, on budget and to the right standard, by keeping teams coordinated, priorities clear and progress visible. In FMCG, where a single product launch can involve a dozen different functions working in parallel, skilled project and product managers are the people who ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Within Project and Product Management you can have roles including:

Project Coordinator

As a Project Coordinator you support the planning and delivery of projects across functions, tracking timelines, managing communications between teams and flagging risks before they become problems. It is an entry-level role that rewards highly organised individuals who are comfortable managing multiple priorities and working with a wide range of stakeholders.

Associate Product Manager

In this role, you support the development and commercial management of a product or range, working closely with R&D, marketing, supply chain and sales to ensure it meets consumer needs, business targets and launch timelines. In FMCG, where the product is the business, this is a role at the very centre of how value is created.

Programme Manager

A Junior Programme Manager oversees a group of related projects, ensuring they are aligned to a common objective and that resources, risks and dependencies are managed across all of them effectively. In large FMCG organisations running multiple simultaneous initiatives, this role provides the oversight that keeps complex workstreams from pulling in different directions.

Now that we’ve outlined the different roles within FMCG, let’s break down the industry players organised by what we call “The Conglomerates” and “The Challengers”.

The FMCG Conglomerates

These companies operate in multiple regions, have globally recognised brands and dominate everyday consumer demand. They are recognised for being great for early-career visibility, as they offer strong brand recognition and cross-functional exposure, which can rapidly build a solid foundation of skills. 

In this section, we’ll provide an outline of the brands, career opportunities specific to them as well as tips and tricks for impressing in applications and job interviews. Our focus is primarily on European opportunities, but all the companies listed here operate globally and we provide relevant links for further exploration.

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Nestlé 

First, a bit of history. 

Nestlé was founded in 1866 by Henri Nestlé and began as an Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company. With a breakthrough in baby food in 1867, Nestlé merged his company with Anglo-Swiss in 1905 to form what we now know as Nestlé group. 

The company’s growth wasn't without hurdles. When World War I disrupted European supply chains and caused severe raw material shortages, Nestlé adapted by looking beyond Europe. They acquired new processing plants in the US and Australia, successfully scaling their global operations to 40 factories during a time of global crisis.

The company persevered through the Second World War and found itself at the heart of convenience foods post-war with new products Nesquik and Maggi. In the years that followed, it shifted its focus toward health, nutrition, and wellness.

Today, Nestlé continues to grow through the health division, targeting medical nutrition, premium supplements, and science-backed wellness products. Sustainability goals are being implemented as part of their core initiatives, as they aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions, invest in regenerative agriculture, and reformulate products to reduce sugar, sodium and saturated fat. 

Here are some of Nestlé’s employees being awarded for innovation in sustainable packaging at the Future Trailblazers Packaging Innovations and Empack Awards in Birmingham. 

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A number of those winners were current apprentices, demonstrating how quickly you can show your capability with the aid of Nestlé’s career opportunities.

The brands 

Nestlé has over 2,000 brands globally - here are 10 of the most recognisable: 

• KitKat
• Smarties
• Dolce Gusto
• Nespresso
• Cheerios
• Boost nutritional drinks
• Buxton Water
• Maggi
• Ski yogurt
• Purina

So, what can they offer you?

Depending on where you are in your studies, Nestlé offers several routes in:

UK Opportunities

Graduate Scheme – 2 years, £32,000 starting salary, available across Marketing, Sales, HR, Supply Chain, Engineering and R&D.

Placement Year – 12 months, £25,125 starting salary, for penultimate year students.

Internships – 10 weeks, available across the UK.

Youth Entrepreneurship Platform (YEP) Academy – Free digital learning platform run in partnership with UNESCO, available globally online.

European Opportunities

Graduate Programme – 2–3 year rotational programme available across Marketing, Sales, HR, Supply Chain, Finance, IT and Digital Manufacturing across Europe, Middle East and Oceania.

Nestlé also runs early career programmes across Europe, Asia, America, Africa and the Middle East. 

Find the full global list at https://www.nestle.com/jobs/students-graduates.

What makes Nestlé stand out? 

It’s worth noting, you don’t have to have a specific degree to apply for a role at Nestlé. Any grade is accepted and the application process is strengths-based rather than CV-led. 

Your potential matters more than your academic background. 

Add this to the sheer breadth of iconic brands to work across, it’s easy to see why  Nestlé was recognised on the Forbes Best Employers for New Grads 2025 list.

Check here for more information.

PepsiCo

Just behind Nestlé, PepsiCo ranks as the second-largest food and beverage business in the world based on net revenue. Whether you’re team Pepsi or team Coca-Cola, the rivalry between these two giants is one of the most iconic in consumer goods history, which has been keeping PepsiCo innovative and constantly evolving for over 120 years. 

The origin of PepsiCo begins in 1902 with Caleb Davis Bradham, a pharmacist from North Carolina, who founded the Pepsi-Cola Company selling his pepsin and cola concoction from the counter of his drug store.

But Pepsi faced similar wartime struggles as Nestlé, battling severe sugar shortages during World War I. Though the company spent the following decades navigating market volatility, its ultimate turning point came in 1965. A mega-merger with Frito-Lay created PepsiCo, establishing the ultimate playbook for cross-category FMCG dominance.

Currently, PepsiCo employs over 318,000 people across more than 200 countries, generating over $91 billion in revenue annually. The company also acquired Tropicana in 1998, Quaker Oats and Gatorade in 2001 and Soda Stream in 2018. 

Keeping up with trends, PepsiCo most recently acquired prebiotic soda brand Poppi in 2025 for nearly $2 billion, which you may have seen being advertised across social media. The company is constantly evolving to align with consumer consumption, which makes it a genuinely exciting place to build a career. 

The brands 

PepsiCo has over 200 brands, here are 10 of them you may recognise. 

• Pepsi (obviously)
• 7UP
• Gatorade
• Aquafina
• Walkers
• Fritos
• Quavers
• Sabra
• Quaker
• Doritos

So, what can they offer you?

UK Opportunities

Graduate Scheme — 3 years, rotational programme available across Marketing, Sales, HR, Supply Chain, Engineering, R&D and Technology across multiple UK sites.

Placement Year — 12 months, £25,500 starting salary.

Early Careers Community — Sign up to add your profile directly to PepsiCo's talent network and be among the first to hear about new opportunities.

European Opportunities

The traineeship in Europe runs for 2 years (vs 3 in the UK), and there are dedicated European internships:

Graduate Traineeship — 2 years, available across multiple European markets across Marketing, Sales, HR, Supply Chain and more.

Internships — Entry-level, available across multiple functions and European markets.

PepsiCo also runs early career programmes across Latin America, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Find the full global list at https://www.pepsicojobs.com/internshipsprograms.

What makes PepsiCo stand out? 

In 2025, PepsiCo ranked 17th in the top 500 companies listed as the UK’s Best Employer by the Financial Times, as well as being named Top Employer for Women for 18 consecutive years.

Some stats worth considering:

• 7% of PepsiCo’s global executive population started as early talent
• Over 50% of interns in North America convert to full time employees
• 2.502 interns hired across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East 

A global company, exciting brands and great career success rates. 

For someone who cares about working somewhere that champions equality, is a global giant with the mindset of a challenger brand, and promotes bold ideas, PepsiCo is definitely somewhere for you to consider.

Unilever

Home to some of the most recognizable brands in Beauty, Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods, Unilever stands as a true giant of the FMCG industry.

Its legacy began in 1884 when William Lever launched Sunlight, one of the world's first branded soaps. Within just six years, the Lever Brothers were exporting their product across Europe, America, and beyond. Demand skyrocketed so rapidly that by 1887, William Lever built Port Sunlight, a dedicated model village on the Wirral that provided his workers with high-quality housing and leisure facilities, setting an early benchmark for employee welfare.

The company’s scale multiplied exponentially in 1929 through its merger with Margarine Unie, creating one of the largest industrial amalgamations in European history.

Today, Unilever has evolved from a nineteenth-century soap maker into a global powerhouse whose products reach 3.4 billion people daily. 

Ambition is hardwired into the company’s DNA, making it an exceptional place to launch your FMCG career if you want to drive impact on a global scale.

The brands

Unilever has around 400 brands in total - here are 10 of the most well known:

• Dove 
• TRESemme
• Lifebuoy
• Radox 
• Hellmann’s
• Marmite
• Pot Noodle 
• Lipton
• Signal
• PG Tips

So, what can they offer you?

UK Opportunities

Unilever Future Leaders Programme (UFLP) – 3 years, any degree accepted.

Industrial Placement – 12 months.

Apprenticeships – Level 3 to 6, salary ranging from £17,401 to £22,716.

European Opportunities

Unilever Future Leaders Programme (Netherlands) – The UFLP runs in the Netherlands with three rotations across functions in an accelerated leadership environment. Find out more at https://careers.unilever.com/NL-UFLP.

Unilever Future Leaders Programme (Germany) – The UFLP is also available in Germany. Find out more at https://careers.unilever.com/en/early-careers.

If you are outside the UK or thinking about working abroad, Unilever operates in 190 countries. Explore all European and global early career opportunities at https://careers.unilever.com/en/early-careers.

What makes Unilever stand out?

Their philanthropic ways didn’t stop at Port Sunlight in 1887. Over 130 years later, Unilever became a globally accredited living wage employer and in 2024 helped over 80,000 smallholder farmers access livelihoods. 

Through their Unilever and Nature Fund, Unilever is investing €1 billion into fighting climate change, protecting nature and reducing waste. From regenerative farming on UK mustard fields with Colman’s, to protecting rainforests in Southeast Asia. 

Their values haven’t changed, they’ve just developed in scale.

If you see yourself thriving in a well-established, sustainable company, where their graduate programme lasts three years rather than the standard two, giving you more time to learn and grow, Unilever could be a good spot for you.

Procter & Gamble 

Part of the S&P 500, Procter & Gamble (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation home to iconic household brands like Gillette, Pampers, and Pantene.

The company was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, back in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, a candle maker and a soap maker (a beginning remarkably similar to Unilever's origin story). However, it wasn’t until the 1880s, when P&G launched the affordable Ivory Soap, that the business truly took off as a major consumer success.

From there, P&G became an innovation machine. They rolled out Tide laundry detergent in 1946, introduced Crest (the first fluoride toothpaste) in 1955, and revolutionised childcare with Pampers disposable nappies in 1961. Fast forward to 2005, and they cemented their market dominance by acquiring Gillette for a staggering $57 billion.

Today, P&G serves more than 5 billion consumers worldwide across 65 brands, operating in 70 countries and employing around 118,000 people. A pretty successful and stable company if you ask us!

The brands

Here are 10 of P&G’s brands:

• Olay
• Venus
• Oral-B
• Fairy
• Pepto-Bismol
• Febreze
• Always
• Crest
• Herbal Essences
• Head & Shoulders

So, what can they offer you?

UK Opportunities

Graduate Role – £45,000 starting salary.

Industrial Placement – 12 months, £26,000 starting salary, available across UK sites.

Internships – Duration varies, competitively paid, available across UK sites.

Graduate Career Academy (Sales and Manufacturing) – A two-day, all-expenses paid assessment event. Successful attendees are offered a full-time role.

European Opportunities

Internships and Traineeships (Europe) – 3 to 12 months, available across commercial functions including Marketing, Sales, Finance and Supply Chain, across Germany, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and more.

Explore all European opportunities at https://www.pgcareers.com/eu/en. Beyond Europe, P&G operates in approximately 70 countries globally. Find global opportunities at https://www.pgcareers.com/uk/en.

What makes P&G stand out?

Apart from the huge roster of iconic brands, their graduate schemes have real responsibility from day one. No rotations, no gradual onboarding, you are thrown into the deep end and tested. It’s a tough love approach, and doesn’t work for everyone. 

It’s no surprise, therefore, that P&G is famously referred to in the corporate world as a "CEO Academy." Because they promote almost exclusively from within, its own top executives always start at the entry-level/graduate stage. Furthermore, hundreds of major global companies actively headhunt P&G alumni to lead their businesses (e.g. Michelle Gass (CEO of Levi Strauss & Co.) and Fabrizio Freda (CEO of The Estée Lauder Companies).

But if you are someone who likes to hit the ground running and thrives under pressure, P&G is a great environment to bring out the best in you, and that £45,000 starting salary is very tempting. 

Work hard, play hard I guess. 

P&G also holds a string of employer awards, including The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers, Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work and Forbes Best Employer for New Grads. 

Not bad for a company that started with a handshake in Cincinnati.

L’Oreal

You read it in that voice didn’t you? 

Over 50 years since Ilon Specht wrote those four words in a moment of frustration at her male colleagues, ‘Because I’m Worth It’ is still the most recognisable slogan in beauty. It's since changed to ‘Because You’re Worth It’ and now “Because we’re worth it”, yet the power of the 4 words remains unchanged. 

L’Oreal was founded in 1909 in Paris by Eugène Schueller, a chemist who developed a safer synthetic hair dye called Auréale and sold it to Parisian hairdressers. This time it didn’t start with soap, but with beauty science that still runs through everything it does today.

Key acquisitions include Lancôme in 1964 and Garnier in 1965, building the dual luxury AND mass-market strategy that has come to define the company and help it become the world’s number one beauty company (Lancôme is premium, Garnier is mass-market).

In FMCG terms, saying L’Oréal is building a dual luxury and mass-market strategy means they are deliberately capturing the two largest, most profitable, and radically different tiers of the beauty industry at the same time and doing it without diluting their brand identity.

Operating in 150 countries and 86,000 employees worldwide, L’Oreal has a goal to reach over 1 billion new consumers by 2030. Not that optimistic, considering their sales were reported to be over €41 billion in sales in 2024 to 2025. 

The brands

L’Oreal has 36 brands - here are some of the most popular:

• Yves Saint Laurent Beauty
• Giorgio Armani Beauty
• Kiehl’s 
• Urban Decay
• L’Oreal Paris
• Maybelline New York
• NYX
• CeraVe
• Redken
• Kerastase

So, what can they offer you?

UK Opportunities

UK Management Trainee Programme – 18 months across three six-month rotations in Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain or Commercial, with a starting salary of £30,000.

European & Global Opportunities

Management Trainee Programme – Available in over 40 countries including across Europe, covering Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, Commercial and more. The programme runs for up to 18 months with rotations across different business functions.

VIE International Internship – A French government-backed scheme that gives graduates the opportunity to work internationally within a French company. A well-known and respected route into L'Oréal specifically, and a great option for European students looking for international experience.

Explore all global graduate opportunities at https://careers.loreal.com/en_US/content/GlobalGradOpp.

What makes L’Oreal stand out?

With over 25,000 career opportunities created for people under 30 every year, three rotations across different business areas on the Management Trainee Programme, and a global innovation challenge called Brandstorm that lets students pitch ideas to L’Oreal before they’ve even graduated - L’Oreal is a company that actively invests in young talent.

The company also focuses on one category only, beauty. If beauty is your passion, this is the place where you can turn it into a career. 

That’s the beauty of L’Oreal.

The Challengers

Despite the scale and wealth of opportunities offered by The Conglomerates, we shouldn’t forget the brands that challenge the giants and keep them on their toes. If you are more inclined to a start-up to build your career or want to hedge your bets in your applications, then these challenger brands offer a lot to think about. 

Bold Bean Co

You may have not heard of this company, but let us enlighten you. They are quickly becoming a rising brand, being recognised by major retailers like Waitrose and Sainsburys, as well as being used in fast-food stores like Farmer J’s. 

We personally love the origin story of this brand. 

Bold Bean Co was born out of a hangover. We’ve all been there once, or at least seen our friends suffer. Founder Amelia-Christie Miller, whilst living in Madrid after a big night out, found herself with nothing to eat but a jar of heirloom butter beans. Presumably, not the kind of food you find yourself ecstatic to eat when deathly hungover. Miller ate them anyway, birthing a light-bulb moment. Maybe, she could make beans exciting. 

Eager to separate beans from their tired reputation, she launched a bean renaissance. 

In 2021, she launched Bold Bean Co, and since, struck a deal with Deborah Meaden on Dragon’s Den and climbed to #21 on the UK Startups 100 Index by 2026. Not bad at all for a jar of beans. 

B-Corp certified, founder-led and fully immersed in the popularity of gut health and premium food culture, Bold Bean Co is a very exciting challenger brand to keep an eye out on. 

What could Bold Bean Co offer you?

Different from the big companies, Bold Bean Co doesn’t offer a traditional graduate scheme, but that’s the point of a startup. 

If you want real responsibility, ownership and a chance to be a part of something that is growing at a rapid rate, this is one of the companies worth considering.

I’d suggest following their LinkedIn, they’re always posting about new developments, careers and are genuinely a fun brand to follow. 

Check out their careers page here: https://boldbeanco.com/pages/careers. 

What makes Bold Bean Co stand out?

Apart from their delicious beans, they have won The Grocer’s Gold’s “Start-Up of the Year” award, and they don’t plan on stopping there. 

A competitive salary, flexible remote working and free beans!

What more could you ask for?

Tony’s Chocolonely

You have almost certainly seen their bright, chunky bars on the shelves of Sainsbury's, Waitrose or Whole Foods. But the story behind them is one worth knowing.

Founder Teun van de Keuken was a Dutch journalist who, whilst investigating the chocolate industry, discovered that the majority of supermarket chocolate was produced using illegal child labour. So outraged was he that he turned himself in to a police station, declaring himself a criminal for knowingly purchasing it. Unsurprisingly, that stunt did not land him in prison, but it did birth something far more interesting.

In 2005, determined to prove that ethical chocolate production was possible, he founded Tony's Chocolonely. The name itself tells the story. Tony is the anglicised version of Teun, and Chocolonely reflects his lonely battle against an industry that did not want to change. 

The chocolate bars are deliberately divided into unequal pieces, a physical reminder of the inequality that still exists within the industry. It is the kind of brand detail that makes you think, and that is exactly the point.

Today, Tony's holds an 18 percent market share in the Netherlands and has become a recognisable name across UK supermarkets and beyond. They are not just selling chocolate. They are attempting to reshape an entire industry from the inside. 

What could Tony's Chocolonely offer you?

Tony's does not run a traditional graduate scheme, but what they do offer is arguably more interesting. They describe themselves as an impact company that makes chocolate, and they are looking for people who are outspoken, passionate about their purpose and ready to make a genuine difference.

If the idea of working somewhere where your job genuinely connects to a social mission appeals to you, this is a brand worth paying close attention to.

Follow their LinkedIn and keep an eye on their careers page, they are an active and engaging brand to follow and roles across marketing, commercial and operations do come up.

Check out their careers page here.

What makes Tony's Chocolonely stand out?

Apart from arguably making some of the best chocolate on the market, Tony's is one of the rare FMCG brands where the mission is not a marketing afterthought. It is the entire reason the company exists, and that shapes the culture, the people and the work in a way you will not find everywhere.

82% of employees would recommend working at Tony's to a friend, which for a company of their size is a strong endorsement. 

Competitive salaries, a genuinely purpose-driven culture and, of course, free chocolate. We will let you decide if that is enough.

Who Gives a Crap

Ok, this may sound funny but we’re not messing with you, this is actually the name of a brand. 

Who Gives a Crap was founded in Melbourne, Australia by Simon Griffiths, Danny Alexander and Jehan Ratnatunga after they learned that billions of people in the world do not have access to a toilet. Rather than write a strongly worded letter about it, they decided to do something considerably more creative. 

They launched the company in 2012 with a crowdfunding campaign that live-streamed Simon sitting on a toilet in a draughty warehouse until they had raised enough pre-orders to start production. Fifty hours and a sore backside later, they had raised over $50,000. 

The mission has not changed since. Who Gives a Crap donates 50% of profits to partners like WaterAid to fund toilets in developing countries, and their toilet paper is made without cutting down a single tree. They also happen to wrap each roll in beautifully designed paper, making them the only toilet paper brand we are aware of that people actively display in their bathrooms.

Since launching, Who Gives a Crap has donated over $13 million to WaterAid and other sanitation charities, and the brand is now sold across 36 countries, with a growing UK presence in major retailers. 

What could Who Gives a Crap offer you?

Who Gives a Crap does not run a traditional graduate scheme, but they are a genuinely global, remote-friendly business that attracts people who want their work to mean something. They are looking for people who make decisions based on what is right, not just what is profitable, and who go the extra mile to deliver those unexpected wow moments. 

If you are someone who wants commercial experience without leaving your values at the door, this is a brand worth watching closely.

Check out their careers page here.

What makes Who Gives a Crap stand out?

Beyond the mission, the brand has earned serious commercial recognition. Who Gives a Crap won the Grocer Gold Award for Specialist Online Service of the Year, and their Uncrap the World campaign picked up multiple industry awards for its creative impact.

B-Corp certified, genuinely purpose-led and growing fast, Who Gives a Crap is proof that you can build a commercially serious business around an idea that actually matters.

Competitive salaries, remote working and the best-looking toilet paper you will ever own. We will take it.

Gü

You have almost certainly picked one up at a dinner party, or spotted one in someone's fridge and thought, ooh, a Gü. Maybe you've even discovered that the little glass pot fits perfectly with a Pringles lid to create a cute container you're tempted to hoard. Gü has become one of those brands that feels more like a treat you've chosen for yourself than a product you found in a supermarket. That sleek, distinctive packaging is entirely deliberate, and it didn't happen by accident.

Gü was founded in 2003 by James Averdieck, who spotted a gap in the chilled dessert aisle that nobody else had noticed. At the time, supermarket desserts were largely uninspiring, functional, forgettable and cheap-looking. Averdieck had a different idea. By packaging genuinely indulgent recipes in distinctive black pots and positioning them as a restaurant-quality experience you could have at home, he created a premium tier in a category that simply didn't have one before.

The brand grew quickly, landing in major supermarkets across the UK and France before being acquired by Hero Group in 2010, a classic challenger brand story that mirrors what we've seen with Wild and Unilever. The giants took notice, and they came knocking.

Today, Gü continues to expand its range across chilled and ambient desserts, remaining one of the most recognisable premium food brands on the shelf.

What could Gü offer you?

Gü doesn't run a traditional graduate scheme, but as a scaled challenger brand with an international footprint, it offers the kind of hands-on commercial experience that is hard to find in a larger organisation. Roles across marketing, sales and commercial do come up, and at a brand of this size you are likely to have genuine ownership of your work from early on.

Follow their LinkedIn and keep an eye on their careers page for new opportunities.

Naïf Good Care

Before you have even thought about your own skincare routine, the chances are your parents were thinking about your skin. What goes onto a baby's body is one of the most considered purchases a parent makes, and for a long time, the products available were either clinical and uninspiring or full of ingredients that made conscientious parents uncomfortable.

Naïf spotted that gap.

Founded in Amsterdam in 2014, Naïf set out to make baby and children's skincare that was genuinely kind, no harmful ingredients, no compromises, and no reason why natural and effective couldn't coexist in a beautifully designed product. From shampoos and body washes to sunscreen and lotions, every product in the Naïf range is built around the principle that what you leave out matters just as much as what you put in.

B Corp certified and founder-led, Naïf has grown from a Dutch startup into a brand with a presence across Europe, picking up a loyal following of parents who take ingredients seriously. In a category where trust is everything, Naïf has built it carefully and deliberately.

What could Naïf offer you?

Naïf does not run a traditional graduate scheme, but as a fast-growing European challenger brand with an international outlook, it offers real exposure to brand building, marketing and commercial strategy in a category that is only getting more competitive. For anyone interested in the premium personal care space or purpose-driven brands, this is a company worth watching closely.

Follow their LinkedIn and keep an eye on their careers page for opportunities as the brand continues to grow.

Check out their careers page here.

What makes Naïf stand out?

In a world where sustainability and clean ingredients have become marketing buzzwords, Naïf has been doing it quietly and credibly since 2014. Their B Corp certification is not a recent addition to look good on shelf, it is baked into how the business operates. For students who want to work somewhere that takes its values seriously without making them the loudest thing in the room, Naïf is a genuinely compelling option.

We are lucky to have a direct connection to the Naïf team, and their perspective on building a purpose-led challenger brand in Europe will feature later in this guide.

Adjacent Industries

Now we've gone through the ways you can get into FMCG directly, there are also alternative paths worth considering, what we're going to call adjacent industries.

These are industries that sit alongside FMCG, feeding into it, supporting it and increasingly shaping it. 

A career in one of these spaces doesn't mean you're stepping away from FMCG,  in many cases, you're right at the heart of how the industry actually operates.

Retail

The supermarkets and platforms that stock FMCG products are industries in their own right. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Ocado and Amazon all have enormous commercial, buying, data and marketing functions that work directly with FMCG brands every single day. If you understand how a retailer thinks, you'll be a better FMCG professional for it.

Agencies 

As we touched on earlier, creative, media and PR agencies are where a huge amount of FMCG brand-building actually happens. Ogilvy, VCCP and Publicis work on some of the most iconic FMCG campaigns in the world, and many senior client-side marketers started their careers agency-side.

Consulting

Strategy consultancies like Bain, McKinsey and BCG work extensively with FMCG companies on everything from market entry and portfolio strategy to operational transformation. If you are drawn to the strategic side of the industry and want exposure across multiple companies and categories early in your career, consulting is a route worth exploring seriously.

Fintech and Payments 

As D2C and e-commerce has grown, so has the relevance of payments infrastructure. Companies like Square, Stripe and Adyen are increasingly embedded in how FMCG brands sell directly to consumers, making fintech a surprisingly connected adjacent space.

The common thread across all of these is that they all orbit FMCG. Skills you build in any one of them, commercial thinking, consumer understanding, data analysis, operational problem-solving, are exactly what FMCG companies look for. 

Many people use adjacent industries as a springboard, and it's a path well worth keeping on your radar.

What’s trending in the FMCG industry? 

The FMCG industry can be traced back to the late 1800s, as we’ve shown through the history of some of the top FMCG brands. But the industry is changing and at some pace.

Here are some of the trends that are making the most impact and are worth paying attention to, especially if you are an aspiring applicant. 

A shift in Consumer Behaviour

The modern consumer has significantly changed in the past ten years. They are more health-conscious, value-driven, digitally-native and are not afraid to speak out about what they expect from brands they buy. 

Consumer confidence in both the US and Europe remains subdued, with the OECD forecasting an easing of global GDP growth to 2.9% in 2026. This demonstrates that customers are spending more carefully, trading down to own-label brands and pushing back against brands that are raising prices too aggressively. 

The shift in consumer behaviour is not a passing phase, it is a structural change that is forcing FMCG companies to rethink how they develop, price and market their products. 

Unilever described the European market in their sectors as “subdued” in late 2025, while PepsiCo’s chief executive, Ramon Laguarta highlighted “stretched” middle and low income consumers in the US and a “bit weaker” consumer demand in Western Europe compared to other markets. The consumer holds the power, and brands will need to listen in order to survive. 

Pricing pressures 

For years, FMCG brands have been pushing prices higher with grocery prices rising 25% over five years in the US alone. With people buying less due to higher prices, FMCG companies have been forced into an uncomfortable reversal, cutting prices to revive stagnating sales volumes. 

PepsiCo was among the first to announce targeted price cuts of up to 15% on selected snacks after volumes in North America dipped. Kraft Heinz publicly admitted their pricing had become uncompetitive to consumers. Yet, cutting prices carries its own risks. As Jonathan Feeney of Optimal Advisory puts it, lowering prices across the board simply drains the profit pool if it does not actually drive more purchases. A balance must be found, between what the consumer will pay and what the business needs to survive. 

This is one of the most critical challenges in FMCG right now, definitely worth noting down!

Geopolitical tensions

New pressures have been arising from global conflicts. Geopolitical tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, the channel through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes, began pushing up the cost of energy, plastics and packaging in early 2026. The price of polyethylene, a material used across FMCG packaging, rose by more than 50% in a matter of weeks. Fertiliser prices followed, climbing more than 40% over the same period.

For brands that had just promised consumers they were lowering prices, the timing could not have been worse. Colgate-Palmolive and Clorox were among those weighing whether to pass these costs on, asking consumers to adhere to another round of price increases. This is a reminder that in FMCG, external forces can reshape the commercial landscape overnight. The companies with the most agile and fast-thinking teams, will be best placed to respond. Think about which companies those are.

Sustainability

Not a new topic, but definitely one that is widely discussed, and an area which you should keep up to date with, especially if the company you are applying for boasts sustainability goals. 

For years, FMCG companies have made voluntary commitments to use more recycled materials in their packaging, seeing as they generate a lot of wasteful packaging. Now those commitments have become legal requirements.

Brazil introduced minimum recycled content requirements for plastic packaging in 2026. The EU’s sweeping Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation has recycled content targets locked in for 2030. 

Spending more on sustainable alternatives at a time where the cost of packaging materials is rising, is a tricky situation. Companies will employ people who are commercially savvy and problem-solvers to help them with this issue.

E-commerce (The Digital Shelf)

Not long ago, winning in FMCG meant winning on the physical shelf. Getting the right product at the right height in the right supermarket was everything. That still matters, but the battlefield has expanded significantly, and brands that ignore the digital shelf do so at their peril.

Global FMCG e-commerce websites grew by 11% and reached an average of 24.7 billion monthly visits, making digital platforms the primary touchpoint for consumers. That is not a niche channel anymore. Digital is where millions of purchasing decisions are being made every day, and the rules are different from anything that came before.

On a physical shelf, a product needs to look good and sit in the right place. On a digital shelf, it needs to rank in search, carry the right images and copy, maintain accurate availability, and outperform competitors on platforms like Amazon, Ocado and Tesco.com simultaneously.

In the US, online FMCG occasions are up 16% year on year, while in-store occasions have fallen. However, in-store still accounts for around 77% of FMCG sales, meaning brands must serve both channels without losing focus on either. The opportunity is not to replace the physical shelf, but to win on both. 

For anyone entering FMCG, understanding how the digital shelf works is no longer optional. It is one of the most in-demand skill sets in the industry right now.

Artificial Intelligence 

Scary to some, exciting to others, AI has turned a lot of heads, especially in the FMCG industry. 

Take Nestle for example. By feeding sales, seasonal, and logistics data into the Coupa platform, Nestle leverages AI to forecast demand and container arrivals, resulting in accurate stock plans that minimize stockouts and optimize their overall supply chain inventory.

AI is changing FMCG, but don’t be afraid of it taking your job. The other way to look at it is, who will be in the room guiding it and making those human judgements? 

At Exactimo, we always like to reiterate, AI is not a threat, but an opportunity, especially for humans who like to work alongside it.  

Ozempic and GLP-1 disruption

Starting out as a hot topic in the celebrity world, Ozempic, a GLP-1 drug has found its way to the general public as it becomes more widely available. What does Ozempic have to do with FMCG you may wonder? 

Well, one reason why Ozempic is affecting FMCG industries is its ability to reduce people's appetite. People taking these drugs typically eat 15 to 35% fewer calories and lose appetite for the high-sugar, high-fat snacks that have been among the most profitable products in FMCG.

The scale of the shift is already measurable. By mid-2024, over 16% of US households had at least one person taking a GLP-1 drug, which was an increase from 11% just months earlier. Research from Cornell University found that these households reduced their grocery spending by an average of 5.3% within six months, the sharpest falls being in confectionery, baked goods and sugary drinks.

To adapt to the way consumers are consuming, Nestle launched its first new brand in 30 years specifically targeting GLP-1 users, while Coca-Cola and Danone are pivoting towards high-protein, low-sigar ranges. This disruption is nowhere near over, and is only just getting started really. This is a trend you should definitely keep an eye on. 

Protein trends 

While some people's appetite has been squashed, others have turned to the protein trend. As we just mentioned, some large FMCG companies are turning to protein-rich products.

Have you been noticing labels saying “PROTEIN” slapped across your food? Perhaps you’ve seen it on your yoghurt or even your bread? We all know about protein bars, but what about protein pasta?

Consumers are actively seeking high-protein versions of the products they already love, and brands that adapt are growing fast.

General Mills reported a 3% decline in cereal volumes in 2025, amidst a wider shift toward high-protein alternatives. PepsiCo’s response? Doritos Protein. You may also have even seen the Kardashians jump on this trend, with Khloe Kardashian’s Khloud protein popcorn. The protein trend is no longer a niche; it is reshaping entire aisles, and the brands and graduates who get ahead of it will be the ones defining what the FMCG shelf looks like in ten years’ time. 

Emerging markets

While much of the conversation around FMCG tends to centre on the big western markets, the US, the UK, Western Europe, some of the most exciting growth in the industry right now is happening elsewhere entirely. Markets across Asia, Africa and Latin America are expanding at a pace that the more established consumer markets simply cannot match, and the biggest FMCG companies in the world are taking notice.

In India, ambition is extraordinary. Reliance Retail has publicly set its sights on becoming the country's largest FMCG company with a global presence, targeting revenue of over £1 trillion rupees within five years, already exporting to West Asia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and West Africa, with plans to reach at least 25 countries within the next 12 months. 

Meanwhile in Africa, companies like Nigeria's OmniRetail and Morocco's Chari are digitising fragmented supply chains, connecting manufacturers, distributors and retailers in ways that are opening up entirely new routes to market.

For graduates with international ambitions, the emerging market opportunity in FMCG is one to explore for sure.

B2C relationships 

For most of its history, FMCG operated far away from the consumer. Brands made products, retailers sold them, and the relationship between brand and buyer was largely transactional and mediated through a shop floor. This is changing, and fast. Social media, direct-to-consumer channels and digital communities have given rise to brands to speak directly to their consumers for the first time. And, as we mentioned before, consumers are speaking back. A conversation has been sparked.

Bold Bean Co is an amazing example of what this looks like in practice. Founder Amelia Christie-Miller built her brand through human storytelling on Instagram and LinkedIn, building the process in real time. This resulted in sales, but also a community of people who felt personally invested in the brand’s success. Personally, we’re a part of them. As the Black Dog Agency puts it, captivating consumers in the 21st century required a fundamentally different approach to the one that built this industry.

Practical Interview Tips for FMCG

Sit-up statement

Know your stuff

Networking

Focus on your ‘Heart’ Brands 

Here’s a practical tip for you to focus on. Since we’ve given you some information on what we’ve called Conglomerates and Challengers, we hope it's got you thinking about what kind of company you’d like to work for. Or, perhaps you already had a few in mind. If you haven’t, don’t worry and have a go at this…

We like to call it the ‘Heart Brands’ strategy. Pretty simple really. Just start by thinking about the products you already use in your daily life. Why do you use them? What drew you to them in the first place? Was it the packaging, the values, the price point, the way they make you feel, or all of the above? From there, look up the companies behind those products and see whether their culture, values and way of working align with yours.

Build yourself a list of Heart Brands. These will be the brands that genuinely resonate with you on a personal level. This does two things:

First, it makes the process of choosing where to apply far less overwhelming, because you are starting from a place of connection rather than blindly firing off applications. 

Second, it will transform your interviews. When you can speak about a brand from personal experience and real enthusiasm, it will show. You cannot fake passion, and interviewers know the difference.

The best interviews come from the heart. So start there. 

Here is a visual guide for you to follow:

[INSERT HEART BRANDS]

Take a product you use regularly, it could be anything, your morning coffee, your go-to shampoo, the snack you always reach for.

Write it in the first row.

In the second row, jot down why you use it, is it habit, taste, convenience, or something else? 

In the third row, think about what originally drew you to it. Was it the packaging that caught your eye? A recommendation from a friend? The brand's values? A price point that felt right?

Once you have filled in a few cards, look at the patterns. 

You might notice you are consistently drawn to brands with strong sustainability credentials, or premium positioning, or bold creative identities. 

That pattern is your starting point.

Look up the companies behind those products, explore their culture and values, and ask yourself whether you can see yourself there.

The brands that light something up in you are the ones worth pursuing first!

Further resources

The more you immerse yourself in the industry, the better prepared you will be. Here are some of the resources we recommend to keep you informed, inspired and ahead of the conversation.

Podcasts

What the FMCG?  The Grocer's own podcast, covering the biggest stories and debates in grocery and consumer goods. A great way to stay on top of what's happening in the industry week to week. 

The FMCG Podcast  Wide-ranging conversations covering trends, brands and careers across the industry. Good for getting a broad feel for the sector. 

The FMCG Guys The leading consumer goods and retail podcast in Europe, featuring senior industry leaders going deep on the topics and career paths that matter most. Highly recommended. 

FMCG Weekly A commercially focused podcast covering pricing, innovation and retail strategy. Particularly useful if you are drawn to the sales and commercial side of the industry. 

Reading

The Grocer  The UK's leading source of FMCG and grocery news. Worth bookmarking and checking regularly, especially in the run-up to applications and interviews. 

Marketing Week Sharp analysis of brand strategy, marketing and consumer trends, with strong FMCG coverage. A go-to for anyone interested in the consumer-facing side of the industry. 

KamCity Focused on grocery retail news and key account management. Particularly useful if you are exploring sales, commercial or national account roles. 

NIQ Consumer Outlook  NielsenIQ's annual report on consumer behaviour, pricing and FMCG market performance. Dense but genuinely useful, and a great source of data points for interviews. 

This list is a starting point. The more curious you are, the more you will stand out. Make it a habit to read, listen and stay informed, and it’ll genuinely make every application and interview that bit easier.