Jamie Laing Just Proved Big Food is Doomed
(SeaPRwire) –
By: Jeremy Vance
The shelf wars are shifting. Legacy giants like Mars and Nestlé have dominated aisles for decades using mass distribution. Mars generates $50bn in sales while Nestlé hits CHF 90bn. Now, a reality star’s vegan gummies are stealing that real estate. Candy Kittens was founded 15 years ago and generates £15m in annual revenue. It sits in Tesco and Sainsbury’s right next to the titans. It is not just a novelty anymore. This is a direct challenge to the old guard’s shelf dominance. The big logos are losing ground to faces. The physical retail space is no longer guaranteed by deep pockets alone. It is being won by cultural relevance.
Look at the Graze acquisition. Unilever offloaded the snack brand for £36m to Candy Kittens in late 2025. To a conglomerate, Graze was a footnote. It lost its sparkle under that ownership. The big players are too slow. They cannot pivot ideas fast enough. A small brand moves from concept to shelf in months. Unilever moves in years. That speed is a logistical weapon. It allows the challenger to exploit gaps the giants leave open. The inefficiency of massive scale is becoming a liability.
Nestlé is cutting media support for brands. They are dropping support from 400 to just 150 brands by 2026. They own over 2,000 globally. Most will wither on the vine. This creates a massive opportunity. Smaller brands can nurture these neglected assets. Laing even aims to buy McVitie’s back from conglomerate ownership. It is a reversal of history. They do not need the mega marketing machine. They use direct community trust. This efficiency lets them pick off the weak links in a bloated portfolio.
The consumer math is changing. Gen Z does not trust faceless corporations. Adobe data shows two-thirds have bought from creator-founded brands. LTK says 73% rely on creators for decisions. They are allergic to being sold to. The old model of buying attention is broken. The new model is giving value first. It is the jab, jab, jab, hook technique. You give entertainment before asking for a sale. That builds a loyalty balance sheet the giants cannot replicate with TV spots.
New UK restrictions on high-fat and sugar products are coming. Legacy portfolios are built on these exact categories. They are heavy ships to turn. A fifteen-year-old challenger has less fixed cost exposure. They can pivot faster than the giants. Investors are still skeptical though. They worry about longevity. They question if a personality can scale. But the data suggests the personality is the asset. The cultural moment favors the nimble. The regulatory environment will punish the slow.
The tide is turning, and any conglomerate ignoring the creator-led acquisition model risks becoming a mere footnote in their own portfolio.
Author bio: Jeremy Vance, a global fast-moving consumer goods supply chain auditor and industry analyst.