Parece que Mongo deixou de ser uma metáfora e tornou-se realidade

Há muitos anos que escrevo sobre Mongo, uma metáfora acerca da economia do futuro:

"As American shoppers buy less packaged foods, Big Food has leaned on a familiar excuse: It's the economy, stupid. True, inflation has forced some families to trade down to cheaper store brands, and stagnant wages have squeezed household budgets.

That explanation misses a crucial shift: middle- and high-income Americans are still splurging, just not on legacy labels. Their dollars are flowing to niche names with more cultural cachet, from fancy new protein bars to chewier candy. 

So-called insurgent brands now capture a wildly disproportionate share of growth. Though they make up less than 2% of food, beverage and household products, they drove nearly 39% of incremental category gains in 2024—more than double their share the year before, Bain & Co. research shows."

"They are losing budget-conscious noppers to private labels on price, and more-affluent ones to challengers on quality. Total food sales returned to growth in 2024, yet large-cap food makers' volumes are still falling,

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Upstarts are grabbing share through nimble marketing, rapid product rollouts and the focus of having fewer things to sell.

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Now more than ever, disruption is being accelerated by technological progress and eroding barriers to entry. Online retailers such as Amazon.com give small brands distribution without costly shelf space. Social media and influencers amplify founder-led stories for a fraction of the price of TV ads.

Lean teams also mean speed. A promotional decision that might take a mature brand six weeks "can take less than 10 minutes for an insurgent brand,"

Parece que Mongo deixou de ser uma metáfora e tornou-se realidade, e a batalha entre Big Food e insurgent brands é apenas mais uma prova disso.

As grandes empresas — Big Food — representam o modelo da homogeneização, da escala, do produto de massa para todos. Mas a realidade actual é Mongo: consumidores fragmentados, com gostos diferentes, identidades culturais variadas e disponibilidade para gastar em produtos que estejam alinhados directamente com os seus valores e estilos de vida.

Trechos retirados de "Startups Are Eating Big Food's Lunch" publicado no WSJ de 6 de Outubro.