8 Revenue Growth Management Trends Revealed in Q2 Earnings Calls
- itdev9
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This blog post presents the findings of independent Accuris research based on H1 and Q2 2026 earnings calls, investor presentations, quarterly and half-year results, trading statements, management commentary and selected FMCG trade-press analysis published up to 24 August 2026.
When Coca-Cola Europacific Partners reported its first-half 2026 results, one detail in the European numbers stood out. Volume was growing faster than transactions, partly because larger take-home packs were performing strongly. Financially, that diluted revenue per case and showed up as negative pack mix.
At first sight, that sounds undesirable. From an RGM perspective, however, it can be entirely rational. Larger packs can improve household affordability, strengthen competitiveness and support volume without cutting the headline price of every SKU.
CCEP’s results therefore illustrate a broader point: measures such as price/mix, volume and revenue increasingly tell us too little about the commercial choices underneath them. Companies can deliberately accept lower mix, invest in price, change promotional mechanics or redesign pack architecture to create more valuable growth.
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Revenue Growth Management is moving beyond the inflation-era focus on taking price. Pricing remains important, but the central question is increasingly where to take price, where to invest price back, and how to allocate commercial value across products, packs, retailers and shoppers.
Across the companies reviewed, eight emerging RGM trends stand out. The table below summarises each trend, provides a concrete company example and highlights what it could mean for Revenue Growth Management teams.
TREND | COMPANY EXAMPLE | IMPLICATIONS FOR REVENUE GROWTH MANAGEMENT TEAMS |
|---|---|---|
1. Price investment is replacing binary pricing | PepsiCo: deliberately invested in lower pricing to restore volume, then shifted attention to improving the return on those investments by customer, channel and occasion. | Treat price reductions, restrained increases and additional trade spend as investments. Define hurdle rates and measure the incremental, profitable volume they generate. |
2. Pricing is becoming more selective and threshold-led | General Mills: used base-price investment to move products below important consumer “price cliffs” and thresholds rather than applying uniform price changes. | Model absolute shelf-price thresholds and competitive gaps, not only average elasticities. Optimise price at SKU × retailer × channel level. |
3. Affordability strategies are becoming more nuanced | CCEP: Larger take-home packs grew strongly in Europe. Their better value per litre supported volume, even though the shift reduced average revenue per case through negative pack mix. | Do not equate affordability only with smaller packs or lower entry prices. RGM teams should consider both absolute outlay and value per unit, depending on the shopping mission and household need. |
4. Promotion optimisation is moving from uplift to ROI and mechanics | CCEP: explicitly enhanced promotion-evaluation and pricing tools. PepsiCo also described tailoring promotional mechanics by customer, channel and occasion. | Move beyond average uplift. Optimise event mechanics by retailer and measure incrementality, cannibalisation, stockpiling and the source of promotional volume. |
5. “Price/mix” is becoming too blunt a KPI | CCEP: reported positive brand mix but negative pack mix, demonstrating that different mix effects can move in opposite directions inside the same headline metric. | Decompose mix into brand, pack, channel, retailer and geographic effects. Manage the underlying causes rather than relying on the aggregate financial reporting number. |
6. Affordability and premiumisation are being managed simultaneously | Beiersdorf: is reinforcing NIVEA accessibility to rebuild penetration while also creating a more accessible entry proposition for luxury brand La Prairie. | Build a complete willingness-to-pay ladder. Protect attractive entry points while creating credible reasons to trade up; do not treat affordability and premiumisation as opposing strategies. |
7. Portfolio architecture is becoming an RGM lever | Diageo: reset its strategy around the full price and format ladder, including RTDs, rather than relying on a one-directional premiumisation model. | Bring RGM upstream into innovation and portfolio design. Ask which propositions create new price points, occasions and value pools before products are launched. |
8. Retailer execution is becoming inseparable from RGM | Nestlé: European growth was affected by temporary retailer delistings, showing how theoretically sound pricing can be undermined by customer execution. | Optimise for joint supplier–retailer economics, not just theoretical consumer response. Incorporate distribution, shelf position, retailer margin and category value into recommendations. |
The above analysis draws on the latest earnings calls, quarterly and half-year results, and management commentary from more than 20 major FMCG companies, including Nestlé, Unilever, Danone, Mondelēz, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, CCEP, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, P&G, Reckitt, Haleon, Colgate-Palmolive, Beiersdorf, L'Oréal, AB InBev, Heineken, Carlsberg, Diageo, Celsius and Constellation Brands. All companies were assessed objectively and on the same basis, irrespective of any existing relationship with Accuris.
Ready to make the next step in Revenue Growth Management?
For companies seeking sustainable net revenue growth, the next frontier is not simply optimising price, promotion and pack architecture individually. It is understanding where growth actually comes from: which sales are genuinely incremental, which come from competitors, and which merely redistribute demand within the portfolio. That is the role of Source of Business Management.
Connect with an Accuris consultant today to explore how Source of Business Management can help you direct pricing, promotional and commercial investment towards the sources of growth that create the most value.
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