Cover Story

With strong brand names, Diamond Foods often plays above its weight. When it came time to invest in its trade promotion strategy, Diamond Foods opted to take a calculated route marked rather than the more common "spend and learn" approach of larger competitors.

CGT connects you with nine standout small to mid-sized consumer goods companies that are hitting it off big with consumers. Some names you'll recognize, other you won't. Find out what they've been up to over the last year and what's they've got in store for the future.

In the second annual edition of the Review & Outlook Report, CGT taps its most valuable resources almost 80 respected industry experts to recommend realistic actions for managing the big changes ahead of us.

Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, Southern Comfort Fiery Pepper, Finlandia's flavored vodkas...the liquor category has never looked or tasted so good thanks in part to Brown-Forman Corporation, which put innovation front and center in its long-term growth strategy.

For the 12th year in a row, CGT handed the microphone over to our readers to identify their most valued technology solutions and service providers across 10 categories. Based on their uncensored opinions and real-world experiences, the results are honest indicators of how the industry is approaching technology adoption.

This years Readers Choice survey spans 10 categories, but some companies do not fit snugly into any one group. In response, we created the Editors Pick section to recognize solutions and service providers that are making a difference in the consumer goods industry and should be dually noted.

The Top 8 providers of a software solution for trade promotion effectiveness, including traditional TPM, promotion analytics, price management, trade promotion optimization, etc.

The Top 8 providers of a point software solution or a software suite for Business Intelligence, including analytics, data warehousing, etc.