Stephan's Friday Picks

• The 2025 CEOs of the Year (Globe and Mail)
• Struggles of the world's 'second lung' puts cocoa crops at risk (FT)
• Duane Roberts, father of the frozen burrito, dies at 88 (WSJ)
• UK retailers 'exasperated' as Budget disrupts Christmas season (FT)
• From the archives (2009): Drink up (The New Yorker)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Campbell's defends its ingredients after chicken controversy (WSJ)
• Retail earnings show shoppers resilience, but some stores struggle (NYT)
• Campbell's fires executive behind recording that disparaged its food (WSJ)
• Canadians go 'elbows up' for homegrown wine over Trump's trade war (NYT)
• Walmart is exploring bring ads to Sparky, its new AI shopping agent (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Target needs more than a vibe shift to turn its business around (Bloomberg)
• Couche-Tard surges after earnings beat as CEO signals deal hunt (Bloomberg)
• How Ocado's American dream fell apart (FT)
• Bakers overpower automakers in energy consumption (Globe and Mail)
• Candymakers hard-won deal with Big Sugar shows clout of Washington lobbies (Bloomberg) 

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Revisiting management systems (Medium)
• Who was the foodie (Yale Review)
• These chocolatiers found a delicious way to help the Amazon (NYT)
• AI ignites the return of Bezos the innovator (WSJ)
• The climate is changing, cows are stressed, and Italy's cheesemakers are worried (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Addressing Canada's productivity gap. A journey towards global leadership (McKinsey)
• Are Ocado's robots just too fancy (The Guardian)
• Asda to raise £568M in store sell-off as sales continue to fall off (The Guardian)
• How Fuscia Dunlop became a Sichuan food hero (The Guardian)
• Canada's shoppers want value certainty, not coupons (BCG)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• The State of Fashion 2026 (McKinsey)
• The AI-first retailer (BCG)
• The quiet kingmaker slipping beauty brands into your hotel shower (Bloomberg)
• New York's bodegas are here to stay (NYT)
• From the archives (2014): Mike Duke leaves Walmart bigger, growing slowly (WSJ)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• What will it take to get retailers to kill the music (WSJ)
• Kroger to close delivery centers, take $2.6 billion hit (Bloomberg)
• Panera plans to spend millions on better sandwiches and better stores (WSJ)
• AB InBev nears $700 million deal for party punch maker BeatBox (WSJ)
• Jeff Bezos creates AI startup where he will be co-chief executive (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Thomson and Weston families submit $18 billion joint bid for Hudson's Bay charter (Globe and Mail)
• Kroger expands partnership with DoorDash, Instacart, Uber Eats (WSJ)
• Aldi effect sweeps supermarkets as US embraces private label (FT)
• Pop Mart's Labubu risks Beanie Baby-style collapse, analyst says (Bloomberg)
• Protein has gone mainstream. But how much do you actually need (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: How strategy choice can make something out of very little (Medium)
• Americans just can't get enough beef (Bloomberg)
• The fast-food industry is trying to lure in Gen Z customers. Is the meal deal helping (CBC)
• Walgreens cuts pay for store workers after $10 billion buyout (Bloomberg)
• Michael Mauboussin: Capital Allocation (Morgan Stanley)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, who parried Amazon, will retire (NYT)
• Walmart's CEO makes way for fellow he guided for new tech era (Bloomberg)
• Who is John Furner? Meet the Walmart insider named new CEO (WSJ)
• How Ruby Liu's contentious play for Hudson's Bay stores fell apart (Globe and Mail)
• Ikea's first non-Swedish CEO vows to preserve its Swedish roots (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• How Dyson went from fancy vacuum maker to beauty titan (Bloomberg)
• As beef prices skyrocket across North America, stakeholders uncertain about future (Globe and Mail)
• Red Bull faces EU antitrust probe (WSJ)
• Federal investigation probes grocery store investigation in Halifax (CBC)
• From the archives (2021): 'Invention' review: James Dyson's dilemma (WSJ)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• How an $11 billion beauty company built a suburban empire (Bloomberg)
• Discount grocery stores gaining momentum in Quebec (CBC)
• Some Canadian shoppers have switched back to U.S products, Loblaw CEO says (Globe and Mail)
• Why Build-a-Bear has been on a Nvidia-like run (Bloomberg)
• Amazon's new Echo show design is overshadowed by need for more video (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Fermented Foods: A $61 billion gut-health boom lures entrepreneurs, 'kimchi-curious' (WSJ)
• Dave Lewis gets another turnaround challenge at Diageo (Bloomberg)
• Will retailers really deny premium credit cards (Bloomberg)
• Agenda for growth: Turning AI promise into impact (McKinsey)
• A crescent-shaped dessert that's a symbol of hospitality (NYT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: What has changed the most for strategy (Medium)
• Burger King strikes joint venture to double its presence in China (WSJ)
• Glass skin and snail mucin: South Korea's journey to global beauty player (NYT)
• Italian pasta is poised to disappear from American grocery shelves (WSJ)
• Private label food maker Treehouse to go private in $1.17 billion deal (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Target mandates worker smiles, friendliness to boost sales (Bloomberg)
• Pizza Hut's parent says struggling chain may go up for sale (NYT)
• Ontario to ban exclusivity deals between insurers, pharmacies (Globe and Mail)
• Facing Trump's tariffs, Swiss farmers find themselves with too much milk (NYT) 
• Discount chain takes aim at 7-Eleven in Japan with $2 Tonkatsu (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Transforming procurement for an AI-driven world (McKinsey)
• Primark could be split out from AB Foods' other operations, company says (Reuters)
• Amazon tests Whole Foods store that sells Kraft Mac & Cheese (Bloomberg)
• Canadian Tire profit falls on restructuring costs amid upbeat discretionary spending (Globe and Mail)
• From the archives (2015): Primark throws its hat in the U.S. ring (WSJ)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Budget 2025: Carney earmarks $89.7 billion in new spending to counter U.S. protectionism (Globe and Mail)
• Coca-Cola injects 'holidays are coming' ads with an upgraded dose of AI (WSJ)
• Shein's Paris store debut triggers explosive backlash (Globe and Mail)
• The real reason food prices jump every November and February (Agri-Food Analytics Lab)
• Burger King braces for the demise of the penny (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Martha Stewart transformed the dinner party. Was that a good thing (NYT)
• KFC's plan to catch up in the fried chicken wars (Bloomberg)
• Thieves in Guelph stole $80,000 worth of whipped cream (Toronto Life)
• The perfect grocery list-making app doesn't exist (The Verge)
• Overcoming status quo bias in the age of transformation (McKinsey)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Why the 'how-to-win' strategy choice is so hard (Medium)
• Kimberly-Clark to buy Tylenol maker Kenvue for more than $40 billion (WSJ)
• Chipotle's big bet on young consumers is unraveling (WSJ)
• World gone crazy for protein is a boon for dairy (Bloomberg)
• Why the future of coffee doesn't belong to Starbucks (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Tesco meal deal highlights enduring threat to BOE's inflation goal (Bloomberg)
• The Amazonification of Whole Foods is finally here - bring on the Doritos (WSJ)
• Colgate-Palmolive boosts promotions to offsite price hikes (WSJ)
• Why AI is a double-edged sword for retailers (FT)
• Amazon's big spending reignites an AI stock rally (NYT)