The people out there, the consumers, have the power and they have the choice. Also, but not only, when it comes to sausage. Rügenwalder Mühle recognised the signs of the times early on, and is now turning over more money with substitute products than with meat products for the first time. One of a few good examples of how companies can react to cultural change.

In fact, hardly any companies are prepared for this change and the necessary consequences. Technically, perhaps. But not culturally. "When our society fragments, verticalises, the large FMCG manufacturers in particular stand in their own way," Jens Krüger notes: "They are geared to mass production, hierarchically organised. Product marketing doesn't talk to trade marketing. Why should they?"

Jens Krüger, CEO of Bonsai Research, describes in his latest column on marktforschung.dehow branded companies have to change and how market researchers can provide coordinates for navigating the new era.