FIS Group Merges Food and Drink MR Firms

In the UK, FIS Group has merged three of its research businesses - Food Innovation Solutions, Good Sense Research and Cambridge Market Research - to form a unified company offering insight, innovation and product testing for the food and drink industry, under the FIS Group name.

The firm says the new structure reflects better 'how clients already engage' across the full range of its expertise, accessing ever more services, specialisms and more connected briefs, adding: 'A single brand makes that full range easier to understand, easier to access and better connected.' The group offers three connected capabilities: insight (evidence-based market and consumer understanding), innovation (trend scoping through to product creation), and product testing (benchmarking and validation).

Good Sense Research and Cambridge Market Research were previously acquired by the group and each bring more than 30 years of heritage in the sector. The new FIS Group will work across retail, foodservice, branded FMCG and own label, fresh produce growers and scaling businesses. running large-scale fresh produce benchmarking programmes for the UK's largest food retailers. It also boasts proprietary insight programmes including Appetite Shift, an ongoing, syndicated study tracking how GLP-1 medications are reshaping consumer diets, habits and lifestyles.

Mike Faers, founder and Group CEO of FIS Group says the move brings together 'complementary skills, experience and people.' Group MD Kelly Dowson adds: 'For me, this is about building a simpler, stronger and more connected organisation, easier to understand and better positioned for the future. It brings real benefits to our customers: greater clarity, consistency and confidence, with all of our expertise now accessible through one trusted name.'

The combined company is online at www.fis-group.co.uk .