What IGD does

IGD (The Institute of Grocery Distribution) is a UK-headquartered charitable organization founded in 1909 that provides research, training, and industry collaboration services to the food and grocery sector. It operates through a parent charity (registered charity No. 309939) and a wholly-owned trading subsidiary, IGD Services Limited (Company No. 3357260), with offices in Letchmore Heath (Watford), Singapore, and Canada. IGD serves food and drink manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers with horizontal coverage across the grocery value chain, positioning itself as an independent, not-for-profit industry convener that reinvests profits into social impact programs covering workforce, sustainability, health, economics, and food system resilience.

The core product platform comprises subscription-based Commercial Insight services — Retail Analysis (retail market data and strategic foresight), ShopperVista (shopper behavior research), Away From Home (out-of-home food service data), and MarketTrack (retail market monitoring) — delivered through authenticated web portals with tiered access. These data products are complemented by IGD Consulting (strategic advisory), IGD Learning (training courses and events such as Category Management, Shopper Marketing, and New Manager Skills), Industry Forums (collaborative working groups), and AskIGD (expert Q&A). Sub-brands include IGD Futures (emerging trend research, including GLP-1 consumer impacts) and Feeding Britain's Future (social impact initiative). Underlying technology is not publicly documented beyond web-based subscription delivery.

The business model combines recurring enterprise subscriptions for commercial insight with paid events, paid training courses, and consulting engagements distributed through direct sales globally. The organization reinvests profits into charitable activities rather than distributing to shareholders. Leadership comprises CEO Susan Barratt, CFO Ian Fish, and Chief Economist James Walton. Recent product activity (2025–2026) includes the Net Zero Transition Plan for the UK Food System, UK grocery channel forecasts to 2031, food inflation forecasts to 2028, and expansion into health and beauty trend analysis, indicating ongoing thought-leadership output.

Name

IGD

Legal name

The Institute of Grocery Distribution

Website

https://igd.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1909

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

IGD is a UK-based charitable organization providing subscription retail research, shopper analytics, training, and consulting to food and grocery manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers globally, reinvesting profits into social impact programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Hereford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

IGD is a UK-based research and training organization that provides subscription-based commercial insight, market intelligence, and professional learning services for the food and grocery industry. Its core offerings include Retail Analysis, ShopperVista, and Away From Home market data subscriptions, complemented by consulting, MarketTrack monitoring, industry training courses, and collaborative forums for retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers.

Product overview

IGD is a retail research and training organization that provides a platform of insight, analysis, and learning services for the food and grocery industry. The core offering consists of Commercial Insight subscriptions (Retail Analysis, ShopperVista, and Away From Home) delivering global retail research and shopper behavior analytics. These are complemented by consulting services, MarketTrack market monitoring, Social Impact programs (workforce, economics, sustainability, health, resilience), IGD Learning (courses, events, training), Industry Forums for collaboration, and AskIGD for direct expert support. IGD reinvests profits into charitable activities and societal good.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ShopperVista: Shopper insight and understanding research platform providing shopper behavior data and analysis
• MarketTrack
• Away From Home
• IGD Futures
• Feeding Britain's Future

Products and services

• Retail Analysis
• ShopperVista
• Away From Home
• IGD Consulting
• MarketTrack
• IGD Learning
• Industry Forums
• Social Impact Programs
• AskIGD

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• NielsenIQ: Global leader in retail measurement and consumer intelligence, providing shopper data, retail analytics and insights across grocery and FMCG. Directly comparable to IGD's Retail Analysis and ShopperVista offerings but at vastly greater scale and with a technology-led delivery model.
• Circana (formerly IRI): Major retail analytics and insights provider covering CPG, grocery and foodservice channels globally. Comparable to IGD's MarketTrack and Away From Home services, offering syndicated point-of-sale data and shopper analytics at significantly larger scale.
• Kantar: Global market research and consumer insights group with a dedicated retail and shopper practice. Directly competes with IGD on shopper behavior research, retail insight subscriptions and FMCG category analytics, though Kantar operates across many verticals beyond grocery.

Direct peers

• Euromonitor International: Global market research firm providing industry reports, country reports and consumer research across retail and FMCG. Closely comparable to IGD's Retail Analysis subscription model and international coverage, including grocery industry trend reports.
• GlobalData: Data and analytics company providing industry intelligence, market forecasts and company profiles across consumer, retail and food sectors. Comparable to IGD's research subscription products and forecast-driven methodology.
• Mintel: Market research firm publishing consumer and product intelligence across FMCG, food and retail. Comparable in business model — subscription research reports with global coverage — but serves broader verticals than IGD's grocery focus.
• Coresight Research: Retail and consumer research firm providing insights, forecasts and proprietary data on the global retail industry. Closely comparable to IGD's Commercial Insight subscriptions, with particular overlap on grocery and consumer trend reporting.
• Edge by Ascential (Edge): Retail and e-commerce insights provider covering digital commerce, retail strategy and shopper behavior across grocery and FMCG. Comparable to IGD's retail insight and shopper research offerings, with stronger digital commerce specialization.

Emerging players

• The Hartman Group: Consumer insights firm specializing in consumer culture, food and beverage, and retail behavior. Comparable to IGD's ShopperVista in its shopper behavior focus, but smaller in scale and focused primarily on North America.

Regional players

• Institute of Food Technologists (IFT): Non-profit scientific organization serving the food industry through research, publications, education and events. Comparable to IGD's combination of food-industry research, training (IGD Learning) and convening role, but focused on food science and technology rather than retail/grocery.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/igd
• Xx.com/FromIGD

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about IGD