CHICAGO – Aug. 9, 2022 – Information Resources, Inc. (IRI®), which recently merged with The NPD Group to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider, today released new insights about food inflation and its impact on consumer shopping behavior. The insights leverage the latest point-of-sale data for July 2022 and include data covering all U.S. food channels, including e-commerce. July’s data shows that prices of consumer goods remain elevated across categories. Prices for food at-home rose 1.2% from the end of June to the end of July, and 14.4% year-over-year as of July 31. In June, at-home food prices rose 1.2% versus May, and 13.7% year-over-year as of June 30. “Consumers are responding to rising prices by shopping promotions, prioritizing value options, and trading down to avoid going without,” commented Krishnakumar (KK) Davey, president of Thought Leadership for CPG and Retail. “We are advising our manufacturer clients to deploy all levers of strategic revenue management, prioritize strong in-market execution, and invest in retailer partnerships to ensure that the right products are available in the right places at the right times. Additionally, retailers must have the tools to quickly adjust to changes in consumer preferences to ensure they are offering the right assortment at price points that appeal to price-sensitive shoppers as well as their most valuable customers.” Key insights from July include:   Persistent Inflation. Food and beverage inflation continues to persist on a sequential and year-over-year basis, despite recent price decreases in other areas of the economy (such as gasoline). Categories with the five largest increases in prices include: Category July 2022 vs. June 2022 July 2022 vs. July 2021 Refrigerated eggs +5.9% +46.8% Frozen dinners and entrées +3.5% +22.8% Butter and margarine +3.2% +26.3% Frozen pizza +2.8% +17.8% Center store bread +2.8% +15.4% Limited relief for consumers. While prices of certain food categories have begun to decline in recent weeks, they still tend to remain elevated year-over-year. Categories with the five largest decreases in price include: Category July 2022 vs. June 2022 July 2022 vs. July 2021 Fresh citrus fruit -2.4% +26.7% Bacon -1.4% +9.3% Ice cream and sherbet -0.8% +7.4% Beef -0.3% -0.1% Packaged lunch meat -0.1% +23.6% Promotional activity is on the rise. Promotional activity – including weekly sales and coupons – in many food and beverage categories is returning to pre-pandemic levels as supply pressures ease and consumers increasingly look for the best deals. Recent data indicates that the top five food and beverage categories where promotion increased in the four weeks ending July 10, 2022, show close parallels to the same four weeks in 2019, before the pandemic, with nearly 50% of these top categories’ sales coming from promoted items. Category 4 Weeks Ending July 10, 2022 4 Weeks Ending July 10, 2019 Ice cream and sherbet 55% 50% Sports drinks 52% 54% Crackers 50% 53% Breakfast meats 47% 52% Bottled water 46% 48% Consumers are bargain hunting. Consumers are responding when promotions are available. In some of the most-promoted categories within the grocery channel over the trailing four-week period ending July 10, 2022, percent of dollar sales and percent of sales volume lift have increased significantly. 55% of ice cream and sherbet, for instance, was purchased at promotional pricing in the four-week period, 9 percentage points above what it was two months ago. These promotions generated 93% additional category sales, 13 percentage points more than what it was two months ago. Consumers are opting for value-oriented categories to preserve quantity. Within food and beverage, overall volume and units have remained resilient despite price increases. However, data comparing the 13-week period ending July 10, 2022, versus the previous 13-week period reveals: Consumers are purchasing greater-value meal solutions, such as pasta (+6 percentage points, or “pp”), rice (+5 pp), frozen potatoes (+6 pp), and canned soup (+3). Consumers are buying less in categories such as sports drinks (-9 pp), ready-to-drink coffee/tea (-3 pp), frozen novelties (-6 pp), refrigerated entrées (-8 pp), and frozen dinners/entrées (-5 pp). Consumers are trading down to more affordable brands within a category. Consumers are “trading down” or switching from a preferred brand or higher-priced product for one at a lower price point in many categories: In spirits, value brands increased their share 4.1 percentage points to 73.6% in the 13-week period ending July 31, 2022, compared to the prior 13 weeks, taking share from premium and super-premium spirits. Private label continues to grow in many food categories. Consumers are transitioning away from national brands in categories where store brands are already well-known or in commodity categories. In the four-week period ending July 24, 2022, private label share grew most in the fresh eggs (+6 pp), sugar (+5 pp), sour cream (+4 pp), shortening and oil (+3 pp), butter/butter blends (+3 pp), flour (+2 pp), frozen meat (+2 pp), and bottled water (+4 pp) categories. Premiumization continues in select categories despite the high inflation. Mirroring behavior from the Great Recession of 2008-2009, consumers are trading down to trade up on small luxuries, including both premium and super-premium imported beer, which saw combined sales share increase 2.6 percentage points to 51.2% share of category sales in the same 13-week comparison. In a few other categories such as frozen dinners/entrées, refrigerated juices and drinks, higher-priced products in the premium tier have grown share by about a percentage point each. Slower spending outside of food and beverage. Consumers are purchasing less in categories such as foil pans, household cleaner cloths, toilet tissue, facial tissue, laundry detergents, and household cleaners. ABOUT IRI IRI unifies technology, analytics and data to reinvent how people and companies make decisions, take action and optimize performance. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated into an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI helps to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth. For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com . Media Contact: Shelley Hughes Email: Shelley.Hughes@IRIworldwide.com Phone: +1 312.731.1782

The partnership improves retailer relations by anticipating product shortages and competitive risks for brands. CHICAGO – Aug. 17, 2022 – Information Resources, Inc. (IRI®), which recently merged with The NPD Group to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider, and Ajinomoto Foods North America, Inc., the maker of Tai Pei, Ling Ling and Jose Ole frozen foods, today announced the expansion of their strategic partnership. Having utilized IRI’s market measurement solutions and consumer panel information since 2003, leading frozen food manufacturer Ajinomoto Foods added IRI’s Daily Out-Of-Stock (OOS) Benchmarking tool to manage retailer expectations where Ajinomoto was experiencing low in-stock conditions. IRI’s Daily OOS Benchmarking tool is one of the most complete tools of its kind currently on the market, providing CPG manufacturers and retailers with daily OOS views down to key retailer marketing areas and county levels. Updates through the OOS tool show the stock positions of both Ajinomoto Foods and competitors for key retailers and provides in-stock percentage history, including pre-COVID-19 periods, which allows for promotion forecasting and reporting. “To combat market and economic challenges that have resulted from COVID-19, it is essential for brands to remain hyper-focused on out-of-stock and supply numbers to avoid short-term margin loss and longer-term sales erosion,” said Robert Sanders, executive vice president and practice leader for Health Care, Home and Mid-Market, IRI. “Using our benchmarking tool to monitor in-stock percentages, Ajinomoto Foods is better prepared to plan product allocation to retailers, anticipate competitive threats and identify risk of delistment.” Inflation, supply chain issues and manufacturing plant closures are among recent industry challenges that continue to trigger changes in shopper behavior, including retailer, product and channel shifts. IRI’s innovative suite of consumer and shopper insights tools provides companies like Ajinomoto Foods with real-time data on which products customers are buying, in what quantity and at which locations. “IRI’s Daily Out-Of-Stock Benchmarking tool provides us the outlook necessary to understand how our inventory position compares to the category and address any out-of-stock issues as necessary,” said Matthew Troyka, marketing director, Ajinomoto Foods North America. “Since adding this tool, we’ve also been able to see competitive issues and help ensure that our inventory is on the shelf where demand will spike and is needed most.” IRI data shows that the frozen convenience foods category continues to experience movement, with 19% of the top product launches of 2021 being frozen meals. Ajinomoto Foods sales are currently outpacing the frozen snacks category. To learn more about IRI’s Daily OOS Benchmarking tool and other CPG Economic Indicators, visit https://www.iriworldwide.com/en-us/solutions/covid-19-solutions . ABOUT IRI IRI unifies technology, analytics and data to reinvent how people and companies make decisions, take action and optimize performance. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated into an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI helps to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth. For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com . ABOUT AJINOMOTO FOODS As a leading manufacturer in the frozen food industry, Ajinomoto Foods North America is dedicated to contributing to a healthier lifestyle through nutritious and balanced umami foods. With a commitment to excellence and innovation, all our products are cooked with our customers in mind, providing healthy and delicious meals for all. We currently operate nine factories and one main office domestically in the United States. With over 3,000 employees working around the clock in North America, we serve as a brand leader across all categories of frozen foods. Our products span across the largest categories of ethnic frozen foods, ranging from Mexican to Italian to Asian, across every distribution channel, including foodservice, grocery, warehouse club and custom manufacturing. From incredible umami sauces to delicious umami seasoning, you can count on quality with every umami product. IRI Contact: Shelley Hughes Email: Shelley.Hughes@IRIworldwide.com Phone: +1 312.731.1782

Chicago, August 17, 2022 — Historically, the spending gap between higher- and lower-income households is more pronounced in times of high inflation. With food inflation at a 40-year high, the gap has widened again, and lower-income households are shifting their at- and away-from-home eating behaviors to stretch their food dollars. Eating more frozen and shelf-stable foods, using less expensive and private label brands, and cutting back on restaurant visits, are among the ways lower-income households are managing their food spending, reports The NPD Group , which recently merged with Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) to create a leading global technology, analytics, and data provider. At-Home Eating Behaviors According to NPD, lower-income households under $75K eat 89% of their meals and snacks at home. These households eat more frozen foods, like frozen pot pies or breakfast sandwiches, and shelf-stable foods, like canned pasta or ramen noodles, than on average. Single-serve frozen meals are a top growing at-home food for lower-income consumers, and these households eat 100% more canned pasta than average. While lower-income consumers over-index in their consumption of frozen and shelf-stable foods, they under-index when eating fresh and more healthful foods. Forty percent of adults in households under $75K reported to NPD that the cost of more healthful foods and beverages is a barrier to eating healthier. For example, IRI reports that in July, compared to a year ago, prices for refrigerated eggs rose 46.8% and fresh citrus fruit by 26.7%. Lower-income households also stretch food dollars by buying less expensive or private label store brands. In the quarter ending June, lower-income households used private label foods 26% more than higher-income households. Nearly 50% of lower-income families say they will purchase more private label and less expensive brands compared to a year ago. IRI reports that private label continues to grow in many categories. In the four weeks ending July 24, 2022, private label share grew most in the fresh eggs (up 6 percentage points), sugar (up 5 percentage points), sour cream (up 4 percentage points), shortening, and oil (up 3 percentage points), butter/butter blends (up 3 percentage points), flour (up 2 percentage points), frozen meat (up 2 percentage points), and bottled water (up 4 percentage points) categories. Restaurant and Foodservice Use During the first two years of the pandemic, per capita restaurant visits declined across all income groups; however, in the quarter ending June this year, visits declines were most pronounced in income groups under $75K. Under $45K households with kids cut back five visits per person in the quarter, driving the overall 2% decline in total restaurant visits in the quarter. These households decreased visits across all restaurant segments, quick service, full service, and retail foodservice outlets. In addition to a decrease in visit frequency among lower-income households with kids, some have cut out foodservice entirely. Over one in four families with incomes under $45K reported not visiting a restaurant due to budget, substantially above other groups. Restaurant purchase frequency of these households declined by 6% in the quarter ending June compared to a year ago. “High food prices affect all consumers, particularly lower-income households,” says  David Portalatin, NPD Food Industry Advisor and author of Eating Patterns in America . “Our research shows that households with incomes under $75K represent 46% of the U.S. population. These households are a critical demographic for food manufacturers, grocers, and foodservice operators to understand how these households manage their food spending today.”

“Dungeons and Dragons” and “Stranger Things” both rose in the U.S. licensed book rankings from the NPD BookScan License Reporting Service Port Washington, N.Y., August 9, 2022 – The fantasy tabletop role-playing game “Dungeons and Dragons” and popular Netflix television series “Stranger Things” both rose in The NPD Group ranking of the fastest growing licensed book properties in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2022. “Dungeons and Dragons” ranked in sixth place in the second quarter of 2022, with sales of $14.9 million based on manufacturer’s suggested retail (MSRP) book prices. The property’s growth rate was 9% higher than the previous quarter. Books based on “Stranger Things” ranked 21st, with MSRP sales of $593,000 in the second quarter and a sequential quarterly growth rate of 390%. “The 1980s nostalgia that infuses the popular streaming TV series ‘Stranger Things’ has obviously struck a chord with viewers and we have seen it drive a resurgence of ‘Dungeons-and-Dragons’ books license growth ever since the release of the ‘Stranger Things’ second season,” said Kristen McLean, books industry analyst for NPD . “Parents who once played ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ back in the day are now watching their kids get involved in the game, thanks to being featured in the Netflix series. And licensed book sales are reflecting the game’s heightened profile and renewed popularity.” Information from NPD’s Subscription Video Track service reveals higher viewer engagement for the latest season of “Stranger Things” compared to the previous season. The total hours watched in the fourth season was 38% higher than the third season, while overall season consumption grew by 13%. “It’s interesting to watch how these two brands are interacting,” McLean said. “When we look at overall media coverage, ‘Stranger Things’ is the hot topic. However, in the world of books, ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ continues to be the standout star. The pandemic has also helped propel the ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ franchise, as it has given people lots of time to invest in playing analog games during their increased time at home.” The NPD BookScan License Reporting Service provides quarterly views branded book sales under more than 3,000 licenses. NPD’s book industry analysts use this data to compile and analyze trends in the licensed book market. About NPD Books With the explosion of content generated by print books, streaming video-on-demand services, podcasts, and audiobooks, our culture is increasingly dominated by the stories we tell. In this interconnected media landscape, books are where some of today’s hottest media properties get their start. But as retail and consumer change accelerates, it can be a challenge to make sense of it all. We work with all the major players in U.S. publishing, retail, media, and toys to understand how digital and print content is evolving. Our books industry experts know the publishing world inside and out; they tap into our point-of-sale data to help you make better and faster decisions in today’s market.

The at - and away-from-home food market is forecast to grow 8% in 2022 CHICAGO – Aug. 23, 2022 — While inflation is more moderate for food away-from-home (7.6% versus a year ago*) compared to food-at-home (13.1% versus a year ago*), the typical away-from-home eating occasion still costs 3.4 times more than in-home food sourced from retail. To offset rising food costs, consumers are bargain hunting when grocery shopping, eating more meals at home and cutting back on restaurant visits, reports Information Resources, Inc. (IRI®) and The NPD Group (NPD), which recently merged to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider. The nearly $1.5 trillion at- and away-from-home food market is forecast to grow around 8% in 2022, with at-home food (8.7% sales growth versus a year ago) outpacing away-from-home (6% versus a year ago), according to IRI’s and NPD’s inaugural joint research. The research offers the first-ever comprehensive view of the Complete Food™ market, examining how consumers buy and consume food at home, use restaurants and foodservice outlets and uncovers new insights about consumers’ trade-offs to save money and splurge in the current inflationary environment. The research forecasts the Complete Food market to grow by 3-5% in 2023. Other key findings from the IRI-NPD research identify what is driving shifts, how occasions at home are evolving, and the impact of rising inflation, including: Hybrid and flexible work schedules enable up to 20 million U.S. workers to work from home, which keeps the substantial majority – 62.5% – of the food dollar based on retail at-home sales, while 37.5% represents foodservice spending. Consumers are bargain hunting, preferring more mainstream and value brands over premium brands, choosing private label foods in select categories and occasionally buying premium products as affordable luxuries. Consumers are migrating to more at-home food to offset rising costs, as noted by the deceleration in foodservice traffic, down 3% in July. Even when dining out, consumers trade down to more value foodservice outlets, like quick service restaurants, as evidenced by the growth in average customer check versus menu prices. Market bifurcation intensifies as higher-income households prefer premium products and lower-income shoppers prefer mainstream and value products. More growth is driven by higher-income households, as lower-income households are more economically challenged. “With inflation hitting 8.5% in July, it’s no surprise that consumers are trading down to lower-priced options and opting for more value, especially when dining out,” said Dr. Krishnakumar (KK) Davey, president of CPG and Retail Thought Leadership for IRI and NPD. “While the pandemic and recent inflationary pressures shifted demand, restaurants and foodservice outlets offering value, convenience and at-home indulgence are top of mind for consumers and will continue to grow.” “Even with the impact of elevated grocery prices, dining out is still much more expensive than eating at home,” said David Portalatin, senior vice president and industry advisor for Food and Foodservice for The NPD Group . “As we head into 2023, restaurant recovery will be slow and steady, as traffic begins to return to pre-pandemic levels. Current demand suggests that culinary trends are shifting to incorporate more bold flavors inspired by global and regional influences.” The IRI-NPD inaugural joint research merges IRI’s retail point-of-sale data on what consumers purchase and where they shop with NPD’s continuous following of at- and away-from-home eating behaviors. *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, July 2022

IRI data is now available through InfoSum for first-party data enhancement, planning, activation and analytics to improve effective communication with consumers and efficient use of marketing dollars. CHICAGO and NEW YORK – Aug. 24, 2022 – Information Resources, Inc. (IRI®), which recently merged with The NPD Group to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider, today announced a new partnership with InfoSum, the world’s leading data collaboration platform. InfoSum’s Secure Data Clean Room technology will enable IRI’s clients to enrich their first-party data with IRI’s purchase-based deterministic information in an environment designed with privacy in mind. IRI will offer both transaction data from 45 million households and IRI ProScores® — one of the industry’s highest-quality, purchase-based datasets — within InfoSum’s platform. This integration will allow advertisers to collaborate and enhance their first-party data with IRI’s industry-leading consumer packaged goods purchase data and other second- and third-party data available on InfoSum’s platform to improve planning, targeting, activation and measurement with speed, all with privacy and compliance in mind. IRI’s transaction data provides advertisers and their agencies access to purchase time, product and brand name, quantity, price and basket total, as well as primary and secondary category information derived from more than 16 different retailers. IRI ProScores provide the highest-propensity-to-buy households that capture as much of the addressable United States as desired, descending from most valuable to least valuable, using a proven purchase-derived methodology. InfoSum’s interoperable data clean room technology will enable premium data matching for customers. “Together with InfoSum, we are helping CPG marketers connect with the highest-quality purchase data in the industry and seamlessly infusing it into each phase of the marketing process, amplifying end-to-end collaboration,” said Jennifer Pelino, executive vice president, Global Media Solutions, IRI. “Our partnership enables more efficient data connections in an environment built with security and privacy in mind to augment clients’ first-party data. Because we capture purchase behavior across online and offline activities, clients leverage IRI data as a foundation for omnichannel activation, and with InfoSum’s architecture, we can move with the speed and agility that advertisers desire.” InfoSum’s platform empowers companies to unlock the total value from their first-party data, with complete control and transparency. Its data clean room infrastructure provides organizations with the freedom to match across multiple partners without having to share sensitive data with anyone. InfoSum applies best-in-class privacy controls and differential privacy techniques and utilizes its “non-movement of data” approach to prioritize customer privacy at every stage, allowing each data owner to retain complete control of their data. “This partnership with IRI will bring first-party data and premium data matching to the forefront for InfoSum customers,” said Marc Cestaro, vice president for InfoSum. “IRI is the industry leader and bellwether for CPG first-party data, and our new partnership will enable brands to drive better business outcomes through our fast and frictionless data matching, while prioritizing privacy and compliance. We’re eager to offer advertisers and agencies the largest CPG data assets globally for improved targeting and actionable measurement.” ABOUT INFOSUM InfoSum is the world’s leading data collaboration platform and the only secure data clean room, empowering companies to deliver better customer experiences while prioritizing customer privacy. InfoSum enables safe connections between multiple parties to unlock the full potential of their customer data without risk of exposure or misuse. InfoSum not only prioritizes consumer privacy, but also enhances it with patented non-movement of data technology to create the most protected, most connected and most accessible data collaboration network. InfoSum was founded in 2016 with a vision to connect the world’s data without ever sharing it. The company has multiple patents, protecting its invention of the “non-movement of data.” InfoSum is based in the U.S., U.K., and CE, with offices across Europe and North America. The company is poised for continued growth following a Series B investment in August 2021 and a rapidly expanding client base. Read more at http://www.infosum.com ABOUT IRI IRI unifies technology, analytics and data to reinvent how people and companies make decisions, take action and optimize performance. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated into an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI helps to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth. For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com . IRI Contact: Shelley Hughes Email: Shelley.Hughes@IRIworldwide.com Phone: +1 312.731.1782 InfoSum Contact: Brett Pinto Email: Brett.Pinto@InfoSum.com

Kraft Heinz and Danone among first to utilize new offering for improved targeting, analytics and measurement. CHICAGO – Aug. 29, 2022 – Information Resources, Inc. (IRI®), which recently merged with The NPD Group to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider, and LiveRamp®, one of the leading data enablement platforms, today announced they have further strengthened their partnership by offering transaction data for 45 million households and IRI ProScores®, one of the industry’s highest-quality, purchase-based propensity audiences, within the LiveRamp Safe Haven® platform. The offering allows marketers to collaborate and enrich their first-party data and audiences to improve planning, targeting, activation and measurement. Transaction data provides access to purchase time, product name, brand name, quantity, price and basket total, as well as primary and secondary category information. IRI ProScores provides the highest-propensity-to-buy households, capturing the addressable United States, descending from most valuable to least valuable, using a proven purchase-derived methodology. Two consumer packaged goods category leaders, Kraft Heinz and Danone, both utilize LiveRamp’s Safe Haven, a neutral and privacy-centric data collaboration environment, to access IRI’s segment and transaction-level data to provide one of the highest resolution signals available. “As Kraft Heinz strives to get closer to our consumers, high-quality data is a key element in supporting our digital transformation,” said Greg Younkie, data scientist for the Kraft Heinz Company. “We’re focused on creating a closed-loop discipline to continually acquire first-party data at scale, constantly enriching it with third-party data, and deploying machine learning to identify combinations of targeting, messaging, placement and creative to drive personalized marketing. The right mix will drive brand growth so we can quickly activate these opportunities with greater scale and investment.” “With the deprecation of the cookie and growing concerns around information security and privacy, we needed a safe and effective way to pinpoint the right customers,” said Manuel Cimarosti, director of Media: Data Strategy & Measurement Analytics for Danone. “At Danone, we’ve begun augmenting our datasets with IRI’s audience segments in Safe Haven to enhance our targeting capabilities and expand scale and reach for our world-class food brand. Already, we’ve seen positive results indicating improved targeting precision and increased return on ad spend.” “In an economy for which all marketing must be measurable and accountable, LiveRamp and IRI understand our customers and partners need to extract more valuable insights from their data,” said Scott Howe, chief executive officer of LiveRamp. “LiveRamp Safe Haven allows marketers to harness the power of their ecosystem, collaborate with confidence and execute strategic initiatives that drive business outcomes. Whether they seek to build audiences, personalize messaging to consumers, measure the impact of ad spend or create a complete view of their customers, LiveRamp and IRI can enable marketers to maximize the value of both their data and their partnerships.” “IRI has the deepest and broadest CPG data assets in the world, and we are thrilled to expand our partnership with LiveRamp, which will enable marketers to use our data without friction in a controlled environment designed with privacy in mind,” said Jennifer Pelino, executive vice president and head of Global Media Solutions for IRI. “By enhancing clients’ deidentified first-party data with IRI’s world-class, transaction-level data and purchase-based ProScores segments, we provide advertisers and their agencies the ability to augment their data assets and create one of the most accurate audiences for activation to help yield greater return on campaign investments.” To learn more about IRI’s consumer and shopper targeting solutions, visit https://www.iriworldwide.com/en-us/solutions/consumer-and-shopper/targeting . ABOUT IRI IRI unifies technology, analytics and data to reinvent how people and companies make decisions, take action and optimize performance. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated into an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI helps to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth. For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com . ABOUT LIVERAMP LiveRamp is the leading data enablement platform for the safe and effective use of data. Powered by core identity resolution capabilities and an unparalleled network, LiveRamp enables companies and their partners to better connect, control and activate data to transform customer experiences and generate more valuable business outcomes. LiveRamp’s fully interoperable and neutral infrastructure delivers end-to-end addressability for the world’s top brands, agencies and publishers. For more information, visit www.liveramp.com . IRI Contact: Shelley Hughes Email: Shelley.Hughes@IRIworldwide.com Phone: +1 312.731.1782 LiveRamp Contact: Christine Travis Email: PR@liveramp.com

New solution provides CPGs a holistic approach to media insights, activation and measurement. CHICAGO and NEW YORK – Aug. 29, 2022 – Information Resources, Inc. (IRI®), which recently merged with The NPD Group to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider, and Epsilon® , a global advertising and marketing technology company, announced today an expanded partnership that connects Epsilon’s unique identity solution, CORE ID® , with IRI’s transaction data for consumer packaged goods clients via Epsilon’s clean room, Epsilon PeopleCloud Prospect . The partnership enables CPGs to leverage Epsilon’s clean room and IRI’s granular CPG transactional dataset to create their own closed-loop data ecosystem for insights, audience development, activation and measurement. IRI transaction files include brand, UPC, purchase time, number of each item purchased, price, basket total and categories and is aligned to CORE IDs across all brand touch points, devices and groups and designed with privacy in mind. The joint outcome can help provide key benefits to CPG companies, including: The ability to inject insights about buyers across the brand portfolio into media planning and consumer experiences. Improved media efficiency and performance with identification of their highest-value consumer prospects. Activation across owned and paid channels with partners of their choice for omnichannel personalization at scale. Delivery of in-flight reporting inclusive of unmodeled sales attribution. “IRI has one of the deepest and broadest CPG data assets in the world, and we are excited to work with Epsilon to create a closed-loop path forward for CPG brands, offering marketers a robust media planning, activation and measurement platform,” said Jennifer Pelino, executive vice president and head of Global Media Solutions for IRI. “By transitioning from the use of third-party identifiers to first-party data through data enhancement, advertisers and their agencies can help create the most accurate audiences for activation, yielding greater return on campaign investments.” Epsilon’s clean room, unlike others in the market, is pre-loaded with Epsilon’s proprietary data, which is constantly aligned to brand and partner data through the curation of purchase, behavioral and additional signals using 380 billion daily data points captured in real time. Together, Epsilon’s clean room — equipped with more than 200 million CORE IDs in the United States — and IRI’s transaction data set enable CPG marketers to maximize campaign reach, efficiency, accuracy and analytics with granular purchase-based audiences across all end points. “Epsilon’s ‘smart’ clean room can enable analytics teams to focus more on generating actionable insights and less on the mechanics of operating the clean room,” said Kate Sirkin, executive vice president, Global Data Partnerships for Epsilon. “Our approach brings together best-in-class curated datasets to maximize a CPG brand’s ability to plan with an integrated platform and move seamlessly to execution, driving greater value against their marketing campaigns.” ABOUT EPSILON Epsilon is a global advertising and marketing technology company positioned at the center of Publicis Groupe. We connect advertisers with consumers to drive performance while respecting and protecting consumer privacy and client data. Epsilon accelerates clients’ ability to harness the power of their first-party data to enhance, activate and measure campaigns with confidence. We believe in an open, privacy-first advertising ecosystem. Over decades, we’ve built the industry’s most comprehensive identity graph to give brands, agencies and publishers the ability to reach real consumers across all channels and the open web. For more information, visit www.epsilon.com . ABOUT IRI IRI unifies technology, analytics and data to reinvent how people and companies make decisions, take action and optimize performance. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated into an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI helps to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth. For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com . IRI Contact: Shelley Hughes Email: Shelley.Hughes@IRIworldwide.com Phone: +1 312.731.1782 Epsilon Contact: Paul Doyle Email: Paul.Doyle@Epsilon.com Phone: +1 617.733.2137

2022 holiday revenue will remain above 2019 levels, reports NPD Port Washington, NY, August 29, 2022 – The NPD Group, which recently merged with Information Resources, Inc. (IRI®), to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider, today announced the latest findings from its Future of Technology forecast . NPD expects 2022 and 2023 will see 6% and 3% year over year revenue declines, respectively, but remain above 2019 industry sales as a result of higher average selling prices (ASPs). As we look forward to the 2022 holiday season (Q4), consumer technology industry revenue is expected to be down vs. 2021, but 11% higher than 2019. “For the last two years consumers have relied on technology products to make their lives more comfortable and convenient while many worked, learned, and entertained mostly from home,” said Paul Gagnon , vice president, industry advisor for NPD. “Rather than waiting for promotions, or in some cases specific products, they bought what was available when they needed it. But as consumers return to more ‘normal’ behaviors and schedules we are seeing a shift back to pre-pandemic purchase patterns and believe consumers will once again be seeking out holiday deals this Q4.” While tremendous sales in 2020 and 2021 pulled demand forward in a number of categories and will contribute to near-term declines for sales of computers, bright spots for holiday 2022 will include TVs, tablets, true wireless headphones, and home automation products. TV unit sales are expected to return to growth in Q4 with year over year unit sales up 9% as prices fall and deeper promotions are expected. Declining ASPs will also fuel unit growth in tablets, up 11%, and true wireless headphones, up 3%. “Home automation products will see continued growth, with holiday unit sales expected to be up 5% year over year, as standards like Matter rollout making products more compatible and easier to set-up, encouraging adoption,” said Ben Arnold , executive director and technology industry analyst for NPD. “Smart doorbells and item trackers will be areas of growth in Q4, as consumers leverage holiday promotions as a reason to enter the category.” Future of Technology forecasts and insights are based on forecasted sales of technology products captured in The NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service point-of-sale data. #Holiday

Consumers seeking out deals and summer fun before shopping for back-to-school Port Washington, N.Y., August 29, 2022 –Rising prices and consumers shopping for more immediate needs has disrupted early back-to-school shopping season performance. In the first seven weeks of the back-to-school shopping season, U.S. non-school-related general merchandise sales revenue grew 4%, while school spending fell short of last year’s results. In a recent survey, 41% of back-to-school shopping hold-outs are waiting for sales, according to The NPD Group , which recently merged with Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider. “Consumers are balancing their return to school, work, and social activities, while retaining some pandemic-related behaviors, and prioritizing their purchases accordingly,” said Marshal Cohen , chief retail industry advisor for NPD. “Consumers have been more focused on travel and social activities this summer, pushing the 2022 back-to-school shopping peak later. This is another example of here-and-now shopping leading to shallower retail spending peaks, with sales realized over a longer stretch of time.” Portable beverageware and coloring and art supply categories were among the fastest growing school-related categories in the early part of this season, demonstrating some attention being paid to school needs. However, the continued strong sales revenue growth in beauty and the automotive aftermarket further illustrate that the majority of the consumer’s spending remains focused on other activities. “Consumers are still spending on summer fun, and the back-to-school focus has yet to kick into high gear – but it will,” Cohen said. “While retailers have clearly begun to use promotions to drive more sales, marketers need to continue entice the acceleration of back-to-school purchasing in general, and create some urgency for apparel, technology, and other high-volume stragglers.”

New York, NY, September 7, 2022 – The NPD Group , which recently merged with Information Resources, Inc. (IRI®) , to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider, today announced the winners of the 2022 U.S. Juvenile Product Performance Awards. The awards recognize top selling juvenile products, properties, and manufacturers in the United States according to NPD’s Retail Tracking Service. “Over the last year these companies have shown an incredible amount of strategic foresight and ingenuity during a period of ongoing adversity,” said Ricardo Solar, SVP of Media Entertainment and Toys at The NPD Group. “I would like to personally congratulate all the winners and wish them continued success in the year to come.” The U.S. juvenile products industry increased in dollar sales 4.1% during the 12 months ending June 2022. During the period unit sales were flat and the average selling price was up 4.5%. When looking at category growth, 6 of the 7 categories tracked by NPD saw growth, with Travel increasing the most across the industry. When looking at 2022 vs. 2020, dollar sales increased 18% with units up 7%. The average selling price increased 10% in the 12 months ending June 2022 vs. the 12 months ending June 2020. 2022 U.S. Juvenile Product Performance Award Winners* Award Description Winner Top Manufacturer Newell Top Growth Brand Fridababy Top Dollar Sales Item  Graco 4Ever DLX 4 in 1 Convertible Car Seat (Newell) Top Unit Sales Item  Crayola Bathtub Finger Paint (MZ Berger) Top Dollar Velocity Item** Vista V2 Stroller (UPPAbaby) Top New Item Online 4-in-1-Grow-With-Me Bath Tub (Fridababy) Top New Item In Store Natural Baby Bottle Assortment 9oz 3 Pack (Philips NV) Top Growth Manufacturer Online Goodbaby International  Top Growth Manufacturer In Store Fridababy  Source : *The NPD Group/Retail Tracking Service, dollar sales, 12ME June 2022 ** The NPD Group/Retail Tracking Service, dollar sales, 3ME June 2022

New report shows consumers are scaling back purchases in the face of persistent inflation CHICAGO – Sept. 12, 2022 – Information Resources, Inc. (IRI®), which recently merged with The NPD Group to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider, today released a new report, August 2022 Price Check: Tracking Retail Food and Beverage Inflation , with insights about food inflation and its impact on consumer shopping behavior. The insights leverage the latest point-of-sale data for August 2022 and include data covering all U.S. food channels, including e-commerce. August data shows that prices of consumer goods remain elevated across categories. Prices for food at home rose 1.6% from the end of July to the end of August, and 13.4% year-over-year through the week ending Aug. 28, 2022. "We are beginning to see consumers scale back purchases both in terms of units and volume in recent weeks, as retail food and beverage prices have continued to rise," said Krishnakumar (KK) Davey, president of Thought Leadership for CPG and Retail, IRI and NPD. "While retail food and beverage sales had been fairly resilient, we're seeing signs of consumer stress, particularly among low-income households. Consumers are buying less in discretionary food and beverage categories, and are shopping more frequently in search of better prices. At the same time, consumers are willing to pay a premium for some categories – such as pasta, pasta sauce, butter and frozen entrées – which are considered affordable indulgences for more cash-strapped shoppers." Key insights from August include: Persistent inflation. Food and beverage inflation continues to persist on a year-over-year basis, despite recent price moderation in other areas of the economy, such as gasoline. The carbonated beverage and fresh common fruit categories had the largest monthly price jump in August, each rising 5.3% compared to the end of July. Butter/margarine/spreads is the most inflated category, with prices up 30% compared to the same time last year. Limited relief for consumers. While prices of certain food categories have begun to moderate in recent weeks, most remain elevated year-over-year. For example, prices in the coffee category rose less than 0.3% at the end of July 2022 compared to the end of June 2022, but remain over 18.6% higher in July 2022 versus July 2021. Consumers are responding by cutting back and indulging affordably. In response to food inflation, shoppers’ overall sales volume and units are declining quickly. Overall, retail food and beverage unit sales declined 4.5% compared to a year ago, and volume sales declined 4.0%. The most significant drop-offs in volume are in categories where prices have risen dramatically, including frozen dinners/entrées, cookies and coffee. However, certain snack, candy and drink categories are more resilient, with more moderate sales volume declines despite significantly higher prices. Consumers are bargain hunting. Trips to food and beverage stores are up 3.5% versus a year ago for the latest 12 weeks ending Aug. 21, 2022. Quick trips are up 6.7% during the same period compared to a year ago, while pantry stocking trips are down 0.6%, suggesting that consumers are looking for deals and “cherry picking” stores where they can get the best value. And, when they stock their pantries, there is an uptick in trips to mass merchandisers and club stores, indicating value-seeking behaviors. Low-income households are driving the change. Low-income shoppers, who drove most of food and beverage growth in 2021, are pulling back on food purchases as inflation increases. Volume and units of several discretionary categories – including frozen seafood, candy, and snack bars/granola bars/clusters – have slowed down significantly more in low-income stores compared to the overall market, suggesting the trade-off low-income consumers are making to feed their families. Premiumization continues in select categories. Despite inflation, consumers are “trading up” and driving volume share to premium brands in several categories, including snack nuts and seeds, canned and bottled fruit, frozen entrées, fresh eggs and butter. The details of these findings are included in IRI's August 2022 Price Check: Tracking Retail Food and Beverage Inflation report, published here . About IRI IRI unifies technology, analytics and data to reinvent how people and companies make decisions, take action and optimize performance. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated into an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI helps to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth. For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com . Media Contact: Shelley Hughes Email: Shelley.Hughes@IRIworldwide.com Phone: +1 312-731-1782

CHICAGO – Sept. 13, 2022 – IRI®, which recently merged with The NPD Group to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider, and the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB) today released new research, Sustainability and the Consumer , which features new survey data on consumer perceptions and leverages CSB's Sustainable Market Share Index™ to illustrate the sustainability attributes that matter most and how to optimize marketing efforts and product innovation to drive growth. Key findings from the research include: Consumers and Sustainability 93% of consumers have maintained or increased their sustainable purchase habits in the past year 77% of consumers believe sustainability is important when selecting products to buy, up 8 ppts from 2021 findings 27% of shoppers — and 32% of Gen Z and millennials — seek out retailers that carry sustainable products, indicating a shopper preference that is likely to endure and increase over time Sustainability in Products While sustainable products represent just 17% of total CPG sales, they drove one-third of all CPG growth in the past year Sustainability marketed products grow 2.7x faster in their categories than conventionally marketed products Roughly 50% of all new products in 2021 were sustainable, up 20% from 2017 Sustainability-marketed products can command price premiums over their conventional counterparts that can range from 8% to 130% "Challenges such as supply chain disruptions and inflation have made it difficult for brands and manufacturers to identify which shopping behaviors are real trends, and which are a temporary response to market conditions," said Randi Kronthal-Sacco, Senior Scholar, NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business. "Each year, our research with IRI shows increasing interest in sustainability-marketed CPG products, showing that sustainability has become a lasting priority for consumers." "Because our research with CSB shows a growth of sales and interest for sustainable products year-over-year, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen successful new product launches incorporating sustainable benefits increasingly since 2017," said Joan Driggs, vice president, Content and Thought Leadership, IRI. "Our new research finds that Gen Z and millennials are noticing this increase and are more likely to try these new products than older generations." Register for Today’s Webinar IRI and CSB will present key findings from the report in a co-hosted webinar today, Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. CT. Randi Kronthal-Sacco and Joan Driggs will cover which sustainability attributes matter most and how to optimize marketing efforts and product innovation to drive growth. To register for “2022 Sustainability and the Consumer,” visit here . About IRI IRI unifies technology, analytics and data to reinvent how people and companies make decisions, take action and optimize performance. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated into an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI helps to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth. For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com . About NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business The NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB) was founded on the principle that sustainable business is good business. We provide education, conduct research, and influence industry practice by proving the financial value of sustainability for business management and performance. At CSB, we aim to equip future and current corporate leaders with updated business frameworks that embrace proactive and innovative mainstreaming of sustainability, resulting in competitive advantage and resiliency for their companies as well as a positive impact for society. Learn more at www.stern.nyu.edu/sustainability or follow us on LinkedIn @NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business and Twitter @NYUSternCSB . IRI Contact Shelley Hughes Email: Shelley.Hughes@IRIworldwide.com Phone: (312) 731-1782 NYU Stern CSB Contact Alison Berg Email: alison.berg@stern.nyu.edu Phone: (609) 356-2891

BookTok is contributing to the most romance gains, creating a new romance fanbase among younger readers Port Washington, N.Y., September 13, 2022 – When it comes to print book sales in the U.S., romance is the leading growth category so far in 2022. For the year to date through August 6, 2022, romance sales volume reached nearly 19 million units. The romance market hasn’t reached those levels since 2014, according to the The NPD Group , which recently merged with Information Resources, Inc. (IRI). Moreover, the recent growth is specific to the print format ― corresponding e-book romance sales volume has declined by 16%. The romance category is also contributing to nearly two-thirds of the overall gains for adult fiction. In fact, 5 million more units sold this year, compared to last year, and unit sales grew 40% over 2021. “While nothing is certain, we expect the romance category will continue to see elevated sales through 2023,” said Kristen McLean, books industry analyst for NPD . “Readers are buying more escapist fiction, combined with more shelf space dedicated to romance and BookTok titles across book retailers, will help contribute to the category’s continued success.” No Signs of Slowing One way to gauge sales momentum for the romance category is by reviewing the monthly rolling 12-month sales trend, which offers a better sense of the longer-term trend. The 12 months ending July 2022 marked a two-year high point, driven by the popularity of BookTok romance authors. “When we looked at romance author sales earlier this year, it was clear that BookTok is contributing to the most romance gains and helping to create a new romance fanbase among young readers,” McLean said. “The fact that the growth is happening only in print formats, coupled with the fact that traditional romance authors are not keeping up with the overall sector growth, indicates that this truly is a whole new group of readers coming to this genre.” About NPD Books With the explosion of content generated by print books, streaming video-on-demand services, podcasts, and audiobooks, our culture is increasingly dominated by the stories we tell. In this interconnected media landscape, books are where some of today’s hottest media properties get their start. But as retail and consumer change accelerates, it can be a challenge to make sense of it all. We work with all the major players in U.S. publishing, retail, media, and toys to understand how digital and print content is evolving. Our books industry experts know the publishing world inside and out; they tap into our point-of-sale data to help you make better and faster decisions in today’s market.