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20.1.2011 Unilever targets emerging markets

Unilever, the FMCG giant, believes emerging markets will deliver around 70% of its revenues by the end of this decade, indicating a broader shift in the global trading climate. Paul Polman, the corporation's chief executive, suggested in an interview that the recession had exerted a profound impact on all major brand owners. "If you look at the changing forces in the world it is very clear that already now 75% to 80% of our growth is in the emerging markets," he told The Daily Telegraph.

"A lot of that is about market development, it is about growing the pie. It is very difficult to see that change." "From where we are as a company, in ten years' time I will have 70% of my business in the emerging markets." The scale of such a transition must not be underestimated, although progress in this area seems slow in Western Europe and North America at present. "Four of the world's top ten banks are Chinese banks which many people in this part of the world can't even pronounce," Polman stated. "Our investors in the US ask us, say, about the private label initiative of Wal-Mart in Arkansas but they don't know what's going on in Indonesia."

While Unilever is headquartered in the United Kingdom, Polman argued the transformation taking place means old models are inadequate. "That, of course, requires you to think about your operating framework, your talent base, it requires you to think about the culture that you have to succeed and to attract and retain talent," he said.

B.L. 20.1.2011