Stunted growth

A dramatic slowdown in growth among the world’s biggest FMCG giants is underlined in our OC&C Global 50 rankings.

Why has the market stalled?

At first glance, the headline growth figures of the giants of fmcg look dire. The world’s 50 biggest suppliers have seen their sales growth halve from 5.6% last year to 2.9%, according to this year’s Global 50, a report carried out exclusively for The Grocer by OC&C Strategy Consultants.

Nestlé hit the headlines in February when it missed its long-term annual growth target of 5% to 6% for the first time since 2009. It was not alone. Unilever, Diageo, Coca-Cola and Danone have all posted weaker than expected growth figures over the past year.

But when you start to unpick the reasons for their poor performance it provides some degree of reassurance for the industry big guns.