FMCG world congress in Barcelona (part 3)

It is Friday afternoon and after lunch we are at the panel discussion about shaping the future of the FMCG sector. Dr. Tom Haggai, president of the Independent Grocers Alliance stated that their mission had been the same for nearly 100 years: to make shops play an important role in the lives of a district, a village or a town. Gareth Ackermann, president of South African retail chain Pick n Pay agreed, telling that in South Africa if you cannot become part of a town or a village, your store will soon be neglected. As regards the trends of the near future, on the first day of the congress Deloitte’s ‘Consumer 2020 – Reading from the Signs’ study was presented. Lawrence Hutter, from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu told that in the next few years the world’s economic structure would change fundamentally, and this would influence the way retailers and brands would be able to grow. Consumers in the USA and in Europe will have less money to spend and they will be looking for lower prices when shopping – which means that brands will be able to grow through a bigger market share and not by entering a growing market. Guido Barilla, president of the famous Italian pasta concern informed that as a reaction to the food supply crisis, they established the Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition. According to the president’s estimation, about 3 billion people eat too much all over the world. It is the food industry’s role to be courageous enough and tell them to eat less. Some people in the audience visibly disagreed with this opinion – these people have to report about the companies’ economic performance each month, while Mr Barilla is his own boss.