Unilever 2015 Annual Report Download - page 14

EMERIN SOIAL TRENDS
FM companes are among the frst
to experence and be affected by today’s
rapdly changng tastes, socal norms,
populaton shfts and wealth dstrbuton
The world’s economc centre of gravty
s movng to the southern and eastern
hemspheres By 2025 almost half of
Fortune 500 global companes wll be
from emergng markets
These trends drve urbansaton In 2010
there were 27 ctes of more than 10 mllon
people By 2030 t s expected that there wll
be 41 In turn, emergng market consumers
are ncreasngly demandng product
standards common n the West where
premumsaton s a domnant trend
The West retans strong economc
opportuntes but wage growth s
stubbornly low and unemployment hgh,
reachng 20% among Eurozone youth
Although blateral trade deals contnue,
these conflctng pressures are leadng
to some sgns of protectonsm
The world s gettng older wth dependency
rates rsng Between 2015 and 2050, the
proporton of the world’s populaton aged
over 60 wll nearly double from 12% to 22%
and n hna alone there wll be 330 mllon
people over the age of 65 by 2050 compared
wth 110 mllon today
At the same tme, younger generatons of
mllennals (18 to 34 year-olds) have new
expectatons, from authentcty and qualty
of products to standards of corporate
behavour Ther work, shoppng, lesure
and meda habts are radcally dfferent
Such change mrrors socal upheaval
wth socetes becomng more complex,
accommodatng rapdly changng ways of
lvng In London, 300 languages are spoken
and, n the UK as a whole, almost a thrd of
households are sngle occupancy Forced
and voluntary mgraton s happenng on
a scale not seen snce World War II
Other new economc forces are emergng
By 2030, 27% of the world’s 83 bllon
populaton wll be Muslm compared wth
23% n 2010 Women are an ncreasng
force for change In Latn Amerca the
labour partcpaton rate for workng-age
females clmbed from 53% n 1992 to 65%
two decades later
But pressures reman Inequalty s
wdenng, wth the 80 rchest people havng
a combned wealth equal to the poorest
35 bllon The envronment s under
ncreasng stress, demandng a greater
response from people and companes The
World Health Organzaton estmates that
7 mllon people de from ar polluton each
year Ice caps are meltng at 12% a decade,
whch means global warmng and drought
wth profound mplcatons for the FM
sector Wth the exstng clmate change
scenaro, almost half the world’s populaton
wll be lvng n areas of hgh water-stress
by 2030
OMPETITION
The FM ndustry s charactersed
by global competton between large
multnatonal corporatons seekng to
dfferentate themselves n the eyes of
consumers whle accessng markets
through smlar channels Some of the
largest FM companes competng
alongsde Unlever nclude Nestlé,
Procter & amble, L’Oréal, Danone,
KraftHenz and olgate-Palmolve
Many have dentfed emergng markets
as a maor growth opportunty n the
years to come
ompetton contnues unabated In 2015
one notable trend n certan parts of the
FM sector, manly n foods n the
slower-growth developed markets, was
consoldaton often drven by prvate
equty nvestment actvty
There has also been sgnfcant
deconstructon and refocusng wth
compettors sellng brand portfolos
to acheve effcency gans
Local compettors reman a vbrant
presence wth nnovatons and consumer
offers to rval those of global players
Among customers, the relatve declne of
supermarkets contnues n favour of local
and convenence stores, dscount chans
– often wth own label offers – and
e-commerce
For companes operatng n the
FM ndustry the queston of what
a household s n today’s socety s a
crtcal one Our products are household
goods so changes n what households
demand, and why, have an mportant
mpact on our busness We are seeng
rapd change n the concept of the
household, whch has become more
dverse and unconventonal over the
past 50 years
Ths s reflected n more flud famly
roles and responsbltes wthn
households as the workng patterns
and denttes of prncpal ncome earners
change The number of households s also
ncreasng rapdly as more people lve on
ther own or n smaller famly unts Sngle
occupant households have rsen to 175%
worldwde and 33% n Western Europe
The change n the nature of households
s lnked to the changng role that women
are playng n socetes around the world
For many large FM companes, women
consttute the maorty of the customer
base and ther purchasng decsons are
therefore crtcal to the ndustry’s
development There has been rapd
175%
Sngle occupant households
have rsen to 175% worldwde
HOUSEHOLDS ARE HANIN
growth n educatonal attanment by
women where, n many countres, they
make up more than 50% of graduates
Ths has not yet, however, translated
nto greater labour market partcpaton,
better pay or more executve roles
However, the trends n our markets
suggest ths s changng and wll do
so at an ncreasng pace
11Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2015 Strategic Report