INTERNATIONAL

US dominates billion dollar grocery brands

Pampers, Huggies and Kleenex all feature in the top 25 branded products in the world by sales value, according to a new report from Euromonitor International. Only Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola have higher sales than Pampers (which sells between $10 and $20 billion/yr), the report says. Huggies are in 12th place with sales of $5-10 billion, while Kleenex is is 20th place with sales of $2-5 billion.

US names dominate a list of the world’s top billion-dollar brands, according to the report, which is published in European Supermarket Magazine (ESM). A remarkable 17 of the top 25 brands are owned by US multinationals – Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft, Procter & Gamble, and Colgate-Palmolive – dwarfing the output of Western Europe, the research revealed. The top 25 billion-dollar brands are, on average, 78 years old. Red Bull, which was launched in 1982, is the latest brand to join the billion-dollar league, while the oldest brand is Colgate at 203 years old.

Jon Wright, head of retailing research at Euromonitor International, comments: “It is impossible to imagine the vast majority of grocers building stores that will one day not contain these brand names. Consumers’ desire for such products does not appear to be diminishing in the face of strong headwinds and, therefore, as the global economic environment improves, so will shopping patterns, a development that is likely to aid brands’ sales over the likes of private label goods.“