Generations Z and Alpha are going to dominate consumer choices
One megatrend features strongly in TWM’s Latin America reports. Generation Z consumers, colloquially known as ‘zoomers’ – born in the years 1997 to 2012 – and the up-coming Generation Alpha a few years yet away from earning their own spending power, are going to have an increasingly significant impact on commercial markets.
These younger consumers already make up 48% of the total, and in the US are projected to reach 64% by 2030. They are set to dictate how industries shape their manufacturing practices, output, and delivery. They are environmentally-aware, want high hygiene standards, quality products, range of choice, prices they can handle, they shop online, buy cheaper by bulk, and are at ease with the digitalisation of the purchase journey.
They are also currently facing a variety of economic crises, uppermost of which is inflation, which are driving fundamental changes in social living habits.
So-called small households – single person habitats – constituting 62% of all, are the megatrend, the fastest-growing category. They will not buy as much, and will want smaller, handier versions of their favourite products to fit a more mobile lifestyle. TWM’s reports focus on the targeted production and new consumer marketing required if the anticipated annual expenditure of $493 per LatAm household on personal care products is to be increased, an amount one fifth that of the US and half that in western Europe.
2024 is the year of elections … who wins matters
It comes as a shock, given all the other uncertainties in current world events, to realise that 2024 will be the year of electioneering and voting.
The US, Russia, Ukraine, Europe and elsewhere will see changes. Trajectories of national political and economic choices and trends could change dramatically, with far reaching consequences.
Antonia Colibășanu, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Geopolitical Analyst at Geopolitical Futures, is well known to Tissue World tradeshow attendees. In this magazine’s Special Report, Geopolitical Analysis: State of the World 2024, she explores factors to help mitigate risks – agility, innovation, financial stability, and customer focus. Inevitably though, she adds, even should greater stability prevail, the bill will come due on the post-pandemic recovery, the social costs of warfare, and society’s green transition and digitalisation.
Quote of the Edition
“It is incredible to see how climate change is playing a role in our sector. We are seeing floods, extreme cold weather. A lot of these factors are affecting production, and they didn’t before.”
Leonardo Grimaldi, Suzano’s Head of Global Pulp Sales, Marketing and Logistics, talks extensively in Operations Report about the issues facing tissue and pulp production in LatAm, and globally.
