J.M. Smucker otherwise known as ‘Smuckers’ is an American food juggernaut with revenue of $8.5b. However, the business has a weak international footprint, 96% of revenue is in the US (5% of sales are in Canada and only 1% elsewhere). Smuckers last week agreed to buy Hostess brands, famous for Twinkies, for a total value …
Knowing when and how to change recipes, menus and names is a key challenge for International marketeers. Learn from McDonalds!
17% of all tyres sold in Japan are for snow. It’s a marketing gold mine.
I spent 2 full days at Food and Hotel Asia Singapore this week (FHA) and it was packed full of exhibitors and visitors alike. There were over 2000 companies present, mostly packaged food, beverage and agricultural firms plus a fair number of packaging equipment and a cluster of wine and spirits companies. The majority were …
Food companies leave FHA on full stomachs as the industry rebounds from Covid Read More »
Life is what you bake it, runs the adage. There is a dietary shift in Japan. Historically rice was the main staple, but its per capita consumption is declining year on year. There are more single person households; preparing rice is a hassle especially if you a busy 20 year-something. Rice consumption is also dropping …
A Saudi version of hit comedy show The Office is reportedly in the works. I tend to blog about consumer goods businesses but this example of a creative product expanding internationally caught my eye. It is also an interesting case study in adapting a winning formula to diverse cultures. Branded El Maktab, the Saudi version …
Gervais’s ‘The Office’ eyes Saudi Arabian expansion Read More »
The EU-Japan centre kindly asked me and my colleague Hiro Tsujioka to write a report on Japan’s sport equipment market. They have recently published it on their website. We’re also giving a webinar on this topic on the 28th June 2022. To access the report and webinar you’ll need to register with the Eu-Japan centre. …
Dial back to 2017. Then Reckitt Benckiser’s CEO Rakesh Kapoor spent $16.6n acquiring Mead Johnson, the infant nutrition company. Reckitt paid a 30% premium on the stock price. At the time, the deal’s logic rested more on China than the US, Mead Johnson’s heartland. Reckitt was keen to diversify its portfolio and saw an opportunity …
Petrol prices in Japan are currently about 6% higher than the start of the year; they’ve actually dropped slightly since February. The prognosis looking forward isn’t good, one report from Trading Economics is forecasting US$1.63/litre in 2023 and $1.74 in 2024. With these headwinds, and generous Government subsidies for EV buyers (currently JPY650,000 or $5,132) …
Lawson is one of the big guns in the Japanese convenience store channel. It boasts close to 15,000 outlets domestically, second only to 7-Eleven. Lawson has not sailed untarnished through the pandemic. Its shopper traffic dropped, it sold fewer impulse items and as a consequence the profitability in its core CVS business declined. In 2014 …
Seijo Ishii is the jewel in Lawson’s crown. Where next for the gourmet retailer? Read More »