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In-Depth Information
Table 10.1
Selected firms in the agro-food industry
Date of
Turnover
Number of
City headquarter
incorporation
billions US$
employees
Nestlé SA
Vevey (Switzerland)
1866
69,709
250,000
Unilever Group
Rotterdam, London
1930
46,801
212,000
Kraft Foods
Chicago
1903
29,531
97,850
remains strongly anchored in cultural practices, which slows down the export of
the model of Western food consumption. The ability of a firm to adapt to each
mass consumption area constitutes an important factor of competitiveness for firms
in a highly competitive sector. This sector is dominated by three multinational
corporations (Table
10.1
).
Nestlé S.A
Nestlé S.A, founded in 1866 in Switzerland, is the leading global agro-food com-
pany. With 250,000 employees throughout the world, distributed in 104 countries,
the firm generates 70 billion dollars in sales each year. The firm acquired leadership
in the sectors of water, ice cream, and baby food as a result of its innovation,
which is the main competitive advantage of the firm. Nestlé has a strong policy
of repurchasing local brands, allowing it to acquire local expertise and providing
great adaptability in the international markets.
Unilever Group
Unilever was created in 1930 by an association between the Dutch margarine
company UNI and the English soap manufacturer Lever Group Bothers Ltd. Since
then, the group has had a bicephalous management, with Unilever PLC in the United
Kingdom and Unilever NV in the Netherlands, and has diversified income due to its
presence in both the hygiene and food markets. Consequently, Unilever profits from
an important list of brands, which has allowed the company to establish in 106
countries and to become the second leader of the agro-food industry. The firm has
acquired leadership in margarine, tea and olive oil.
Kraft Foods
In 1903, Kraft foods was just a creamery located in Chicago. The store opened
its first cheese factory in 1914. The firm was then developed by a series of
acquisitions and has acquired leadership in the sectors of coffee, chocolate, snacks
and cookies.
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