FMCG Monitor July 2015

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Continued Positive Momentum in FMCG Market

Some highlights in the July issues:

Key economic indicators
The Vietnam’s economic growth continuously showed positive signals. And the CPI rate was still well-controlled at 0.9%.

FMCG Trends
Overall market growth follows a “new normal” trend – moving at sluggish pace. Yet in short term, Urban market growth is getting its momentum back in both value and volume whilst Rural holds its growth stable at a single-digit rate.

Value Growth (%)

Hot Categories
The hot FMCG categories that enjoy big increase in 12 weeks period ending 12 July: Canned Fish in urban and Floor Cleaner in rural. They achieved incremental growth in volume, mainly driven by reaching more new buyers.

Retail Landscape
Street Shops and Modern Trade have struggled while Specialty and Mini stores are emerging in Urban. In the meantime, in Rural, Street Shops preserves its dominance in market share and keeps growing.

Spotlight on Vietnam
• Purchasing Konfidence Quarter 2 2015
This indicator continues to drop to 6.4 points (compared to 8.3 points in previous quarter), the lowest point over the past two years, urban consumers are now conservative, more cost-conscious in grocery and heading more toward savings, especially in Hanoi.

Purchasing Konfidence

• The difference in consumer trend between Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi
Downtrend is more in Hanoi. The report also shows that Hanoi people react later than Ho Chi Minh as the market slow-down started in Ho Chi Minh end of 2013 while this happened in Hanoi from mid-2014. Hanoi consumers even seem to be more price-sensitive and more cost-conscious now, which also happened earlier in Ho Chi Minh in 2013.

YoY Value Growth (%)

David Anjoubault – General Manager of Kantar Worldpanel Vietnam comments: “Although the financial capability has been more improved, the Purchasing Konfidence of Quarter 2 finds that urban consumers are now more cautious and even reduce in spending on FMCG market. They especially cut more on nice-to-have categories. This means there is a fact that the current market has not completely met the consumers’ demands and expectations yet. Therefore, we can see no lack of opportunities for growth but also forced manufacturers and retailers need to quickly adapt to consumer changes, moving fast toward consumer trends and actively stimulate consumer needs in the near future.”

*Follow links on the right side of this page to download full reports and press releases in both English and Vietnamese.

[source:kantarworldpanel]

Climate change: Obama unveils Clean Power Plan

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US President Barack Obama has unveiled what he called “the biggest, most important step we have ever taken” in tackling climate change.

The aim of the revised Clean Power Plan is to cut greenhouse gas emissions from US power stations by nearly a third within 15 years.

The measures will place significant emphasis on wind and solar power and other renewable energy sources.

However, opponents in the energy industry have vowed to fight the plan.

“I’m convinced no challenge provides a greater threat to the future of the planet,” Mr Obama said. “There is such a thing as being too late.”

Those opponents say Mr Obama has declared “a war on coal”. Power plants fired by coal provide more than a third of the US electricity supply.

The revised plan will aim to cut carbon emissions from the power sector by 32% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.

“We are the first generation to feel the impacts of climate change, and the last generation to be able to do something about it,” Mr Obama said. He likened the plan to taking 166 million cars off the road in terms of environmental impact. He called taking a stand against climate change a “moral obligation”.

Mr Obama brushed off the notion that the plan is a “War on Coal” that will kill jobs and said he is reinvesting in areas of the US known as “coal country”.

“Scaremonging” tactics will not work to stop the proposal, he said.

“If we don’t do it nobody will. America leads the way forward… that’s what this plan is about. This is our moment to get something right and get something right for our kids,” he said.