The Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm, stated that emerging economies have arrived and are no longer ‘emerging’. These markets account for about 65 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) growth (as they contain young populations, growing middle classes, and show rising consumption) and can therefore be labelled engines of global economic growth. In recent years, these markets have become more prosperous and more stable (although they are vulnerable to short-term shocks).

BCG stated that “Several of the new global challengers come from new categories, including quick-serve restaurants, represented by companies such as the Philippines’s Jollibee Foods, with 2,000 restaurants; and wine and spirits, represented by Chile’s Concha y Toro, the world’s seventh-largest winery, and Thailand’s Thai Beverage. These additions show both the growing purchasing power of the middle class in emerging markets and the success of companies in developing capabilities beyond low-cost manufacturing.

“Eight years ago, when we created the global-challenger list, it was dominated by Chinese and Indian manufacturers that largely competed on the basis of low costs,” said Dinesh Khanna, a co-author based in Singapore and BCG’s global leader of its Global Advantage practice. “Today, the global challengers come from a much wider range of industries and countries - and increasingly from consumer goods sectors.”

“One of the most successful consumer-oriented challengers has been India’s Bajaj Auto, the leading motorcycle brand in Nigeria. Bajaj sells more motorcycles in Africa than in its overseas Asian markets, according to the report.”

Indofood Sukses Makmur

Indofood, part of the Salim Group, is Indonesia's largest food processing company and the world's biggest producer of instant noodles. The company has operations in each stage of the country's food manufacturing process. Indofood is one of the relatively few Indonesian companies that has been eager to expand its business beyond the domestic market. It is turning into a global player evidenced by the establishment of joint venture companies with Singapore-based Asahi Group Holdings Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. and Japan's Tsukishima Food Industry, Co., Ltd. Last year, the company acquired 50 percent of the shares in Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Companhia Mineira de Acucar e Alcool Participacoes, and expanded its stake in China Minzhong Food Corporation Ltd to 29.33 percent.

Stock Quote Indofood Sukses Makmur - INDF:

Golden Agri Resources

Golden Agri Resources, part of the Sinar Mas Group, is one of the global leading palm oil producers with a total planted area of 470,600 hectares. The company, listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, has integrated operations focused on the production of palm-based edible oil and fat. In Indonesia, Golden Agri Resources’ primary activities involve the cultivation and harvesting of oil palm trees; processing of fresh fruit bunches into crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel; and refining CPO into value-added products such as cooking oil, margarine and shortening.

Wilmar International

Wilmar International is a leading agribusiness group and reportedly the world’s largest palm oil trader. The company is headquartered in Singapore and listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. Its business activities involve oil palm cultivation, edible oils refining, oilseed crushing, consumer pack edible oils processing and merchandising, specialty fats, oleochemicals, and biodiesel manufacturing, and grains processing and merchandising. The company has a strong presence in Indonesia with plantations on Sumatra, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan.

Further Reading:

Boston Consulting Group: Redefining Global Competitive Dynamics

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