5 Yrs Before West Consumers Will Spend Again

The Telegrpah,

Paul Polman, Unilever's chief executive, says anyone counting on consumers to spend those markets out of their torpor will have a long wait – it could be five years before any significant growth returns.

Mr Polman does not regard himself as a pessimist, but a "realistic optimist". And with more than 50pc of the company's revenue in emerging markets, where sales volumes grew at 10pc and above in the first half of 2011, he has plenty of reasons to be cheerful.

Unilever's emerging markets of Asia, Africa and Latin America have become "decoupled" from the developed economies, he said.

It's the same picture painted by Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of Dettol and Vanish, and Procter & Gamble (P&G) which is aggressively chasing growth in Asia as American shoppers turn to supermarket own-label products. (more)