Impact of Economic Growth on Global Food and Beverage Industry
The countries that are chiefly involved in the growth of food and beverage industry are the emerging market economies of India, China, Brazil, and Vietnam. The economic growth in these countries has been identified as a factor in the growth of the food and beverage industry. The food and beverage sector involves a chain of companies whose work is to process, package and distribute freshly prepared food in conjunction with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Food consumption and production in China and India has been on the rise at a faster rate than those in other developed countries. The rapid economic growth of nations such as India and China has seen an emergence of middle-class people with the available income for food and beverage purchase. The increase in consumers due to economic growth has led to the globalization of the food and beverage sector, and as a result, it has sparked a rise in the prices of agricultural commodities.
Economic growth has led to the increased use of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. This has had a positive impact on companies such as Coca-cola and Pepsi that have moved into these countries to invest their brands and also in search for potential partnership deals with the local firms. Economic growth has also led to an increase in food sales across the world as China's grocery sales across the world have since surpassed that of the United States. The growth in affordability of people due to economic growth has seen citizens in these countries change their food habits with greater consumption of meat and poultry hence collecting higher revenues from the sales of food.
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Impact on the Global Consumer
The excessive consumption of soft drinks has been implicated in the development of lifestyle disorders such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and inflammation as asserted by Raj , et al. (2007). The usage of the drinks has posed a public health concern due to the increase of non-communicable diseases. In China, 30% of the people are either having obesity or are just overweight, and almost 10% of the population is diabetic. On the other hand, India‘s population is experiencing similar problems as approximately 10% of the population is suffering from diabetes. A further 12% is either overweight or obese.
However, despite the health concerns implicated by the use of the soft drinks, consumption in China and India is set to increase. There are certain measures that have been suggested to mitigate the growth in the use of the soft drinks and the subsequent health concerns. Due to the middle class' increased affordability to the soft drinks, taxation on the commodities should be increased. The India's Punjab region has already implemented the policy by the introduction of value added tax on all the soft drinks from a paltry 13% to a whopping 20.5%. The public health body has a role to play in this regards (Williams, 2014). First, the public health body should argue in the best interest of tax addition, and secondly, public health officials and policy makers should regulate food marketing directed to children. Voluntary initiatives by the public health authorities such as regulating advertisement would be essential. However, the most effective method would be a compulsory government legislative restriction on the sale of the soft drinks.
Other than the health implications outlined, it is important to highlight that the growth of the food and beverage industry coupled with increased economic growth and affordability has led to the change in feeding habits. People India, China, Vietnam, etc. have now shifted their focus to foods such as meat and poultry increasing their market demands and decreasing the demands of other conventional types of food.
References
Euromonitor International. Diet Soft Drinks See Fat Growth. 2005. Available online at www. euromonitor.com/ (Last accessed 18th March 2012).
Raj M, Sundaram K, Paul M, Deepa AS, Kumar RK. Obesity in Indian children: Time trends and relationship with hypertension. The National Medical Journal of India 2007; 20(6): 288-93.
Williams, S. N. (2014). The growth of the soft drinks industry in middle-income countries: current trends and policy implications in China and India. Perspectives in public health , 134 (4), 198-199.
