Growing Middle Class Meets Rising Food Prices: How Should Companies React?

The global middle class is growing by 70 million people a year, and food prices are forecast to double over the next 20 years. Those two huge trends, Nielsen says, are joining to create a time of rising demand, economic pressure and “aspirationally driven” buying behavior. The researcher, whose data come from an Internet survey involving 29,000 respondents in 58 countries,  says companies looking to take advantage of this convergence of megatrends should keep in mind that the term “middle class” can’t be defined solely by income – parameters vary from country to country. Instead, they should measure consumer diversity, spending flexibility and the “demand landscape” to understand how to tailor goods and services to meet the needs of consumers in developed and developing markets.