Within arms’ reach of the retailer and consumer

In a competitive environment, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies are increasingly forced to get within arms’ reach of the retailer and consumer. CPG companies that have a Route-to-Market strategy that includes a direct focus on mom-and-pop stores are the most successful in reaching the “base of the pyramid”. The buy-in-bulk mentality is unlikely to have [...]

Guinea distribution

Guinea Conakry has seen better days. Political instability and an uncertain economic outlook have not helped consumer confidence in this West African country. I have spent the last two weeks assessing a FMCG company’s distribution capability. The data tell an interesting story. Wholesalers – like most of markets in Africa, FMCG companies rely heavily on [...]

Emerging mobility

Wherever you go in emerging markets, there seem to be an affordable way of getting your goods around. In Dar Es Salaam and Nairobi you have the two wheel push cart (Mikokoteni) and in Accra a more modern four wheel version.   South East Asia prefers the three wheel motor-cart version, known for its high [...]

Emerging market partner selection and management

Southern Africa has been consuming our time of late, and I we have been missing in action. We recently conducted a supply assessment and pilot roll-out for a media company in Zambia. Our workstream focused primarily on the Go-to-Market strategy and partner selection. The following key issues were identified during the assessment: Select the right [...]

Learnings from Unilever Indonesia

I recently read an article about the success of Unilever Indonesia, one of Asia’s top consumer goods companies. Please find below a summary of the key learning: Distribution network strength – covering more than 600,000 outlets, their distribution network is a key competitive strength and a barrier for entry. Growth in modern trade- accelerated growth [...]

Distribution woes

I recently ran a number of workshops for a beverage company in Bangkok, Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam. One central theme kept popping up. Distributors. Furthermore two questions were continuously asked: How to manage distributors in emerging markets? How to keep control of the outlet base? The following key issues were highlighted: Distributor selection criteria. [...]

Manual Distribution pictures

I have uploaded some pictures from my travels working in the Coca-Cola system. The set focuses on manual distribution in the system in Africa and Asia. More to follow. Share:del.icio.usFacebookTwitterLinkedIn

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