Understanding Australia's Business and Consumer Environment: A Guide for Successful Business Down Under

Understanding Australia's Business and Consumer Environment

How will Australia's economy, business environment and consumer trends impact the success of your business? This e-book examines the fundamentals businesses must understand to successfully expand or operate in Australia.

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Heralded as the success story among advanced economies for weathering the global economic downturn of 2008-2009, Australia’s high income levels and steady growth offer good opportunities for consumer goods and services in a wide range of sectors.

Key Findings:

• At the height of the global slowdown, advanced economies as a whole contracted by 3.5% - contrasting with Australia’s 1.4% growth.
• Whereas incomes and consumer expenditure have stagnated across many advanced economies, Australia’s per capita disposable income and expenditure have expanded by 9.8% and 3.5% respectively in real terms since 2008.
• In 2012, Australia was ranked 15 out of 183 economies on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, meaning it is the fifteenth easiest place in the world to start and operate a local firm.
• Australia has an educated population: 99.9% of adults (those aged 15+) were literate in 2011, but suffers from skills shortages.
• In 2011, the population aged 45-49 in Australia had the highest average gross income: A$77,810 (US$80,259).

Topics include:

• Ease of doing business rating
• Corruption index
• Literacy rate
• Future challenges
• Natural resources
• Media consumption
• Consumer trends
• More

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HBA Global Expo

Date: June 18-20, 2013
Location: Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, NYC
Presentation Date and Location: Wednesday, June 19, 2013; 4-5 p.m.
More information about the HBA Global Expo

Virginia Lee, Senior Research Analyst at Euromonitor International, will discuss beauty and personal care sales in Asia. Driven by economic growth and a natural tendency to embrace skin care, Asia's beauty sales are blossoming. This session will discuss key demographics, consumer trends driving Asia's beauty market, sourcing suppliers and manufacturers' strategies to create consumer loyalty.

HBA Global Expo provides top personal care and beauty manufacturers with the entire spectrum of new ingredients, solutions, supplier resources as well as world-class education to help bring new products and innovate concepts to market.

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@Euromonitor 

Beverage SMEs Are a Growing Market for Innovative Ingredients

Analyst Insight by Cathy Boyle, Contributing Analyst, Euromonitor International

Despite the overall importance of multinational operators in beverage supply, the industry has recently seen a surge in the numbers of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are making a name for themselves, often through innovation and diversification. For ingredients suppliers looking to generate value, these SMEs are likely to become an increasingly important customer base as they are often pioneers in the use of new, premium and innovative ingredients.

This ever-increasing body of SMEs is cashing in on consumers’ growing interest in more natural, healthy, traditional, authentic and experimental beverages, usually at the premium end of the market. They are particularly prominent in the developed regions of North America and Western Europe and are impacting on both the soft drinks and alcoholic drinks industries. As well as interest in healthy and functional ingredients, they also tend to be highly innovative in their choices of flavouring and sweetening ingredients, as discussed in the Global Report Beverage Ingredients: Regional Insights.

14 Facts about Mothers from Euromonitor's Survey Research

Euromonitor International's Annual Survey revealed global trends among mothers. Read 10 key facts below and then listen to our podcast to learn more.

1. Despite other demands on their time, mothers exercise slightly more often than women who have no children (69% of mothers do physical activity weekly vs. 61% of female non-mothers; 41% of mothers go to the gym each week vs. 35% of female non-mothers).
2. Parents (both mothers and fathers) use shortcuts for information about nutrition—such as testimonials and packaging—more than non-parents.
3. Mothers use advertising (TV, print, internet) as a shortcut to find out about other product information.
4. Nine out of ten mothers prepare meals at home at least once a week, more often than anyone else, including fathers (7 out of 10).
5. Mothers typically prepare home-cooked meals using entirely raw ingredients (62%), relying less on pre-prepared ingredients, such as shop-bought sauces (43%).
6. When mothers do choose convenience options such as ready meals, it is because they are pressed for time—not because they prefer ready meals or because they cannot or do not like to cook.
7. Almost half (47%) of mothers say they are on a diet trying to lose weight
8. Although mothers say they are health-conscious, they “cave in” and snack more often than non-mothers during the daytime (2.2 vs. 2.0 snacks per day on average)
9. Mothers in developed markets are more willing to spend extra on convenient products (49%) versus “green” products (36%)
10. Mothers in emerging markets consider a variety of other product information beyond quality, price, and convenience, such as branding and packaging, as well as “green”
11. Mothers in emerging markets especially enjoy learning about new products (trying new products, browsing shopping malls), compared to mothers in developed markets
12. Mothers in developed markets are especially cost-conscious and enjoy bargain-hunting more than mothers in emerging markets (though they are not necessarily using their smartphones to find deals)
13. 60% of mothers visit social networking websites (e.g., Facebook) at least weekly, compared with 55% of fathers and 46% of non-parents
14. Mothers and fathers share photos and videos online more frequently than non-parents (31% vs. 32% vs. 27%)

These results about mothers were derived from responses to Euromonitor International’s Annual Survey 2011; this survey reached out to ~16,000 online consumers ranging in age from 15 to 65+ and living in 8 major markets:  Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, UK, USA.  

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Female-Led Consumption - A Long-Term Trend to Benefit Many Sectors

Why The Anti-Ageing Trend Is Set To Succeed in The US and Japan

During the last few years, value sales of hair care have stagnated in most developed countries. The anti-ageing trend will give opportunities to increase sales in value and volume terms, by raising the use of specialty ingredients and by introducing multi-step regimes. Japan and the US will embrace the anti-ageing trend in hair care, although lower incomes in the BRICS could limit such opportunities.

Cocoa Flavanol Health Claim Unlikely to Revolutionise the Chocolate Industry

Analyst Insight by Lauren Bandy, Analyst - Ingredients, Euromonitor International

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Cocoa has been associated with health benefits since the Mayans and Aztecs discovered the value of the commodity hundreds of years ago. More recently, and somewhat more officially, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approved an Article 13(5) health claim for Barry Callebaut’s ACTICOA cocoa flavanols in July 2012, the first such claim in the EU. It reads, “cocoa flavanols help maintain endothelium-dependent vasodilation, which contributes to normal blood flow”, although a draft reword reads “maintenance of the elasticity of blood vessels”. This amount of cocoa flavanols can be provided by 2.5g of high-flavanol cocoa powder or 10g of high-flavanol dark chocolate in the context of a balanced diet. However, despite gaining approval, it seems unlikely that this health claim is set to revolutionise the European chocolate industry where country of origin and sustainable sourcing are much more significant trends for cocoa ingredients.

Detergent Fragrances in Middle East and Africa: From Floral to Oriental

Analyst Insight by Anaïs Mirval, Analyst - Ingredients, Euromonitor International

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The introduction of oriental scents as ingredients in the Middle East and Africa is emerging as a major trend in home care fragrance. According to Euromonitor International fragrance in the Middle East and Africa will enjoy the strongest growth globally with volume sales increasing 30% between 2011 and 2016, albeit from a lower base.

Beverage Ingredients: Trends and Influences

Analyst Insight by Cathy Boyle, Contributing Analyst at Euromonitor International

The global beverage market of the modern era is very different from that of the past, having moved way beyond the idea of simple refreshment to become increasingly diverse and complex. This situation is placing pressure on ingredients suppliers to satisfy the ever evolving needs of beverage innovators, while at the same time facing their own economic and sustainability challenges.

Perhaps the single most important theme in beverage innovation in recent times has been the need for more naturally healthy ingredients. For example, superfruit juices and flavours have taken hold in soft drinks NPD in recent times, while more recently coconut water has started to emerge as another botanical ingredient with significant potential. Aloe vera is also benefiting from the drive towards natural health, while energising botanicals are finding a place in the thriving energy drinks market. Naturalness is also impacting on the development of flavour and colour ingredients as product formulators look to exclude all artificial ingredients from their recipes, while stevia’s emergence as a new force in the sweeteners category is still largely centred on beverage applications and is opening doors to the creation of reduced-sugar and reduced-calorie options with a natural positioning.

Functional Milk Protein and Greek-style Yoghurt Together Offer Healthy and Indulgent Snack Opportunities

Analyst Insight by Lauren Bandy, Analyst - Ingredients, Euromonitor International

Over the past five years, Greek-style yoghurt has become all the rage. In the US, Chobani – a low fat, Greek product – has grown enormously since its launch in 2007, and, in 2012, it held a 20% value share of the yoghurt market. High-protein diets have moved away from being the province of the fitness crazed to being embraced by the mainstream consumer and are popular with those looking to maintain or lose weight or lead a healthy lifestyle. Greek-style yoghurts are perceived to be naturally high in protein and indulgent at the same time, and many manufacturers are adding Greek-style products to their lines. This is a big opportunity for whey and milk protein ingredients, which offer alternative solutions to the straining process used to produce traditional Greek yoghurt.

Who Really Controls the Sales of Vitamins and Dietary Supplements Among the Top 50 Companies?

Analyst Insight by Monica Feldman, Head of Consumer Health at Euromonitor International

As health and wellness trends capture the interest of consumers in healthy living, the idea of health and disease prevention via the consumption of vitamins and dietary supplements (VDS) may be a bit deceiving in terms of what types of companies really control the sales of such products.  During the review of consumer mass media articles and natural living publications it is not uncommon to find praise for vitamins and dietary supplements sold by nutritional companies, while demonizing pharmaceutical and other powerful consumer goods corporations. Ironically, VDS consumption has shown a strong connection with the pharmaceutical industry since its beginnings, and explains the reason why pharmaceutical companies dominated 36% of VDS retail value in 2012, up three percentage points from 2007 among the top 50 VDS companies and private label comprising 44% of global sales.