Feature

The International Top 30

The Allure of China, Cutting Costs, etc., etc.

This is the 15th edition of Happi's International Top 30, our annual look at the activities of the leading household and personal products companies with corporate headquarters outside the U.S. As you might expect, after a decade and a half of publishing these articles, some trends become very apparent, and for many companies in our ranking, the allure of China and cost-cutting initiatives remain top priorities.

For multinationals bogged down in slow- or no-growth domestic markets, China is a tempting target. With more than a billion consumers and a rapidly growing middle class, China, along with its BRIC (Brazil, Russia and India) bretheren represents one of the last chances to reach a large, relatively homogenous consumer base that is eager to purchase sophisticated household and personal care products. For years, the U.S. and Western European companies had advantages over Japanese companies in this lucrative market. But as you'll read in this edition of The International Top 30, Japanese firms such as Shiseido and Kao are gaining on the likes of L'Oréal and Procter & Gamble.

At the same time, when growth slows, more companies are quick to review the bottom line. While many of the companies that make up The International Top 30 have embarked on multi-year cost-cutting initiatives, some have been more successful than others. You can read all about their efforts, and a variety of other activities, in the following pages.

This edition of The International Top 30 is filled with names that are familiar to nearly all of our readers. Once again Unilever tops the list, comfortably ahead of the No. 2 firm, L'Oréal. Rounding out the top 10 are Henkel, Kao, Reckitt Benckiser, Shiseido, Beiersdorf, LVMH, Lion and GlaxoSmithKline. The biggest change is the absence of Wella from our top 10. The company was acquired by Procter & Gamble last year and is no longer a separate public company.

Before you dig into The International Top 30, a quick note about exchange rates. All companies were ranked based on figures converted to U.S. dollars using the average exchange for that company's fiscal year.

We hope you enjoy this edition of The International Top 30 and, as always, we welcome your comments and suggestions.

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