Where’s the Growth? It’s No Wonder!

Stonehenge didn’t make it, neither did The Eiffel Tower. The Statue of Liberty? Not even close. Nope, when the citizens of the world were asked to pick the new Seven Wonders of the World last month, six of them came from places that business folks would consider to be emerging markets. You know, like the Taj Mahal in India, the Great Wall of China and Machu Picchu in Peru—the only exception was the Colosseum in Rome. Yup, about 100 million people around the world logged on and cast their votes, and the U.S., western Europe and Japan came up losers. What does Petra in Jordan or Chichén Itzá in Mexico have to do with Unilever’s global expansion plans? The contest results underscores what savvy household and personal care company executives have known for years. Now, more than ever, consumers in places like China and India are deciding who the winners and losers will be. Long-term growth depends on consumers in emerging markets.

Nowhere is this mindset more evident than in The International Top 30, our annual look at the leading companies in the household and personal care industry with corporate headquarters outside the U.S. Nearly every company on our list is making headway in major markets such as China, Brazil and Russia. At the same time, many of these market leaders note that sales are slowing in more mature European and U.S. markets. To learn more about their successes and a few failures too, read The International Top 30. Once again, Unilever tops our list, but L’Oréal is inching closer to the top spot. Kao made a big jump to the No. 3 spot following its acquisition of Kanebo. Of course, sales aren’t the only concern for companies in The International Top 30. More and more of them are highlighting their efforts to reduce environmental impact.

Keep in mind that we rank companies based on sales of household and personal products. At the same time, remember that all companies were ranked based on figures converted to U.S. dollars using the average exchange rate for that company’s fiscal year.

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

The International Top 30

1. Unilever	United Kingdom	$22.9 billion
2. L’Oréal	France	$19.8 billion
3. Kao	Japan	$8.7 billion
4. Henkel	Germany	$8.6 billion
5. Reckitt Benckiser	United Kingdom $8.5 billion
6. Shiseido	Japan	$5.9 billion
7. Beiersdorf	Germany	$5.4 billion
8. LVMH	France	$3.1 billion
9. Lion	Japan	$2.0 billion
10. GlaxoSmithKline	United Kingdom	$1.8 billion
10. Yves Rocher	France	$1.8 billion
12. Kosé	Japan	$1.5 billion
13. Amore Pacific	Korea	$1.3 billion
14. Chanel	France	$1.2 billion
14. Clarins	France	$1.2 billion
14. Natura	Brazil	$1.2 billion
17. LG	Korea	$1.1 billion
18. Oriflame	Belgium	$1.0 billion
19. PZ Cussons	United Kingdom	$959 million
20. Puig	Spain	$930 million
21. Pierre Fabre	France	$903 million
22. YSL Beauté	The Netherlands	$786 million
23. Pola	Japan	$767 million
24. Sunstar	Japan	$627 million
25. The Bolton Group	The Netherlands	$600 million
26. Colomer	Spain	$580 million
27. Menard	Japan	$508 million
28. Mandom	Japan	$500 million
29. Kalina Concern	Russia	$350 million
30. Noevir	Japan	$319 million