9 over the first four months of the year in Western Europe against 3

The crisis What crisis Some 600 participants from 40 countries on five continents to 53rd CIES Summit last week in New York, did not seem have much strongly. And not only because they were gathered in the prestigious Waldorf Astoria hotel. Because, on the earthquake which shook the automakers and turbulence that have shaken the airlines, the blow of brake cashed by the consumer products industry would be reduced almost to a non-event. That confirmed somehow David Calhoun, the CEO of Nielsen, the world giant of studies: "the growth in the volume of consumer products remains positive overall since the beginning of the year." What Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury's, number two of British supermarkets, said that food distribution remains the last area touched by the crisis.

However, a few clues left appear to manufacturers, distributors, consultants and journalists in New York from first effects. At the first Summit, which saw the merger of CIES, the main world of food distributors, with two other organizations joint industry-trade, the Global CEO Forum and the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI). To have imagined two years ago, it is in falls not less point appointed to generate savings and to cope with the decline in attendance of the events. Now joint, with a Board of Directors composed of 25 distributors and 25 industrial and co-chaired by Pierre-Oliver Beckers, CEO of the Belgian Delhaize Group, and AG Lafley, CEO of Procter & Gamble until July 1, the new Consumer Goods Forum (FMB) whose members displayed a turnover accumulated more than two trillion to EUR! could even threaten the existence of RCTs, organization focused on supply chain and justified precisely by its joint nature. Another index, the traditional closing gala dinner organized each year by l ' Oréal with international stars had Friday, transformed into a cocktail, enlivened by Music Hall benefits.

It is true that, on the same morning, Jean-Jacques Lebel, the pattern of the division consumer number world of cosmetics, had indicated that the beauty market had risen only by 0.9 over the first four months of the year in Western Europe, against 3.4 a year earlier, and 0.4 in the US, compared to 1.4. Other figures witnesses the hardship despite all of the time, those of the grocery market to the United Kingdom, with sales up 5 in value, for 7 inflation on these products, and 1 in volume. Which clearly indicates the arbitrations of consumers for less expensive products. In this context, the study published a few weeks before the Summit by CIES took its relief. There where, beginning 2008, social responsibility and governance was at the top of the concerns of the sector patterns, they are now will by the response to the request of the consumer, to nutrition and food security, and the nature of the offer. What AG Lafley has translated about the creation of the FMB thus: "I place high hopes in this global network to establish common principles and standards that will allow to work together to better serve consumers."