Latest update on FMCG performance in Latam released

Kantar has just released the latest edition of Consumer Insights Latam, summarising the FMCG sector up until December 2019.

In a setting of an unchanged aggregate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) versus a year ago, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) remained stagnant (0.2%), even though three countries grew between 1% and 3% (Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia) – but that was not enough to offset the declines in Chile (-1.3%) and Argentina (-6%).

The recent outbreak of Coronavirus might trigger growth in personal and home care in 2020, following declines recorded by the six countries across the region during 2019. In China, items with disinfecting properties increased sales exponentially in the first few weeks following the outbreak. The H1N1 pandemic had a similar affect in Latam a decade ago so might be expected to again during this crisis.

An interesting development, during the last crisis, was in Colombia where private labels rose to 19% of total spend. This directly affected mainstream brands, but not the premium ones, suggesting that consumers will not choose only on price.

Although still relatively small, there is an acceleration in the ecommerce channel as well as both Cash and Carry, and drugstores, which went on growing at double-digit rates. Our recommendation is to not overlook hypermarkets, which are becoming more important to shoppers and also allow manufacturers to showcase their innovations.

In 2020, it is expected the GDP might influence the growth of FMCG in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, which ended 2019 with gains in the last quarter, whose contribution came mostly from the lower classes.

Get in touch with our expert if you’d like to learn more about the full report.