Unilever says Vietnam, Bangladesh among next 'growth stars'

Unilever says Vietnam, Bangladesh among next 'growth stars'

(Reuters) - Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar will be the top growth markets for consumer goods giant Unilever over the next few years as a rapidly growing population and an emerging middle class rapidly consume the company’s household good products, Chief Executive Officer Alan Jope said.

“The combination of quite a big population, strong GDP growth and rapid consumption in the categories we sell means that countries like Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and even Ethiopia will be our growth stars over the next few years,” Jope told the Deutsche Bank Global Consumer conference in Paris.

“These are going to be very important for the future and we are investing heavily,” he said.

Unilever, which makes household goods ranging from Dove soaps to Knorr packet soups, reported a 5 percent jump in emerging market sales in its latest reported quarter, compared to a 0.3 percent rise in its big developed markets.

The company already gets 58 percent of its sales from emerging markets including China, India and Brazil.