Asian Fast Moving Consumer Goods: A Sustainability Guide for Financiers and Companies

Description

Asian fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) are an important growth sector for the Asian economies and hence an important component of financiers’ portfolios. A 2015 report by PWC1 estimated that the food, beverage and tobacco category in Asia will grow by 9 per cent per annum compared to a global average of 6.4 per cent, and that by 2018, Asia will account for US$5.9 trillion, or 60 percent, of global consumer expenditure in this category. The same report estimated that consumer spending on household and personal care goods will rise in Asia by an average of 8.5 per cent per year to reach US$730 billion by 2018.

This guide aims to help Asian FMCG companies and their financiers understand the environmental issues related to the three most important primary inputs impacting their gross margins and on which they can take immediate action – soft commodities (agricultural, forest and seafood commodities), water and packaging – and the commercial relevance of managing these issues. For each input, the guide provides an overview of existing initiatives in the finance sector, identifies key risks, sets out the business benefits of sustainable practices, and provides steps for managing related environmental risks.