Emerging Markets - If You Want Growth - Go Where The Growth Is...

If they want to grow, multinationals based in developed economies have to make emerging markets their number 1 strategic priority.

That's the view of the CEO of Tupperware - Rick Goings.

"Customers that want growth simply must be where the growth is" said Rick Goings in his contribution to a major survey about multinational strategy in emerging markets.

Tupperware is the iconic brand name of a range of consumer products that includes preparation, storage and serving products for the kitchen and home. Tupperware was founder in 1948 and develops, manufactures, and internationally distributes its products worldwide. It is marketed by means of direct sales through an independent sales force of almost two million self-employed sales consultants hosting the famous Tupperware Parties.

Goings points out that almost 90 per cent of the world's population and 1 billion new middle-class consumers live in emerging markets. That's a big chunk of the potential customer base for a business like Tupperware for whom global awareness of the product range has been increased significantly by the uptake of Internet usage in emerging markets.

In his 2012 letter to shareholders, Rick Goings explains the strategic importance of emerging markets to Tupperware:

"The flexibility of our business model enables us to match the product offering, selling situation and earning opportunity to fit the environment. In established markets like France and Germany, the white space for us is in the urban areas around the larger cities. In many of our emerging markets, we have only just begun to penetrate the large pool of addressable consumers. In fact, our assessment is that we are in less than 25% of the homes we can target in countries like India, Indonesia and Brazil. In many emerging markets of the world, where there are few opportunities for women to find jobs to support their families, the earning opportunity we provide through our Tupperware and beauty businesses can be life-changing. We have a lot of room and reasons to be able to grow!"

Going's focus on targeting consumers in emerging markets has resulted in a dramatic shift in the source of revenues for Tupperware:

As the diagram above illustrates, revenue from emerging markets now accounts for over 60% of Tupperware sales - a significant rise over the last 10 years.

The charts below breaks that down a little further: