Economic development
Our business is growing strongly in developing and emerging markets. Looking ahead, ensuring a sustainable future will demand new ways of doing business.
Our approach
We believe that our business can play an important role in generating wealth and jobs in developing and emerging markets. We aim to serve consumers at all income levels, share technology, develop best practice and set high standards of corporate behaviour.
Studies on our operations in Indonesia and South Africa have shown that our presence can enhance economic development and alleviate poverty. We are now applying these lessons in our support of smallholder farmers and micro-enterprise models in our supply and distribution chains.
Our economic impacts
Employees, governments, investors and many others in the communities where we operate benefit economically from our activities.
In 2008, out of €40.5 billion sales income (turnover), we spent over €29.3 billion with suppliers while our employees earned €5.3 billion of the total. The providers of capital who finance our operations gained a substantial share from dividends paid.
Total shareholder return is a core business measure, which reflects the value of dividends and changes in share price. Our long-term ambition is to be in the top third of a group of 21 consumer goods companies. In 2008, we ranked 9th.
Our contribution to the MDGs
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set out eight global targets for governments to reach by 2015, ranging from halving world poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS. We contribute to these goals through the wealth and jobs we create in our business and our value chain, as well as through our partnerships with organisations such as the UN World Food Programme and UNICEF.
The contribution of business to development
To understand better the wider social and environmental impacts of economic growth, we carried out two studies, one with Oxfam on Indonesia and one with Professor Ethan Kapstein from the European business school INSEAD on South Africa.
These research projects have supported our views on the positive role business can play in society, while showing where we can enhance our local impacts.
Alongside other Europe-based companies, we are currently exploring development issues as members of CSR Europe's working group on the Base of the Pyramid, which also looks at ways to work jointly with the European Commission.
