No, this is no grammar lesson. Conjugating verbs and diagramming sentences was always a painful exercise back in my parochial school days. But painful and tense are two adjectives that perfectly capture the current atmosphere in many consumers’ homes, retail stores and every company in the fast-moving consumer goods supply chain. The mood is definitely somber in The International Top 30, our annual look at the leading players in the global household and personal products industry with headquarters outside the US.

For nearly every company in The International Top 30, 2019 was successful and, comparatively, uneventful. Sales grew in the low single digits in established markets and in the mid-single digits in emerging ones. NPD was focused on making cleaning easier and faster, and personal care followed the latest fashions tweaked by novel skin-caring ingredients. All that changed, of course, when China’s economy came to a skidding halt late last year and soon, countries throughout Europe were overrun by COVID-19. The result was a disastrous first quarter that was sure to spill into Q2. The good news is that many of the home countries in The International Top 30 did a great job of shutting down and re-opening responsibly. Observers note China’s economy, the first to suffer from the pandemic, is also providing lessons on how to get things moving again, and more good news is coming out of India, where Nielsen reports markets are in recovery mode and governments and companies can learn a lesson or two about how to get economies growing again. Need more good news? When disaster strikes, the global household and personal products industry is always the first to respond, and the pandemic was no different as our readers switched gears to produce sanitizer and disinfectant, and donate to charities around the world.

So, who’s on first? Unilever, of course, which debuted in the No. 1 spot when we began The International Top 30 in 1991 and has held the pole position through good times and bad. Next is L’Oréal, the perennial runner-up which also happens to be the largest pure-play beauty company in the world. After Unilever and L’Oréal, however, our list is never static, as a variety of companies have climbed over one another to claim spots three through 10.

We hope you enjoy this edition of The International Top 30 and remember to visit Happi.com or pick up our July issue to see how Unilever, L’Oréal, Shiseido and the rest compare to the US-based companies which make up The Top 50. 

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