Only 17 Fast Moving Consumer Goods Reach at Least 1 Billion People Globally and Coca-Cola Leads

There are typical consumer brands, and then there are brands that are chosen by consumers globally more than a billion times, and in the category of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Coca-Cola, remains at the top of the billionaire club.

According to the Brand Footprint rankings that gives insight on the brands most bought by consumers, there are only 17 products that reach billions of people worldwide. Coca-Cola, for instance, is bought at least 5.8 billion times in a year. Its market penetration around the world stands at 41.30 percent.

Despite having a market penetration of 61.60 percent globally, Colgate manages a consumer reach of 3.9 billion coming in second after Coca-Cola. It still is the best-chosen food brand and a personal care product.

Maggi, the brand of seasonings, instant soups, and noodles that many people apparently love, achieved a podium position in 2018 coming in third with a reach of 2.5 billion people and a penetration of 30.40 percent.

Maggi is one of the fastest growing brands worldwide and with a 14 percent growth in consumer reach points (CRPs), it shifted from the fourth-place last year to where it is now.

Lifebuoy, without hype, is one of the world’s leading soap. It is at the top five clubs of products picked from the shelves more than 2 billion times in a year. It currently has a market penetration of 27.50 percent and a consumer reach of 2.4 billion.

More than half, that is, six of the 17 FMCGs belong to Unilever, a company that leads the ranking in terms of manufacturers with consumer reach points of 36 billion in a year. The company’s portfolio includes Lifebuoy, Sunsilk, which is in the ninth position with a reach of 1.8 billion, and Knorr at the tenth position with a consumer reach of 1.7 billion people worldwide. Sunsilk and Knorr have a market penetration of 22.30 and 4.70 percent respectively. Other Unilever brands on the list include Dove, Lux, and Sunlight.

Other manufacturers with products in the billionaire club includes Pepsico with brands such as Lay’s and Pepsi, and Indofood with Nescafé and Indomie, which are very successful brands in Asia and Africa. The two made the remaining positions of the top ten list. Other brands that proved successful are Nestlé, P&G’s Downy, Palmolive, and Sprite.

Here is a table of the fast-moving consumer goods according to the 2018 ranking.