Following today’s news (29 April) that Unilever beat its quarterly sales forecasts, Ryan Whittaker, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Unilever’s results reveal that the key to adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic lies in understanding how consumer demand has changed, and how it will change in future. Notably, Unilever’s results emphasize the influence of developing markets, and the importance of cooking at home.

“GlobalData’s Q1 2021 consumer survey found that the majority (56%) of Chinese consumers reported that they were cooking from scratch at home more*2 compared to pre-pandemic. In addition, 38% were continuing to cook at home*. What is more, a third of Chinese consumers reported that they were using meal kits more often when cooking at home*2, reflecting how important convenience and time scarcity at home has become in the country, and this should be a priority for brands focusing on the market.

“It will be vital for brands in these challenging times to serve consumers in developing countries by focusing on their individual needs and real-world conditions. They need to make it easy for people to stay home, stay clean, and feed their families.”

*All data used is from: GlobalData’s 2021 Q1 Consumer Survey, March 2021

*2- Combining answers “Doing this more frequently” and “started doing this”