BRAZIL RETAILING

AMERICAS: Brazilian retail market is attractive to global retailers.

Spending by Brazilian consumers is large and growing. The country is already the 3rd largest global market for soft drinks, the 4th largest for chocolate and cosmetics and personal care products and the 5th largest for beer. The size and potential of the Brazilian market has attracted foreign financial and strategic investors

In the food retailing sector Carrefour, Makro and Wal-Mart (via the acquisitions of Sonae and Bompreço) are all significant players.

Credit expansion has been a contributory factor in the growth of non-food retailing.

E-commerce grew 32% in 2005 albeit from a low base.

CHINA FOOD

ASIA: The growth in processed food consumption in China is driven by the urban population.

The Chinese processed food market is estimated to account for nearly 5.7% of the global total. Up to 30% of the food consumed in certain urban areas is processed.

The growth in income, which is driving these changes, is evidenced by the fact that approximately 88% of urban households now own a refrigerator. The figure for rural areas is 16% which suggests that it will be many years before the consumption of processed foods reaches significant levels amongst this demographic.

UK PHARMACEUTICALS

EUROPE: ABPI takes issue with NICE recommendations.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) is taking issue with the process by which the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) reaches its recommendations. NICE is, inter alia, responsible for evaluating new and existing treatments for use within the UK's National Health Service.

NICE state that they base their recommendations on both clinical evidence (how well the medicine or treatment works) and economic evidence (how well the medicine or treatment works in relation to how much it costs the NHS). The ABPI believes that NICE is applying arbitrary thresholds of 'cost-effectiveness' and, where there is uncertainty in the process, patients are often denied the benefit of doubt.