WEEKLY MARKET ROUND-UP – 04/05/21

 

In 2019, the sector contributed $9.17trn, or 10.4% of global GDP, but this dropped almost $4.5trn to $4.7trn in

2020, equivalent to just 5.5%. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the worst affected region was the Caribbean, which saw its contribution to GDP fall by 58%, although the US also lost 41% and Europe dropped 51%.

 

Meanwhile, domestic visitor spending decreased by 45% and international visitor spending declined by an unprecedented 69.4% during the year. As a result, the number of jobs in the sector fell by 61.6 million in 2020, equivalent to a fall of 18.5%. Although the World Travel and Tourism Council points out many of the 272 million remaining jobs are being supported by government retention schemes and a reduction in hours.

 

Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, confirmed on Monday

(26 Apr) that it’s in talks to purchase “all or part” of the company that makes Nature’s Bounty vitamins, Osteo Bi-Flex joint-care supplements and Puritan’s Pride vitamins and supplements. No further details have been confirmed, but reports suggest the deal could cost between $5-7bn.

 

The nutritional food sector has started to outstrip traditional packaged food sales over the past five years, according to reports, while Nestlé has previously emphasised the strategic importance of the sector to the business.

 

Meanwhile, on the same day, British consumer goods company Unilever announced the acquisition of Onnit, the maker of supplements such as Alpha BRAIN and Shroom Tech. Unilever said the deal would complement its “growing portfolio of innovative wellness and supplement brands.”

 

Panasonic said the acquisition, its largest for a decade, would accelerate its plans for autonomous supply chains, adding that the coronavirus pandemic and rise of e-commerce had “dramatically heightened” the need for more intelligent, autonomous and edge-aware supply chains.

 

The two companies initiated a strategic partnership in January 2019, followed by a joint venture company in Japan that launched in November 2019. This then led to Panasonic taking a 20% minority stake in Blue Yonder and a seat on the board in July 2020.

 

Yuki Kusumi, chief executive of Panasonic, said the deal would “create innovation in global supply chains” by reducing wasted labour and resources and contributing to the “realisation of a sustainable society by carefully using limited global resources”.