Jamaican gas retailers pumping up own brands

SEVERAL of the 'seven sisters' of the petroleum industry, such as Shell, Esso and Texaco, have dominated the Jamaican gasoline retail trade for decades. However, local players have forced their way onto the scene in recent years, gnawing at the market share of the multinational integrated oil giants.

A picture of the change is painted throughout the streets of Kingston where, dotted among the foreign brand names that once monopolised the industry, are local trademarks such as Michael's, Johnson's, Epping and Unipet (United Petroleum Jamaica).

PepsiCo adapts in China

SHANGHAI: PepsiCo, the food and beverage giant, is leveraging digital media and new product development as a means of driving growth in China, where popular preferences are evolving rapidly.

While the US trading climate has proved particularly challenging as a result of the economic downturn, the world's most populous nation continues to flourish.

Europe, US “using fake drugs crisis to boost pharma profits”

The proliferation of substandard, dangerous medicines in poor countries is being used by rich nations as an excuse to tighten intellectual property (IP) rules, boosting the profits of large pharmaceutical companies while making it harder for poor people to get access to the medicines they need, claims a new report.

The study, which is produced by international aid agency Oxfam, is particularly critical of the European Union (EU) for “pushing for stricter levels of IP protection that would limit access to medicines. In many cases, these efforts have been supported - both tacitly and overtly - by the multinational pharmaceutical industry,” it claims.

Consumption growth to spawn many M&As in the FMCG space

India, with one of the fastest growing consumption markets in the world, is critical to the growth plans of multinational consumer companies with a presence here, more so because of the lacklustre growth in the developed markets, as reported in The Economic Times. Many multinational companies such as Nestle, Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, Kraft, Gillette and General Mills have operations in India and, over the last couple of years, several others like United Biscuits and Excelsia have also made an entry, the report adds.

Multinational Banana Corporation Displaces Afro-Colombian Peace Communities

Since early December, hundreds of private contractors of multinational banana corporation Banacol have illegally invaded and occupied Afro-Colombian peace communities in the Curvaradó river basin in order to clear the land for banana cultivation. Their actions have been supported and assisted by local paramilitaries, army soldiers and municipal governments.

China’s drive for ‘Indigenous Innovation' and foreign multinationals

China's focus on developing what it terms ‘Indigenous Innovation' is putting foreign multinationals in a bind.

The electronics sector is dominated by foreign firms and last year Foxconn, the giant Taiwanese contractor for firms such as Apple and Nokia, got unwelcome attention because of a series of suicides among its almost 1m strong workforce in China.

Multinationals Keep Egypt Offices Shut, Workers Home

Multinational companies had no immediate plans to reopen Egyptian offices or bring back evacuated employees after President Hosni Mubarak's attempt to restore stability failed to placate protesters.