Foreign Multinational Enterprises in the Food and Beverages Industries of the BRICS

Abstract

The bulk of food industry FDI to the BRICS seems to have gone to China and Brazil. FDI has contributed to industrial structural change and to changes in consumption patterns in the host countries. It has mainly focused on high value added subsectors and in concentrated markets. In spite of this, rivalry between foreign investors and the emergence of strong domestic firms has introduced some competition. Contribution to capital creation seems limited since Greenfield investment, as a mode of entry, has been far less popular than mergers and acquisitions; moreover, it has been centered almost exclusively in China and Russia. The chapter also studies the embeddedness of food and beverages MNEs in the BRICS. The longer business history of these firms and their substantial, continuous presence in Brazil suggest that those companies may have developed more interactions with domestic companies there than in the rest of the BRICS. However, business partnerships have been more important in China, India and Russia. Acquisitions have been more important in Brazil and South Africa. The companies are performing now R&D in the BRICS, notably in India and Brazil. Quality R&D seems to be mainly performed in India and China.

The Right to Free Commercial Speech in South Africa and its Tension with Public Health Interventions

“…1 Over the past two decades, industries producing unhealthy commodities, including food and beverages, experienced significant changes in commercial practice, including increases in foreign direct investments. 2 Marketing practices adopted by industries producing unhealthy commodities have been linked to changes in consumer behavior and often, poorer health outcomes. 3 In 2020, the government of South Africa proposed that increased restrictions to the marketing of unhealthy products including alcohol and unhealthy foods and beverages, to children should form part of its communications policy.…”