Globalisation and growing incomes are leading to similarities worldwide in food distribution and diets, as food consumption patterns of high-income countries are being taken up by middle-income countries from Brazil and China to Mexico and Poland, according to an analysis by the US Economic Research Service (ERS).
This convergence has benefits and concerns, according to the study, conducted and reported by ERS economists Anita Regmi, Hiroyuki Takeshima and Laurian Unnevehr.
For instance, globalisation and higher incomes have improved access to and the availability of an array of more nutritious food products around the world, promoting global trade in these products, they said.
This has led to modernisation of food production and distribution in many developing nations, prompting agribusiness development and modern food regulations and safety standards, they noted.
At the same time, global trade has provided access to calorie-rich and highly processed foods, creating health and obesity issues, and it has come with risks such as cross-border contamination, they said.
Given what would be potential and significant benefits and problems, there is a need to understand the dynamics of the global food industry, the direction and pace of change in food consumption patterns and the evolution of foodservice and food retailing systems around the world, the researchers said.
Middle-income countries are beginning to resemble high-income countries in food distribution and purchasing within foodservice and retail channels, with upper-middle-income countries approaching the per capita expenditure for and sales of high-income countries and lower-middle-income countries gaining rapidly, Regmi, Takeshima and Unnevehr said.
An analysis of expenditure and sales data from 47 countries indicated that "a significant convergence" in food patterns is occurring for food in general and for cereals, dairy products, meat and poultry, seafood, sugar/confectionary, caffeinated beverages and soft drinks in particular.
This reflects both global income growth and rapid modernisation of food distribution systems.
The convergence was fastest in the early 1990s but slowed somewhat in the late-1990s and early 2000s in line with income growth trends, but, although slowing, the trend has continued. (Their report was written earlier this year, prior to the worldwide financial breakdown.)
The convergence has specifically been evident for several measures of food system modernisation, including consumer expenditures for packaged foods, for foodservice food - especially from quick-service restaurants - and in supermarkets.
The convergence also applies to label claims concerning a food product's convenience, healthfulness or quality or claims such as "natural," they said, noting that, interestingly, consumers in lower-middle-income countries responded more strongly to health claims than to other claims.
The researchers suggested that their findings are important because convergence trends imply that not only will demand for dairy, meat, poultry and other agricultural and food products continue growing around the world, but so will regulations and standards for food quality and safety.
* The complete study is available at the ERS website.
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