Top 50 most purchased brands in the world

January 4, 2017

Coca-Cola was the most purchased brand in the world during 2016, followed by Colgate and Lifebuoy soap, according to a new study.

The research, from the Kantar Worldpanel Brand Footprint study, ranked the top 50 brands in the FMCG space.

The ranking is based on how many households around the world are buying each brand and how often, a metric Kantar Worldpanel calls “Consumer Reach Points.”

In its analysis of shopper behavior between October 2014 and October 2015, it examined 300 billion shopper decisions, encompassing 15,00 brands in 44 countries.

The study also found that emerging markets accounted for 82% of FMCG growth.

Here are the top 10 brands in its latest ranking:

10. Dove: Owned by Unilever, Dove added 31 million households compared to the number of households it added last year.

9. Knorr: Also owned by Unilever, Knorr sells stock cubes, flavor pots and powder mixes.

8. Indomie: The Asian instant-noodle brand ranks as the number-one brand in Indonesia. It’s recently expanded to Turkey.

7. Nescafé: The Nestlé-owned coffee brand is still popular, but fell from its ranking of 6th place in the 2014 ranking.

6. PepsiCo: The soft drink maker’s popularity is bolstered by Egypt, one of the few parts of the world where people choose Pepsi more often than Coke.

5. Lays: Also owned by PepsiCo, Lays added 25 million households to its reach over the year.

4. Maggi: This Nestlé-controlled company makes instant soups, sauces, stocks and noodles.

3. Lifebuoy: This soap brand added disinfecting devices to shopping cart handles in the UAE and Indonesia. It also created a warning system to remind people to wash their hands thoroughly.

2. Colgate: The toothpaste brand—already being bought by two-thirds of households worldwide—added 40 million households to its customer base this year, the largest gain of all brands in the analysis.

1. Coca-Cola: The red-bottled cola was ranked as the most popular brand of the past year. It’s built its notoriety by supplying local stores with branded refrigerators for its drinks.

The data for this year’s ranking was collected over the 52 week period between 12 October 2014 and 11 October 2015.

Alison Martin, Director at Kantar Worldpanel said: “Where modern trade (supermarkets and hypermarkets) is the dominant distribution channel for many global brands, the opposite is true for local brands who distribute through more traditional methods and are thriving in the emerging markets which are naturally showing higher rates of growth.

For local brands, the world is their country: they look nationwide rather than just tier one or tier two cities. Not only are there significantly more local brands across the world, it is generally the case that they will reach more shoppers in more remote parts of their market, working in closer concert with consumer need. Where budgets are tight, they will adjust price points or pack size. In large emerging markets such as China, India and Indonesia, many consumers see local brands as not only familiar but also more affordable and widely available.”

The full list of the top 25 brands is shown below (the top 50 can be found in the full report in the link below).

Josep Montserrat, Global CEO of Kantar Worldpanel, said: “The focus of this year’s Brand Footprint report extends beyond the Top 50 ranking as the pressure from local brands continues to bear on their global competition. While reflecting the growth of smaller and local brands, we also scrutinise more niche players, looking at both local brands and brands poised to break into the ranking.

Whether you’re a global, local or fledgling player, I congratulate every brand that features in this report, which I hope serves both as a comprehensive look back at 2015 and as a roadmap for growth for the years to come.”