Globalisation in the food industries?

This paper reviews the various dimensions of globalisation and assesses their importance and implications for the food industries. Consumer markets are developing cross-border segments, but strong local consumption patterns remain; trade in processed foods is growing strongly, but is limited because foods are bulky and often perishable; foreign production by multinational food enterprises is increasing, but much of their activity remans ‘multi-domestic’. Nevertheless, the trends are all towards globalisation and this has important implications for productivity and growth, market integration, small and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture and industrial policy.