Consolidated, C class changes plans of industry and retail
Valor Econômico
C Class, which already represents 100 million people, or half of the population of the country, continues being the main engine that supports the sales of the retail and the industry. The income increased this year stimulated by the increase of 12% of the minimum wage; unemployment did not present the feared intensity and extension; and the fall in the interest rate, still slow, helps increase the concession of credit. The setting outlined this year, even with the global crisis still unsolved, shows that the new C Class is not a conjuncture phenomenon, it came to stay and it is more demanding, changing the long-term strategy of the companies.
C Class, which has been growing with greater vigor since 2003, and in the last two years gained 22.5 million people, called the attention of the retail and the industry of final consumption goods, which intensify specific strategies to meet this more demanding consumer.
The message was caught by the leader of white line products in the country, the multinational Whirlpool, owner of the brands Brastemp and Consul. In order to cater to the consumer who wants a more modern refrigerator that does not need to be defrosted to be clean, but could not buy a two-door "frost free", the company launched in October a single-door Consul "frost free" refrigerator, more popular brand than Brastemp.
Nestlé already has 20 products specifically aimed at the low income population, either with different nutritional characteristics - such as the addition of vitamins or with changes in the flavor (in general sweeter) - or with smaller and more economic packages, such as the sachets of Farinha Láctea and Nescau. The items are distributed in the retail in the Northeast and in the door-to-door operation of the multinational, started in 2006.
In the retail, the power of C Class caused the Pão de Açucar group to reevaluate formats last year and outline a strategy aimed at the growth of the "atacarejo" brand Assaí - a hybrid model of wholesale and retail -, acquired at the end of 2007. "With large stores but no frills, the focus of Assai is the consumer who seeks price and the small-size processor", says José Roberto Tambasco, Vice-President of the group. "We doubled the size of the Assaí chain last year and we will double it again", he adds. The chain currently has 32 units. The goal is to start 2011 with 62 stores. The group is not the only one to pay attention to this public, the rival Carrefour also invests in the "atacarejo" brand Atacadão and in the Dia discount stores. In the first half of the year six Atacadão units and 15 Dia stores were inaugurated.