Misc

The Illusion of Choice in Consumer Brands

Published

5 years ago

July 21, 2016

Jeff Desjardins

The Illusion of Choice in Consumer Brands

Explore the full-size version of the above graphic in all its glory.

If today’s infographic looks familiar, that’s because it originates from a well-circulated report that Oxfam International puts together to show consolidation in the mass consumer goods industry.

We are sharing it because we believe it is important for you to be aware of who is supplying the different brands and goods served on your dinner table.

Unlikely Links

The illusion of choice does not arise from the products we expect the companies to sell. We inherently know that PepsiCo sells plenty of beverages, including its flagship product. We know that Nestlé makes Kit Kat, Nesquick chocolate syrup, Nespresso coffee machines, and Nescafé instant coffee.

What is less obvious is that Nestlé makes Gerber baby food, Hot Pockets, DiGiorno pizzas, and Stouffer brand frozen foods. Nestlé even owns two competing brands of fancy, carbonated water: San Pellegrino and Perrier.

In fact, Nestlé has at least 29 brands with annual sales over $1 billion. The company literally has hundreds of different products in sectors ranging from pet food to soups and sauces. It’s the world’s largest food company by revenues, and it’s worth a whopping $240 billion in market capitalization.

They Might Be Giants

It’s not just Nestlé that is mind-boggling in size and scope.

Other companies such as Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, Mondelēz, PepsiCo, General Mills, Danone, and Mars are also massive. They each own dozens of brands that dominate certain product categories.

Want to buy crackers? Pick up some Ritz, Triscuits, Wheat Thins, Air Crisps, or Premium brand crackers – but know they are all owned by Mondelēz (formerly Kraft Foods).

Buying a chocolate bar? There are seemingly hundreds to choose from, but its just the illusion of choice. They pretty much all come from Mars, Nestlé, or Mondelēz (which owns Cadbury).

There’s nothing wrong in buying from these brands, but remember that each dollar of your money is a vote. Vote for products and companies you believe in!

Note: the above graphic is about 1.5 years old, and it misses recent acquisitions or changes in brand ownership. For example, Power Bar is now owned by Post Holdings, another giant consumer foods conglomerate. That said, we believes the point of the graphic still comes across.

Related Topics:corporations illusion choice consumer goods

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Green

Visualizing Countries by Share of Earth’s Surface

There are 510 million km² of area on the Earth, but less than 30% of this is land. Here’s the share countries make up of the Earth’s surface.

Published

2 days ago

January 23, 2021

Nicholas LePan

Visualizing Countries by Share of Earth’s Surface

There are over 510 million square kilometers of area on the surface of Earth, but less than 30% of this is covered by land. The rest is water, in the form of vast oceans.

Today’s visualization uses data primarily from the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) to rank the world’s countries by their share of Earth’s surface.

Breakdown of Countries Share of Earth’s Surface

The largest countries by surface area are Russia (3.35%), Canada (1.96%), and China (1.88%).

Together they occupy roughly 7.2% of Earth’s surface. Russia is so big that even if we divided the country between its Asian and European sections, those new regions would still be the largest in their respective continents.

Country / Dependency	Total in km² (mi²)	Percentage of Earth's Surface
Russia	17,098,246 (6,601,670)	3.352%
Antarctica	14,000,000 (5,400,000)	2.745%
Canada	9,984,670 (3,855,100)	1.958%
China	9,596,961 (3,705,407)	1.881%
United States	9,525,067 (3,677,649)	1.867%
Brazil	8,515,767 (3,287,956)	1.670%
Australia	7,692,024 (2,969,907)	1.508%
India	3,287,263 (1,269,219)	0.644%
Argentina	2,780,400 (1,073,500)	0.545%
Kazakhstan	2,724,900 (1,052,100)	0.534%
Algeria	2,381,741 (919,595)	0.467%
D.R. Congo	2,344,858 (905,355)	0.460%
Greenland (Denmark)	2,166,086 (836,330)	0.425%
Saudi Arabia	2,149,690 (830,000)	0.421%
Mexico	1,964,375 (758,449)	0.385%
Indonesia	1,910,931 (737,815)	0.375%
Sudan	1,861,484 (718,723)	0.365%
Libya	1,759,540 (679,360)	0.345%
Iran	1,648,195 (636,372)	0.323%
Mongolia	1,564,110 (603,910)	0.307%
Peru	1,285,216 (496,225)	0.252%
Chad	1,284,000 (496,000)	0.252%
Niger	1,267,000 (489,000)	0.248%
Angola	1,246,700 (481,400)	0.244%
Mali	1,240,192 (478,841)	0.243%
South Africa	1,221,037 (471,445)	0.239%
Colombia	1,141,748 (440,831)	0.224%
Ethiopia	1,104,300 (426,400)	0.216%
Bolivia	1,098,581 (424,164)	0.215%
Mauritania	1,030,700 (398,000)	0.202%
Egypt	1,002,450 (387,050)	0.197%
Tanzania	945,087 (364,900)	0.185%
Nigeria	923,768 (356,669)	0.181%
Venezuela	916,445 (353,841)	0.180%
Pakistan	907,843 (350,520)	0.178%
Namibia	825,615 (318,772)	0.162%
Mozambique	801,590 (309,500)	0.157%
Turkey	783,562 (302,535)	0.154%
Chile	756,102 (291,933)	0.148%
Zambia	752,612 (290,585)	0.148%
Myanmar	676,578 (261,228)	0.133%
Afghanistan	652,230 (251,830)	0.128%
South Sudan	644,329 (248,777)	0.126%
Somalia	637,657 (246,201)	0.125%
Central African Republic	622,984 (240,535)	0.122%
Ukraine	603,500 (233,000)	0.118%
Madagascar	587,041 (226,658)	0.115%
Botswana	581,730 (224,610)	0.114%
Kenya	580,367 (224,081)	0.114%
France	543,940 (210,020)	0.107%
Yemen	527,968 (203,850)	0.104%
Thailand	513,120 (198,120)	0.101%
Spain	505,992 (195,365)	0.099%
Turkmenistan	488,100 (188,500)	0.096%
Cameroon	475,442 (183,569)	0.093%
Papua New Guinea	462,840 (178,700)	0.091%
Sweden	450,295 (173,860)	0.088%
Uzbekistan	447,400 (172,700)	0.088%
Morocco	446,550 (172,410)	0.088%
Iraq	438,317 (169,235)	0.086%
Paraguay	406,752 (157,048)	0.080%
Zimbabwe	390,757 (150,872)	0.077%
Norway	385,207 (148,729)	0.076%
Japan	377,976 (145,937)	0.074%
Germany	357,114 (137,882)	0.070%
Republic of the Congo	342,000 (132,000)	0.067%
Finland	338,424 (130,666)	0.066%
Vietnam	331,212 (127,882)	0.065%
Malaysia	330,803 (127,724)	0.065%
Ivory Coast	322,463 (124,504)	0.063%
Poland	312,696 (120,733)	0.061%
Oman	309,500 (119,500)	0.061%
Italy	301,339 (116,348)	0.059%
Philippines	300,000 (120,000)	0.059%
Ecuador	276,841 (106,889)	0.054%
Burkina Faso	274,222 (105,878)	0.054%
New Zealand	270,467 (104,428)	0.053%
Gabon	267,668 (103,347)	0.052%
Guinea	245,857 (94,926)	0.048%
United Kingdom	242,495 (93,628)	0.048%
Uganda	241,550 (93,260)	0.047%
Ghana	238,533 (92,098)	0.047%
Romania	238,397 (92,046)	0.047%
Laos	236,800 (91,400)	0.046%
Guyana	214,969 (83,000)	0.042%
Belarus	207,600 (80,200)	0.041%
Kyrgyzstan	199,951 (77,202)	0.039%
Senegal	196,722 (75,955)	0.039%
Syria	185,180 (71,500)	0.036%
Cambodia	181,035 (69,898)	0.035%
Uruguay	176,215 (68,037)	0.035%
Somaliland	176,120 (68,000)	0.035%
Suriname	163,820 (63,250)	0.032%
Tunisia	163,610 (63,170)	0.032%
Bangladesh	148,460 (57,320)	0.029%
Nepal	147,181 (56,827)	0.029%
Tajikistan	143,100 (55,300)	0.028%
Greece	131,957 (50,949)	0.026%
Nicaragua	130,373 (50,337)	0.026%
North Korea	120,540 (46,540)	0.024%
Malawi	118,484 (45,747)	0.023%
Eritrea	117,600 (45,400)	0.023%
Benin	114,763 (44,310)	0.022%
Honduras	112,492 (43,433)	0.022%
Liberia	111,369 (43,000)	0.022%
Bulgaria	111,002 (42,858)	0.022%
Cuba	109,884 (42,426)	0.022%
Guatemala	108,889 (42,042)	0.021%
Iceland	103,000 (40,000)	0.020%
South Korea	100,210 (38,690)	0.020%
Hungary	93,028 (35,918)	0.018%
Portugal	92,226 (35,609)	0.018%
Jordan	89,342 (34,495)	0.018%
Serbia	88,361 (34,116)	0.017%
Azerbaijan	86,600 (33,400)	0.017%
Austria	83,871 (32,383)	0.016%
United Arab Emirates	83,600 (32,300)	0.016%
Czech Republic	78,865 (30,450)	0.015%
Panama	75,417 (29,119)	0.015%
Sierra Leone	71,740 (27,700)	0.014%
Ireland	70,273 (27,133)	0.014%
Georgia	69,700 (26,900)	0.014%
Sri Lanka	65,610 (25,330)	0.013%
Lithuania	65,300 (25,200)	0.013%
Latvia	64,559 (24,926)	0.013%
Togo	56,785 (21,925)	0.011%
Croatia	56,594 (21,851)	0.011%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	51,209 (19,772)	0.010%
Costa Rica	51,100 (19,700)	0.010%
Slovakia	49,037 (18,933)	0.010%
Dominican Republic	48,671 (18,792)	0.010%
Estonia	45,227 (17,462)	0.009%
Denmark	43,094 (16,639)	0.008%
Netherlands	41,850 (16,160)	0.008%
Switzerland	41,284 (15,940)	0.008%
Bhutan	38,394 (14,824)	0.008%
Taiwan	36,193 (13,974)	0.007%
Guinea-Bissau	36,125 (13,948)	0.007%
Moldova	33,846 (13,068)	0.007%
Belgium	30,528 (11,787)	0.006%
Lesotho	30,355 (11,720)	0.006%
Armenia	29,743 (11,484)	0.006%
Solomon Islands	28,896 (11,157)	0.006%
Albania	28,748 (11,100)	0.006%
Equatorial Guinea	28,051 (10,831)	0.005%
Burundi	27,834 (10,747)	0.005%
Haiti	27,750 (10,710)	0.005%
Rwanda	26,338 (10,169)	0.005%
North Macedonia	25,713 (9,928)	0.005%
Djibouti	23,200 (9,000)	0.005%
Belize	22,966 (8,867)	0.005%
El Salvador	21,041 (8,124)	0.004%
Israel	20,770 (8,020)	0.004%
Slovenia	20,273 (7,827)	0.004%
Fiji	18,272 (7,055)	0.004%
Kuwait	17,818 (6,880)	0.003%
Eswatini	17,364 (6,704)	0.003%
East Timor	14,919 (5,760)	0.003%
The Bahamas	13,943 (5,383)	0.003%
Montenegro	13,812 (5,333)	0.003%
Vanuatu	12,189 (4,706)	0.002%
Qatar	11,586 (4,473)	0.002%
The Gambia	11,295 (4,361)	0.002%
Jamaica	10,991 (4,244)	0.002%
Kosovo	10,887 (4,203)	0.002%
Lebanon	10,452 (4,036)	0.002%
Cyprus	9,251 (3,572)	0.002%
State of Palestine	6,020 (2,320)	0.001%
Brunei	5,765 (2,226)	0.001%
Trinidad and Tobago	5,130 (1,980)	0.001%
Cape Verde	4,033 (1,557)	0.001%
Samoa	2,842 (1,097)	0.001%
Luxembourg	2,586 (998)	0.001%
Mauritius	2,040 (790)	0.000%
Comoros	1,862 (719)	0.000%
São Tomé and Príncipe	964 (372)	0.000%
Kiribati	811 (313)	0.000%
Bahrain	778 (300)	0.000%
Dominica	751 (290)	0.000%
Tonga	747 (288)	0.000%
Singapore	728 (281)	0.000%
Federated States of Micronesia	702 (271)	0.000%
Saint Lucia	616 (238)	0.000%
Andorra	468 (181)	0.000%
Palau	459 (177)	0.000%
Seychelles	452 (175)	0.000%
Antigua and Barbuda	442 (171)	0.000%
Barbados	430 (170)	0.000%
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	389 (150)	0.000%
Grenada	344 (133)	0.000%
Malta	316 (122)	0.000%
Maldives	300 (120)	0.000%
Saint Kitts and Nevis	261 (101)	0.000%
Marshall Islands	181 (70)	0.000%
Liechtenstein	160 (62)	0.000%
San Marino	61 (24)	0.000%
Tuvalu	26 (10)	0.000%
Nauru	21 (8.1)	0.000%
Monaco	2.02 (0.78)	0.000%
Vatican City	0.49 (0.19)	0.000%

Antarctica, although not a country, covers the second largest amount of land overall at 2.75%. Meanwhile, the other nations that surpass the 1% mark for surface area include the United States (1.87%), Brazil (1.67%), and Australia (1.51%).

The remaining 195 countries and regions below 1%, combined, account for the other half of Earth’s land surface. Among the world’s smallest countries are the island nations of the Caribbean and the South Pacific Ocean. However, the tiniest of the tiny are Vatican City and Monaco, which combine for a total area of just 2.51 km².

The remaining 70% of Earth’s surface is water: 27% territorial waters and 43% international waters or areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

In the past, nations adhered to the freedom-of-the-seas doctrine, a 17th century principle that limited jurisdiction over the oceans to a narrow area along a nation’s coastline. The rest of the seas did not belong to any nation and were free for countries to travel and exploit.

This situation lasted into the 20th century, but by mid-century there was an effort to extend national claims as competition for offshore resources became increasingly fierce and ocean pollution became an issue.

In 1982, the United Nations adopted the Law of the Sea Convention which extended international law over the extra-territorial waters. The convention established freedom-of-navigation rights and set territorial sea boundaries 12 miles (19 km) offshore with exclusive economic zones up to 200 miles (322 km) offshore, extending a country’s influence over maritime resources.

Does Size Matter?

The size of countries is the outcome of politics, economics, history, and geography. Put simply, borders can change over time.

In 1946, there were 76 independent countries in the world, and today there are 195. There are forces that push together or pull apart landscapes over time. While physical geography plays a role in the identity of nations, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former ruler of UAE, a tiny Gulf nation, put it best:

“A country is not measured by the size of its area on the map. A country is truly measured by its heritage and culture.”

Technology

The World’s Top Car Manufacturers by Market Capitalization

Published

4 days ago

January 21, 2021

Iman Ghosh

The World’s Top Car Manufacturers by Market Cap

View the high-resolution of the infographic by clicking here.

Ever since Apple and other Big Tech companies hit a market capitalization of $1 trillion, many sectors are revving to follow suit—including the automotive industry.

But among those car brands racing to reach this total valuation, some are closer to the finish line than others. This visualization uses data from Yahoo Finance to rank the world’s top car manufacturers by market capitalization.

What could this spell for the future of the automotive industry?

A special hat-tip to Brandon Knoblauch for compiling the original, regularly-updated spreadsheet.

The World’s Top Car Manufacturers

It’s clear one company is pulling far ahead of the pack. In the competition to clinch this coveted title, Tesla is the undoubted favorite so far.

The electric vehicle (EV) and clean energy company first became the world’s most valuable car manufacturer in June 2020, and shows no signs of slowing its trajectory.

Rank	Company	Market Cap (US$B)	Country
#1	Tesla	$795.8	🇺🇸 U.S.
#2	Toyota	$207.5	🇯🇵 Japan
#3	Volkswagen	$96.7	🇩🇪 Germany
#4	BYD	$92.7	🇨🇳 China
#5	NIO	$89.5	🇨🇳 China
#6	Daimler	$72.8	🇩🇪 Germany
#7	General Motors	$71.3	🇺🇸 U.S.
#8	BMW	$54.2	🇩🇪 Germany
#9	Stellantis	$54.2	🇳🇱 Netherlands
#10	Ferrari	$52.5	🇮🇹 Italy
#11	Honda	$46.9	🇯🇵 Japan
#12	Hyundai	$46.8	🇰🇷 South Korea
#13	SAIC	$45.2	🇨🇳 China
#14	Geely	$39.5	🇨🇳 China
#15	Ford	$39.4	🇺🇸 U.S.
#16	Xpeng	$33.9	🇨🇳 China
#17	Maruti Suzuki	$33.1	🇮🇳 India
#18	Li Auto	$29.5	🇨🇳 China
#19	Suzuki	$23.7	🇯🇵 Japan
#20	Nissan	$20.1	🇯🇵 Japan
#21	Subaru	$15.2	🇯🇵 Japan
#22	Changan	$14.6	🇨🇳 China
#23	Mahindra	$13.9	🇮🇳 India
#24	Renault	$12.0	🇫🇷 France

All data as of January 15, 2021 (9:30AM PST)

Tesla’s competitive advantage comes as a result of its dedicated emphasis on research and development (R&D). In fact, many of its rivals have admitted that Tesla’s electronics far surpass their own—a teardown revealed that its batteries and AI chips are roughly six years ahead of other industry giants such as Toyota and Volkswagen.

The Green Revolution is Underway

The sheer growth of Tesla may spell the inevitability of a green revolution in the industry. Already, many major brands have followed in the company’s tracks, announcing their own ambitious plans to add more EVs to their vehicle line-ups.

Here’s how a selection of car manufacturers are embracing the electric future:

Toyota: Ranked #2

The second-most valuable car manufacturer in the world, Toyota is steadily ramping up its EV output. In 2020, it produced 10,000 EVs and plans to increase this to 30,000 in 2021.

Through this gradual increase, the company hopes to hit an expected target of 500,000 EVs by 2025. Toyota also aims to debut 10 new models internationally to achieve this goal.

Volkswagen: Ranked #3

By 2025, Volkswagen plans to invest $86 billion into digital and EV technologies. Considering the car manufacturer generates the most gross revenue per second of all automakers, it’s no wonder Volkswagen is looking to the future in order to keep such numbers up.

The company is also well-positioned to ride the wave of a potential consumer shift towards EVs in Europe. In response to the region’s strict emissions targets, Volkswagen upped its planned sales proportions for European hybrid and EV sales from 40% to 60% by 2030.

BYD and Nio: Ranked #4-5

China jumped on the electric bandwagon early. Eager to make its mark as a global leader in the emerging technology of lithium ion batteries (an essential component of any EV), the Chinese government handed out billions of dollars in subsidies—fueling the growths of domestic car manufacturers BYD and Nio alike.

BYD gained the interest and attention of its billionaire backer Warren Buffett, while Nio is China’s response to Tesla and an attempt to capture the EV market locally.

General Motors: Ranked #7

Also with a 2025 target year in mind, General Motors is investing $27 billion into electric and fully autonomous vehicles. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, too—the company also hopes to launch 30 new fully electric vehicles by the same year.

One particular factor is giving GM confidence: its new EV battery creations. They will be able to extend the range of its new EVs to 400 miles (644km) on a single charge, at a rate that rivals Tesla’s Model S.

Stellantis: Ranked #9

In a long-anticipated move, Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot S.A. finalized their merger into Stellantis N.V. on January 16, 2021.

With the combined forces and funds of a $52 billion deal, the new Dutch-based car manufacturer hopes to rival bigger brands and race even more quickly towards the electric shift.

Honda: Ranked #11

Speaking of fast-paced races, Honda has decided to bow out of future Formula One (F1) World Championships. As these competitions were usually a way for the company to show off its engineering prowess, the move was a surprising one.

However, there’s a noble reason behind this decision. Honda is choosing instead to focus on its commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050. To do so, it’ll be shifting its financial resources away from F1 and towards R&D into fuel cell vehicle (FCV) and battery EV (BEV) technologies.

Ford: Ranked #15

Ford knows exactly what its fans want. In that regard, its electrification plans begin with its most popular commercial cars, such as the Mustang Mach-E SUV. This is Ford’s major strategy for attracting new EV buyers, part of a larger $11.5 billion investment agenda into EVs through 2022.

While the car’s specs compare to Tesla’s Model Y, its engineers also drew from the iPhone and Netflix to incorporate an infotainment system and driver profiles to create a truly tech-first specimen.

Speeding into the Horizon

As more and more companies enter the racetrack, EV innovation across the entire industry may power the move to lower overall costs, extend the total range of vehicles, and put any other concerns by potential buyers to rest.

While Tesla is currently in the best position to become the first car manufacturer to reach the $1 trillion milestone, how long will it be for the others to catch up?