PPCC: Pisitófilos Creditófagos. Primavera 2024

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.expansion.com/ahorro/2024/06/01/665a2763e5fdea891f8b4579.html

Saludos.

[tomasjos]

Antes lo comenta Asustadísimos y antes sale en los medios.    https://elpais.com/planeta-futuro/2024-06-02/ahmad-al-bazz-cineasta-palestino-la-solucion-de-los-dos-estados-no-funciona-sobre-el-mapa.html  .

El entrevistado aboga por un único Estado mixto israelo- palestino.

[tomasjos]

También comentaba Asustadísimos sobre la rehispanización de América. Pues mira que hoy en Voz Populi un articulista se despacha con una elegía sobre este tema

https://www.vozpopuli.com/opinion/america-para-hispanoamericanos.html 

[Cadavre Exquis]

Could AI Replace CEOs?
Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday June 01, 2024 @11:34PM from the AI-CEO dept.

'"As AI programs shake up the office, potentially making millions of jobs obsolete, one group of perpetually stressed workers seems especially vulnerable..." writes the New York Times.

"The chief executive is increasingly imperiled by A.I."

These employees analyze new markets and discern trends, both tasks a computer could do more efficiently. They spend much of their time communicating with colleagues, a laborious activity that is being automated with voice and image generators. Sometimes they must make difficult decisions — and who is better at being dispassionate than a machine?

Finally, these jobs are very well paid, which means the cost savings of eliminating them is considerable...

This is not just a prediction. A few successful companies have begun to publicly experiment with the notion of an A.I. leader, even if at the moment it might largely be a branding exercise... [The article gives the example of the Chinese online game company NetDragon Websoft, which has 5,000 employees, and the upscale Polish rum company Dictador.]

Chief executives themselves seem enthusiastic about the prospect — or maybe just fatalistic. EdX, the online learning platform created by administrators at Harvard and M.I.T. that is now a part of publicly traded 2U Inc., surveyed hundreds of chief executives and other executives last summer about the issue. Respondents were invited to take part and given what edX called "a small monetary incentive" to do so. The response was striking. Nearly half — 47 percent — of the executives surveyed said they believed "most" or "all" of the chief executive role should be completely automated or replaced by A.I. Even executives believe executives are superfluous in the late digital age...

The pandemic prepared people for this. Many office workers worked from home in 2020, and quite a few still do, at least several days a week. Communication with colleagues and executives is done through machines. It's just a small step to communicating with a machine that doesn't have a person at the other end of it. "Some people like the social aspects of having a human boss," said Phoebe V. Moore, professor of management and the futures of work at the University of Essex Business School. "But after Covid, many are also fine with not having one."

The article also notes that a 2017 survey of 1,000 British workers found 42% saying they'd be "comfortable" taking orders from a computer.

Supongo que, tras leer la última frase de la entrada de Slashdot, es imposible evitar que a uno le venga a la cabeza aquel artículo de Anthony Wing Kosner publicado en Forbes allá por febrero de 2015...

Google Cabs And Uber Bots Will Challenge Jobs 'Below The API'

... y la mítica infografía que lo acompañaba:

Saludos.

[R.G.C.I.M.]

Ya no son ni latinos ni iberos?

Ya ha salido don Blas.
En nada nos inundan desmontando la leyenda negra y con la primera globalización, la primera moneda franca y el origen del símbolo del dólar 💲

Lo último será el paso a segundo plano de los indigenistas. Allí y aquí.
Aunque primero habrá que volver a estudiar en el cole a fray Bartolomé.


El imperio
a España vendrá
por los caminos del mar.

Sds

[senslev]

No se de qué hablas. Me parece que te vuelves a liar.

Insistes.






(Me imagino) unas cosas malas que están --supuestamente-- haciendo una élites --indeterminadas--. Eso me da a mí la escusa.

Yo creo que no. Primero, te lo imaginas tú, juez y parte. De lo de escuchar al otro, no digamos; de probar esas acusaciones; ni hablar. Segundo, se acusa a personas sin nombre, una élite o casta que seguro existe por ahí... De identificarlas, ni hablar. Y tercero, rompo todas las leyes de la Lógica formal y me autoadjudico el "derecho" de hacer yo lo que sólo --salvo prueba en contrario--; está en mi imaginación.




Sáltate los dos primeros pasos... y llegarás al mismo sitio sin tantas zarandajas. Yo sí puedo, yo sí tengo derecho... Un nena tú sí que vales en toda regla. (Ya lo inventó en positivo L'Oreal hace 50 años... y en negativo tendrá más años que Matusalen. "Halgo habrán hecho sas hélites... ")

[Betancourt]

Ya no son ni latinos ni iberos?

Ya ha salido don Blas.
En nada nos inundan desmontando la leyenda negra y con la primera globalización, la primera moneda franca y el origen del símbolo del dólar 💲

Lo último será el paso a segundo plano de los indigenistas. Allí y aquí.
Aunque primero habrá que volver a estudiar en el cole a fray Bartolomé.


El imperio
a España vendrá
por los caminos del mar.

Sds

que nos enseña la Historia
en Lepanto la Victoria
y la muerte en Trafalgar.

[Derby]

https://www.elconfidencial.com/cultura/2024-06-02/gente-espana-padres-muerte-herencia_3892512/

'TRINCHERA CULTURAL'
Hay demasiada gente en España esperando a que sus padres se mueran

Cada vez son más los que se dan cuenta de que no podrán acceder a la vivienda hasta que no reciban una herencia: qué terrible es que tu estabilidad dependa de la vida de tus padres

Me lo dijo una vez una amiga y no he podido quitarme la frase de la cabeza, sobre todo porque la he vuelto a oír en múltiples variantes: muchos españoles solo van a poder acceder a una vivienda en el momento más triste de sus vidas. Es decir, cuando sus padres mueran y hereden su casa. Solo en ese instante podrán tener un piso en propiedad o acceder a la entrada de una hipoteca. Triste, algo en lo que la mayoría no querríamos pensar, pero razonable en un contexto de acceso cada vez más difícil a la vivienda.

La desigualdad en España se explica en un alto grado por el reparto de las propiedades inmobiliarias, como explicaba El Confidencial la semana pasada. Solo el 31% de los hogares cuyo cabeza de familia tiene menos de 35 años posee una vivienda en propiedad, mientras que casi dos tercios de los jubilados poseen más de una propiedad inmobiliaria. Gran parte de esas viviendas (no todas) terminarán pasando de padres a hijos. Pero a saber cuándo. La tortura está en la espera. Qué triste que el tic tac hasta la estabilidad económica sea el del declive biológico de tus padres.

La vivienda ha sido desde hace décadas el lugar donde se han depositado la mayoría de ahorros de las clases medias y bajas españolas, especialmente en la época de acumulación inmobiliaria de los años ochenta y noventa, como explica Pedro Salas-Rojo, investigador de la London School of Economics, en el recién publicado La desigualdad en España (Lengua de Trapo y Círculo de Bellas Artes). "La vivienda es la parte fundamental de la riqueza en todas las familias, a no ser que seas extremadamente rico o pobre", recuerda.

Es decir, todo ese grueso de la sociedad que pudo acceder a un piso (y algunos de ellos a un apartamento en la playa, y algunos de ellos a otro piso, y algunos de ellos a un chalet) y que siempre tuvieron la idea y la ilusión de que fuesen a parar a manos de sus hijos. Eso se refleja en la obsesión tan reconocible entre los que hoy tienen más de 60 en dejar una casa a sus descendientes, y que estos compren en cuanto puedan. Pero la vivienda como inversión definitiva acarrea una maldición, que es que sus hijos solo la podrán disfrutar cuando no estén. Y, tal vez, sin confesarlo, estos se hayan puesto a hacer cuentas.

Qué bien se duerme sabiendo que algún día tendrás tu casa

Como explica Salas, ya ocurrió algo así en EEUU, donde nos llevan entre diez y quince años de ventaja y sus boomers son un poco mayores que nuestra generación de la Transición. Pero con matices. Esa transferencia se dio sobre todo en las clases más humildes. Las capas medias, sin embargo, ya habían vendido sus propiedades para disfrutar de jubilaciones más desahogadas porque sus hijos habían podido adquirir sus propias viviendas.

El economista recuerda que quizá se trate más bien de una sensación que cunde entre los jóvenes veinteañeros, que ven cada vez más lejos su acceso a la vivienda, porque a partir de cierta edad (40-45) se siguen comprando casas. Lo que está claro es que se ha producido un retraso respecto a la edad de adquisición de la primera vivienda, que no se refleja únicamente en lo que los herederos pueden hacer una vez han recibido su herencia, sino también antes. En otras palabras, qué bien se duerme sabiendo que algún día tendrás tu casa.

"Un joven proveniente de una familia de clase alta sabe que en algún momento futuro heredará una vivienda o parte de ella, además de cierta cantidad de activos financieros", explica Salas en su capítulo. "Esa certeza le otorga una mayor seguridad a la hora de tomar cualquier decisión a lo largo de su vida. Por ejemplo, podrá estudiar más tiempo, ya que probablemente recibirá también apoyo económico familiar sin perjuicio de su herencia futura. También podrá asumir riesgos, como iniciar varios negocios o invertir en mercados financieros con el ánimo de obtener rentabilidades más altas. Su fracaso en estas actividades no implicará necesariamente su pobreza futura, ya que ese bono actúa como red de seguridad. Todo ello impulsará sus oportunidades para obtener ingresos y ahorros elevados, acumulando así más riqueza".

O, como resume de forma descarnada, "hay gente que ya ha pegado el pelotazo aunque no se hayan muerto sus padres". Lo que ocurre con los futuros herederos es que son irreconocibles en apariencia. No es como el nivel educativo, que se refleja en la forma de hablar y comportarse; el dinero en el bolsillo, que se transforma en ropa de marca, belleza comprada y sospechosos trenes de vida; o los contactos, que se ven con echar un simple vistazo a los apellidos de sus amigos de Instagram. La frontera que separa a aquel que va a heredar del que no es casi imposible de ver.

La única forma de descubrirlo es fijarse en su comportamiento, como proponía el economista. Haga la prueba en su lugar de trabajo y descubrirá como aquellos que están seguros de su abundancia futura probablemente tengan menos miedo a un hipotético despido y sean más respondones, arriesgados o, directamente, ambiciosos que esos compañeros que carecen de una red de seguridad. Y que, por ello mismo, reflejan en su comportamiento el miedo a quedarse sin su principal sustento. El futuro heredero puede equivocarse una o dos veces. También, rechazar trabajos que a lo mejor no son muy interesantes, pero que otras personas necesitan para sobrevivir mientras que ellos "curran de lo suyo" (a veces gratis).

"Si sabes que vas a heredar, tienes más posibilidades de desarrollar tu proyecto"

Así, la sombra de la futura herencia se cierne sobre nosotros antes del momento de recibir ese "bono", como lo llama el economista. "Muchas veces pensamos en la herencia como algo que solo recibimos cuando se muere un familiar, pero no es así", explica. En Reino Unido, donde vive, los millennials que están pudiendo acceder a un piso no son solo los que lo han heredado, sino aquellos cuyos padres pueden figurar como aval para la entrada. Una "herencia implícita". "Si tus padres te hacen transferencias y sabes que tu herencia no va a mermar, tienes más oportunidades para desarrollar tu proyecto vital, sea emprender o presentarte a unas oposiciones".

Aquí todo el mundo se lo ha ganado

En la era de la crítica a la meritocracia nos centramos mucho en repetir que el esfuerzo no te lleva necesariamente al éxito, pero nos olvidamos del importantísimo papel que nuestros padres juegan a la hora de explicar todo tipo de desigualdades, tanto en sentido positivo como negativo. Por ejemplo, en lo material: cuántas vidas se han visto arruinadas por un padre que le ha dejado a su hijo deudas que ningún hombre honrado puede pagar.

También tiene su impacto en lo emocional y psicológico, una herencia que resulta mucho más difícil de medir porque se entremezcla fácilmente con lo biológico. Un padre maltratador o una familia disfuncional es una carga que nadie ha elegido y que puede condicionar en un alto grado la vida posterior de sus descendientes. Otra forma de herencia implícita que, sin embargo, también está relacionada con el nivel socioeconómico familiar. Por supuesto que en las clases altas también hay familias infelices, cada una a su manera, pero también que esos traumas pueden resultar más fáciles de aliviar en la abundancia económica. Las huellas del pasado son casi invisibles.

Para familias rotas que generan hijos truncados o limitaciones biológicas insuperables hay poca solución moralmente aceptable. Donde si hay es en aliviar esas desigualdades que las herencias agravan. Salas-Rojo recoge en su capítulo varias estrategias, como la subida de los tipos impositivos a las herencias y el establecimiento de unos mínimos comunes a nivel nacional para evitar las asimetrías fiscales dentro del territorio. Medidas que califica como limitadas si no van acompañadas de otras como "una activación completa del Estado de bienestar" a través de estrategias como el ingreso mínimo vital que acaben con la inseguridad económica de clases medias y desfavorecidas. O facilitar el acceso a la vivienda a través de transferencias directas, regulación del mercado de alquiler o el aumento del parque de vivienda pública.

Siendo un poco más utópicos, quizá se trata de convertir lo que hasta ahora ha sido un asunto privado de las familias en algo público, una idea que hace que mucha gente se tire de los pelos, pero que no se pone en duda en otras cuestiones. Me hacía gracia aquella idea de la herencia mínima universal, ese dinero que todos los españoles recibirían al cumplir 18, aunque solo fuese por su voluntad de repartir unas cartas que ya están marcadas de antemano. O una propuesta más arriesgada: que las herencias se repartan al azar. Así, al menos, nadie tendría que esperar la muerte de sus padres, sino la de unos desconocidos con los que no tiene ninguna vinculación emocional. Es menos triste.

[Derby]

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20240601271/the-us-economy-may-be-cooling-and-helping-to-tame-inflation-too

The U.S. economy may be cooling - and helping to tame inflation, too

Consumer spending and inflation show signs of ebbing

A cooler economy is usually not a welcome prospect, but the Federal Reserve's fight to restore low inflation might be dependent upon it.

That's why the latest report on consumer spending and inflation is sure to please worried Fed officials. Spending fell to a three-month low in April and a recent surge in inflation appeared to show signs of cresting.

"This was a Fed-friendly personal income and spending report that shows a clear shift in consumers' willingness and ability to spend in the second quarter," said chief U.S. economist Scott Anderson of BMO Capital Markets.

"Moreover, moderating demand appears to be starting to temper the surge in inflation we saw in the first three months of the year."

The Fed could get some more good news next week if the May employment report due on Friday shows another modest increase in new jobs. A shortage of labor has pushed up wages and made it harder to get inflation under control.

Wall Street forecasters predict the U.S. added 178,000 jobs in May, similar to the preliminary 175,000 increase in April that was the second smallest in two years.

To be sure, inflation is still too high.

The PCE price index, the Fed's preferred inflation barometer, is running close to 3% and other measures such as the consumer price index are even higher.

Yet the April price report also offered hints that the early 2024 surge in inflation may be over.

"Things didn't get any worse - that is the good news," said Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James.

The next step would be for inflation to begin to subside again - and that means economic growth likely has to cool further.

When consumers spend less, businesses hire less and or cut prices to attract buyers. Both of those approaches tend to lower inflation.

The danger, of course, is that a weaker economy could morph into a recession.

While a downturn would almost certainly quash inflation, it would also do grave damage to millions of Americans who would likely lose their jobs.

Fed officials most emphatically want to avoid such a scenario and cutting interest rates would help stave off a recession. But before the Fed can cut rates, the central bank needs further proof that inflation is resuming a downward trend.

Even some Fed economists, however, question whether the bank's long-term goal of 2% inflation will be achieve anytime soon.

A new research paper by the Cleveland Federal Reserve, for instance, suggests a 2% annual rate of inflation might not be achievable until 2027. That's a lot longer than top Fed officials in Washington are forecasting.

Fed officials have already made it clear, though, they would be willing to cut interest rates as long as inflation begins to slow again. They won't wait until the inflation rate drops to 2% again.

And the Fed would almost certainly act quickly if the economy sputtered.

-Jeffry Bartash

[sudden and sharp]

No se de qué hablas. Me parece que te vuelves a liar.

Insistes.






(Me imagino) unas cosas malas que están --supuestamente-- haciendo una élites --indeterminadas--. Eso me da a mí la escusa.

Yo creo que no. Primero, te lo imaginas tú, juez y parte. De lo de escuchar al otro, no digamos; de probar esas acusaciones; ni hablar. Segundo, se acusa a personas sin nombre, una élite o casta que seguro existe por ahí... De identificarlas, ni hablar. Y tercero, rompo todas las leyes de la Lógica formal y me autoadjudico el "derecho" de hacer yo lo que sólo --salvo prueba en contrario--; está en mi imaginación.




Sáltate los dos primeros pasos... y llegarás al mismo sitio sin tantas zarandajas. Yo sí puedo, yo sí tengo derecho... Un nena tú sí que vales en toda regla. (Ya lo inventó en positivo L'Oreal hace 50 años... y en negativo tendrá más años que Matusalen. "Halgo habrán hecho sas hélites... ")

Yo sí se de qué hablo, y de qué vas tú... y no me lías ni por casualidad.   

[Yupi_Punto]

Película con una oda satírica al cemento. Está incluida en la suscripción de Amazon.

https://m.filmaffinity.com/es/film155751.html

[Derby]

https://www.ft.com/content/ff3053df-344a-4ba7-b1f3-75b07a780b4f

Nestlé CEO says feeding ageing populations a priority as birth rates fall

World’s largest food group wants to focus on products that boost health of elderly


Nestlé is developing products that address the concerns of ageing populations, including avoiding micronutrient deficiencies © Joni Hanebutt/Alamy

The chief executive of Nestlé said feeding ageing populations had become a major priority as the world’s largest food company and infant formula pioneer reckons with dwindling birth rates around the globe.

“You’re seeing there is a longer term secular trend towards globally lower birth rates,” said Mark Schneider. “The 50+ age group in most countries around the world is going to increase significantly over the next 10 to 20 years. With that, and with the specific nutritional needs of that age group, there is an opportunity for us.”

Schneider said the company was focused on developing products that directly address the concerns of ageing populations, including maintaining a target weight, preserving muscle mass, avoiding micronutrient deficiencies and controlling blood sugar levels.

The former chief executive of healthcare group Fresenius has already invested heavily in specialised nutrition — fortified drinks, protein powders, vitamins and supplements — and led the company’s first foray into drugs with peanut allergy treatment Palforzia, which it sold last year after doctors failed to take it up.

Over the past 15 years food giants such as Nestlé, Danone and Mars have diversified away from just groceries into higher-growth sectors like specialised nutrition, petcare and coffee.

The category, which also includes infant formula, made up 15 per cent of Nestlé’s profits last year, compared with 50 per cent at French competitor Danone. Nestlé’s portfolio is weighted more towards adult and medical nutrition at 30 per cent compared with Danone’s 20 per cent.

“We’re not walking away from what we got started on, which is infant nutrition,” added Schneider, who in 2016 became the first ever outsider to be appointed to the helm of the Swiss multinational. “But we do see that in most economies around the world, the bigger demographic opportunity is among the middle aged and elderly.”

Last year the company announced it was closing an infant formula factory which serves the Chinese market, citing a sharp decline in the country’s falling birth rates. The number of deaths outstripped the number of births in the country by 2mn in 2023.


Mark Schneider: ‘When we talk about healthy ageing in humans, it is not only longevity but also about improved quality of life in your later years’ © Fabrice Coffini/AFP via Getty Images


Schneider acknowledged that the group had made errors in China.

“In China what happened in the last decade was a number of mistakes that prevented us from fully capturing the opportunity. A couple of ventures didn’t work out,” he said, citing the acquisition of peanut milk brand Yinlu and the loss of market share in infant formula.

The opportunity in providing nutritional products for ageing populations intersects with the opportunity presented by the growing uptake of obesity drugs, he added.

Research shows, for example, that people using GLP-1 weight-loss drugs struggle to maintain muscle. Nestlé has responded by launching a line of ready meals — Vital Pursuit — which contain extra protein and fibre, and portioned to suit a GLP-1 user’s appetite.

“When we talk about healthy ageing in humans, it is not only longevity but also about improved quality of life in your later years,” he said.

The ageing opportunity also applied to pets, another growth driver for the group, he added.

“As you become beholden to a particular pet, you want to preserve its lifespan as much as possible and avoid any medical issues.” The company sells a smart litter box system for cats, which can detect health conditions based on the animal’s behaviours and weight changes.

Schneider said premiumisation in wealthier markets, where pets are increasingly seen as fully entitled household and family members, was still driving growth in pet food and petcare sales.

The other driver was “caloric conversion” in emerging markets, he said, where people were switching away from using household food waste to feed their animals dedicated pet food.

[Derby]

https://www.ft.com/content/6ff9ec1c-9c8a-4873-aa5a-89e7eb4c0982

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says China helping Russia by sabotaging peace summit

Ukraine president urges US to go further to ease curbs on using weapons it supplies

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused China of helping Russia to pressure countries not to attend a planned peace summit this month, as Ukraine’s president urged other Asian leaders to join the event.

Speaking in Singapore at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue defence forum, Zelenskyy said Beijing, which has refused to attend the June 15-16 summit in Switzerland, was trying to disrupt the event for Moscow.

The Ukrainian leader said China was “in the hands” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy also criticised China for supplying Russia with dual-use items that the US says are being used to rebuild Moscow’s defence industry.

“With Chinese support to Russia, the war will last longer,” Zelenskyy said at a news conference on Sunday after speaking at the defence forum, which is attended by many defence ministers from the Indo-Pacific region.

Zelenskyy also met US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, his first meeting with a senior US official since the Biden administration partially lifted its ban on the use of some American-supplied weapons to strike military targets inside Russian territory across the border from Kharkiv region.

The Pentagon said Austin had used the meeting to “reiterate unwavering US support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression”.

At the press conference, Zelenskyy said the shift on US-supplied weapons was appreciated but still “not enough.” The White House still bars Ukraine from using long-range ATACMS missiles inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader also questioned how China could insist that it respected the territorial integrity of other nations when it was enabling Russia to prosecute its war against Ukraine.

Zelenskyy went to Singapore to urge countries to participate in the summit in Switzerland. “We need the support of Asian countries,” Zelenskyy said at the press conference.

Zelenskyy said he did not meet any Chinese officials in Singapore.

Earlier on Sunday, Chinese defence minister Dong Jun told the forum that China had not provided weapons to either party in the war in Ukraine. He said Beijing had “strict” export controls on dual-use items and had “never done anything to fan the flames”.

Washington has not accused Beijing of supplying weapons to Russia. But it says China has provided technology such as engines for drones and cruise missiles and machinery to make ballistic missiles.

Zelenskyy said 106 nations, and 75 leaders, had agreed to attend Ukraine’s peace summit.

Speaking at the Shangri-La event on Friday, Cui Tiankai, a former Chinese ambassador to Washington, said China would not attend because Russia was not invited. He said it was “impossible” to achieve peace without the participation of both parties in the conflict.

Dutch defence minister Kajsa Ollongren told Cui that Chinese participation would help. “I regret that China does not use its position as one of the countries that has an intense dialogue with President Putin,” said Ollongren.

China has published its own position paper on the Ukraine war that fails to condemn Russia’s invasion and contains veiled criticisms of Nato.

But while it has tacitly supported Russia, with Chinese state media copying Moscow’s talking points on the war, Beijing has been scathing of Israel’s actions in the war in Gaza.

The absence of Russia and China from the Switzerland summit has cast doubt about how much it can achieve. The Swiss government has said others could follow and a second meeting could include Moscow.

The summit will address three of the issues in Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan — security concerning nuclear facilities, food security and the release of prisoners of war — as well as the return of Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia.

Zelenskyy has spent months planning the summit and trying to attract as many countries and leaders as possible. He has strongly urged global south nations as well as presidents Biden and Xi to attend.

“The peace summit needs President Biden,” Zelenskyy said this week. “His absence would only be met by an applause by Putin, a personal, standing applause by Putin.”

[newclo]

Saludos ciberfamilia

Sabemos que de la reunión de pastores ?
Algún infiltrado del foro que nos pueda avanzar algo con la discreción que requiere la ocasión ?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.eldiario.es/economia/hermetismo-absoluto-cumbre-bilderberg-acoge-madrid-participacion-albares-cuerpo_1_11408226.amp.html

[newclo]

https://www.ft.com/content/ff3053df-344a-4ba7-b1f3-75b07a780b4f

Nestlé CEO says feeding ageing populations a priority as birth rates fall

World’s largest food group wants to focus on products that boost health of elderly


Nestlé is developing products that address the concerns of ageing populations, including avoiding micronutrient deficiencies © Joni Hanebutt/Alamy

The chief executive of Nestlé said feeding ageing populations had become a major priority as the world’s largest food company and infant formula pioneer reckons with dwindling birth rates around the globe.

“You’re seeing there is a longer term secular trend towards globally lower birth rates,” said Mark Schneider. “The 50+ age group in most countries around the world is going to increase significantly over the next 10 to 20 years. With that, and with the specific nutritional needs of that age group, there is an opportunity for us.”

Schneider said the company was focused on developing products that directly address the concerns of ageing populations, including maintaining a target weight, preserving muscle mass, avoiding micronutrient deficiencies and controlling blood sugar levels.

The former chief executive of healthcare group Fresenius has already invested heavily in specialised nutrition — fortified drinks, protein powders, vitamins and supplements — and led the company’s first foray into drugs with peanut allergy treatment Palforzia, which it sold last year after doctors failed to take it up.

Over the past 15 years food giants such as Nestlé, Danone and Mars have diversified away from just groceries into higher-growth sectors like specialised nutrition, petcare and coffee.

The category, which also includes infant formula, made up 15 per cent of Nestlé’s profits last year, compared with 50 per cent at French competitor Danone. Nestlé’s portfolio is weighted more towards adult and medical nutrition at 30 per cent compared with Danone’s 20 per cent.

“We’re not walking away from what we got started on, which is infant nutrition,” added Schneider, who in 2016 became the first ever outsider to be appointed to the helm of the Swiss multinational. “But we do see that in most economies around the world, the bigger demographic opportunity is among the middle aged and elderly.”

Last year the company announced it was closing an infant formula factory which serves the Chinese market, citing a sharp decline in the country’s falling birth rates. The number of deaths outstripped the number of births in the country by 2mn in 2023.


Mark Schneider: ‘When we talk about healthy ageing in humans, it is not only longevity but also about improved quality of life in your later years’ © Fabrice Coffini/AFP via Getty Images


Schneider acknowledged that the group had made errors in China.

“In China what happened in the last decade was a number of mistakes that prevented us from fully capturing the opportunity. A couple of ventures didn’t work out,” he said, citing the acquisition of peanut milk brand Yinlu and the loss of market share in infant formula.

The opportunity in providing nutritional products for ageing populations intersects with the opportunity presented by the growing uptake of obesity drugs, he added.

Research shows, for example, that people using GLP-1 weight-loss drugs struggle to maintain muscle. Nestlé has responded by launching a line of ready meals — Vital Pursuit — which contain extra protein and fibre, and portioned to suit a GLP-1 user’s appetite.

“When we talk about healthy ageing in humans, it is not only longevity but also about improved quality of life in your later years,” he said.

The ageing opportunity also applied to pets, another growth driver for the group, he added.

“As you become beholden to a particular pet, you want to preserve its lifespan as much as possible and avoid any medical issues.” The company sells a smart litter box system for cats, which can detect health conditions based on the animal’s behaviours and weight changes.

Schneider said premiumisation in wealthier markets, where pets are increasingly seen as fully entitled household and family members, was still driving growth in pet food and petcare sales.

The other driver was “caloric conversion” in emerging markets, he said, where people were switching away from using household food waste to feed their animals dedicated pet food.

Viendo la deriva de los acontecimientos y lo caricaturesco de los actores principales no me extrañaría que tuvieran el detalle de llamar a esa nueva línea de productos:
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