The following video is part of our "Motley Fool Conversations" series, in which consumer goods editor/analyst Austin Smith and senior technology analyst Eric Bleeker discuss topics across the investing world.
In today's edition, Austin and Eric discuss how to play the emerging Indian economy. Each of the BRIC nations has its own dynamic approach to international brands. In India's case, while it has an enormous population, robust service sector, and rapidly rising middle class, it still lacks the infrastructure for consumer discretionary companies to make a big splash in the country. Until infrastructure is improved, it's likely to be the essentials, the consumer staples, that will perform well there. These products from Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and other such companies have been downsized and optimized for India's needs, and are currently better suited to operate in a weak infrastructure environment than, say, Nike, which relies on strong distribution channels and can't exactly downsize its shoes or as easily modify its products to accommodate low incomes.
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