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We see them wherever we go. We can be in the middle of the Sudan or on a sidewalk café in France. Half way up to Mount Everest or on a dive boat in middle of the Caribbean. It always amazes us that these 5 products rule the world.
When we come home to Canada they are sold in our liquor stores, our supermarkets and even on the shelves our mom and pop corner stores.
Who owns these companies? Who runs these companies? And how do they get their products to the middle of a barren desert, through an untamed jungle, to the middle of an Indian bazaar or up a rugged mountain?
Table of Contents
5 Companies Found Everywhere in the World
People talk about oil companies running the world, well we say these 5 products listed below have officially taken over the planet.
1. Coca Cola
Coke is the most universal drink in the world. Everyone knows that name Coca Cola.
I know people will tell you that the number one choice of beverage in the world (after water) is tea but there are several different kinds of tea out there.
Countries have their own brands of tea and types of tea that they consume.
They don’t however have their own soft drink that is more popular than Coca Cola.
We have been in the most remote places in the world and Coca-cola is in every place that we go.
The middle of the Sudanese desert springs to mind.
We couldn’t communicate with the local people when we were riding our bicycles from North Africa to the South, but when we entered a village, all we had to do was yell…“Coca Cola?“
People would look up and point us in the direction of an old shack that had warm bottles of Coke for sale.
No other product can compare with the reach that coca cola has all over the world. Everyone knows its name and everyone loves its taste.
2. La Vache Qui Rit aka: Laughing Cow Cheese
We have been to over 100 countries.
Many of those countries don’t even have cheese as a part of their diet, but there it is – Laughing Cow Cheese comes out and is served to us wherever we go in the world.
Or we go to the market and there is the funny looking laughing cow sitting in the refrigerator sitting beside the hummus or curd. You would never think that France would stoop to carrying La Vache Qui Rit in their supermarket.
They have the finest cheese in the world! Think again. We saw La Vache Qui Rit in every supermarket that we went to. Whether it be in a remote village in Asia or fine supermarkets in Europe, La Bache Qui Rit will show up as a delicious snack.
It is surprising how much we love Laughing Cow Cheese the longer we are in a remote region of the world.
The craving for cheese is so much that we can’t wait for our next triangle of the soft and yummy stuff.
3. Nescafé
We have visited some of the finest coffee nations in the world. Indonesia and Ethiopia are known for their fine coffee.
Our countries pay high premiums for coffee coming from Java, Sumatra, Costa Rica, Central America, and Kenya.
So why do they insist on serving us Nescafé when we visit?
You would think that it would be limited to developing nations.
People in Sri Lanka or Mexico must just think that we like Nescafé right?
Well, we just came back from Europe and Nescafé was alive and well in France, Spain, Andorra, and Italy.
These places are known for their incredible coffee and yet some of our hotels, restaurants and even small family restaurants served us Nescafé.
Nescafé has even cracked the finest of coffee drinkers all around the world.
4. Pringles
Ever feel like a taste from home?
Have your craved some potato chips but can’t stomach trying the local Masala flavour or the hot tamale chips?
Don’t worry, good old Pringles will be right next to the exotic flavor on the shelves of both the small shop that carries the homemade chips put in a plastic bag to the large supermarket that you happened to find in a mall. Pringles is everywhere and they are expensive.
You can count on spending the same amount of money, if not more on a tube of Pringles that you do at home.
Man, they are making a fortune! Many countries have even developed their own flavours of Pringles, we have found some pretty exotic kinds on grocery shelves of the world, but you will always have your fix from home as regular and sour cream and onion Pringles will always be available.
5. Carlsberg
Almost every country that we have been to has their own beer. Even most regions have their own local beer.
We have enjoyed Tiger, Chang, Cristal, Dos Equis, Singha… you get the idea. Everywhere in the world has their own beer. And then there is Carlsberg.
It seems to have been the brand of beer that has made in-roads to every market in the world.
We look at the drink menu and see a list of beers from a nation and then there is Carlsberg.
It is always priced a little higher than the other beer and whenever we look around we always see tourists drinking the more expensive Carlsberg as opposed to the local hooch. Carlsberg, we salute you. Even the wealthier locals are drinking you over their own beer. Carlsberg, you have trained the world well.
Do you have any products that you have seen repeatedly in your travels?
We have certainly seen other products as well.
- Fanta and Pepsi are other popular soft drinks,
- Lays Potato Chips are becoming popular.
- Liptons Tea
- Dairy Milk chocolate is a popular item as well.
But we have found the 5 products listed above to be popular wherever we go.
They always seem to turn up in the most remote places or even the most decadent of destinations. They truly are the powerhouse products of the world.
Note: This is not a scientifically proven fact, it is just an observation that we have noticed wherever we go. It may be wrong, but we have certainly noticed everyone of these 5 items listed above everywhere that we have been.
Ha, thanks for this post. I’m always surprised at how many places note the ubiquity of coke and nescafe, but not of pringles. I did a roadtrip through Cameroon some years ago and remember finding pringles in a little kiosk in a town of like 2000 people in the middle of the mountains, an hour up an awful barely-drivable track road from the main highway. They were expensive, as you mention. I remember also seeing pringles being sold at the lake ferry across lake Titicaca in Bolivia, and in the remotest parts of Argentina and Nicaragua, and I’ve heard they’re all over central Asia.
The only place I don’t remember finding pringles is Cuba, although we did see knock-off pringles in the same type of packaging. Coke was ubiquitous there, while pepsi was found but a little harder. Barilla pasta was also all over Cuba, but I didn’t see too many other global brands.
I should really start taking pictures to keep track of pringles sitings.
I never really noticed Carlsberg before – in Asia??
YOu’ve put together a fine list – however I can tell you what I CAN’T find anywhere in the world which I always crave – Twizzlers red licorice. Every time a friend would meet me I’d have them bring a pack from the US – a delicacy!
.-= Sherry Ott´s last blog ..signs =-.
We saw Carlseburg all over India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Now memory is fuzzy about South East Asia, but We are pretty sure that we saw it there too. Like I said, it isn’t a scientific post, just our observations:)
I haven’t traveled as extensive as you so I wonder have you seen ‘Red Bull’ everywhere you go? 🙂
.-= Amy @ The Q Family´s last blog ..Thailand With Kids- 5 Things We Love About Ko Samet =-.
We’ve seen RedBull in South East Asia and Central America. But didn’t see it in a lot of Africa. That is an excellent product suggestion though, I am sure that it won’t be long until it is everywhere too!
Being from the desert southwest, I loves me some good hot sauce, and Tabasco is something I’ve found on tables in every country I’ve been to. Oddly though, some restaurants here in the US don’t have it, so I carry a little bottle in my purse most of the time.
Another brand I see almost everywhere is Hershey’s milk chocolate bars, even in places known for their chocolate. Yum.
I’d love to know what you actually think of the Nescafe – I’ve never tried it but *allegedly* people can’t tell it from better coffees…. 🙂
.-= Trisha Miller´s last blog ..TBEX10 Conference Recap =-.
Great points Trisha, you are right, Tabasco does show up everywhere we’ve been. We didn’t think of that one. Hershey bars are quite popular too. The world loves it’s chocolate. We don’t love Nescafe, but maybe it is because in many of the places we have been it has just been the instant variety. However in France and Spain, Nescafe was good. Excellent point that we never thought about either.
I’ve written a story about the night I spent with the Taliban in a remote part of northern Pakistan (it happened by accident) and how at the end of the night, after listening to them speak negatively about all aspects of the US for five hours, the group offered me a bottle of Coca-Cola as a farewell gift. It had taken me two days standing in a jeep to even reach that region!
.-= Earl´s last blog ..Sleeping On Sofas And Floors =-.
Haha! that is amazing and incredible how far the arm of Coca Cola reaches. They had to lug that bottle with them for days on end. Just a little question…you need to link that article you wrote about the Taliban, I would love to read it. Is is on your blog or for a magazine? I definitely have to find it!
The story is actually on my blog. Here’s the link: http://www.wanderingearl.com/the-taliban-vs-andre-the-giant/
I hope you enjoy the tale!
.-= Earl´s last blog ..Sleeping On Sofas And Floors =-.
I will add McDonalds and Pizza Hut to the list. The ingredends list is quite a bit different in every country but the Golden Arches are familiar.
Good addition Steve, but in most of Africa you won’t find either McDonalds or Pizza Hut. We went through 10 countries from Egypt to South Africa and although Mcd’s had a presence at the two countries mentioned, it was not in any in between. It just hasn’t broke into the market in many places. We didn’t see it one in Nepal either. But you are right, if there are two restaurant chains that show up in most countries around the world it would be McDonalds and Pizza Hut. Thanks for the suggestion. And you are so right about the different menus. McDonalds in India is especially the most interesting because there isn’t any beef on the menu!
Yeah we cannot find Mc donald is Vietnam either or Cambodia as well.
Yes, no McDonalds in Vietnam or Cambodia yet. We didn’t see any in Mongolia when we were just there. Most of Africa doesn’t have them either.
We manage to find Jiffy Peanut Butter a lot which is always a blessing!
.-= Nicky´s last blog ..Festival Fun =-.
Oreos. We could always count on having a sleeve of Oreos in the bag for the long bus trip.
No matter where we go I can always find Dove soap.
My favorite part of cost-of-living research–seeing what products end up on what shelves in countries around the world! Oreos, Evian bottled water, Elle & Vire yogurt, Tabasco sauce, Heinz ketchup and Kellogg’s Corn Flakes are brands in my company’s market basket, brands that are found all over the world. To think, I can dunk an Oreo almost anywhere I travel…amazing.
Thanks for sharing this!
.-= Alan´s last blog ..PMBA Assignment 7- Permission Marketing =-.
You should add Kleenex to this list. We have found Kleenex brand tissues everywhere. When I was in college, I attended a presentation by Coca Cola for our business marketing class and they said that Coke had the majority cola market share in every country except India and Brazil, at that time. I’m sure that, by now, they have invaded those markets as well.
.-= Akila´s last blog ..the perfect vista- breathtaking =-.