Back when ancient civilisations flourished, the flow of inventions across hemispheres was pretty much two-way: gunpowder, printing and the compass came from Asia; missionaries and their bibles went in the opposite direction.
Now, with Asia and other emerging markets gaining economic power, the south-to-north flow of ideas and products is firmly on the agenda. Lightweight and cheap nappies that were originally designed for China, where a market for disposable diapers did not exist until only recently, have been introduced to UK and US retailers targeting parents with environmental concerns. Small packs of Nescafé coffee designed for cash-conscious Thais and Russians are on sale in austerity-era Europe.
For Harish Manwani, Unilever’s president for Asia, Africa, central and eastern Europe, these “reverse flows of innovation” are entirely logical. Emerging markets are home to more than half of the world’s people and the source of virtually all population growth. “By 2020, three-quarters of incremental consumer spending will come from emerging markets,” he says. “By then, consumer spending in Asia in purchasing power parity terms will overtake North America to become the largest consumer bloc.”