Elena Cristea, Sophie Weiss, Margarita Kolomeytseva, Jui Yeasmin

Food availability is referred as to sufficient quantities of food being available for consumption on a consistent basis (World Health Organization, 2013). Many different factors particularly driven by the process of globalization are influencing food availability around the globe. Availability and prices of food are changed through borders open for trade and especially imports. Cultural influences such as migration and tourism introduce new kinds of food. Furthermore the food industry and the presence of transnational corporations that act globally by sourcing their input and output markets in countries all over the world, have particularly been increasing diversity and availability of foodstuffs (Filippaios and Rama, 2008). With the introduction and growth of transnational supermarket chains availability as well as accessibility and prices have been changing (WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, 2007). This development initiated both positive and negative effects for developed as well as developing countries. Generally, transnational corporations have brought diversified availability of food including the spectrum from minimal to ultra-processed foods as well as diversity of food and culinary supply (Mak et al., 2012). Their high profits allow investment in research and development in order to enhance technologies improving shelf life, transportation and processing methods for food. Moreover food with nutritional value specifically developed to satisfy special needs such as medical foods can be researched on (Nestlé, 2013). Another important aspect is the ability of transnational companies to facilitate access of smaller companies to foreign markets and in this way giving them support to expand their business (e.g. Südzucker in Moldova).

However, there is always a flip side of the coin. With free trade opportunities only few companies share a particular stage of food chain through vertical and horizontal integration in to the global food market and thereby are destroying the competitive market which is an essential component of free and fair trade (FAO, 2013). Recent data shows that for most of the processing of agricultural products the concentration ratio for 4 companies ranges from 50% to 83% and it is even higher in input sector. In 2007, Nestle and Pepsico had global sale of $90 billion and $98 billion respectively which are more than Gross National Product of many least developed and middle income country (Gereffi, 2009). Very often they influence the food policy makers to present their own interest. Since TNCs spend a lot for promoting their product and in most of the cases they make their ads to attract the children, it eventually returns them as additional sale. TNCs even spread their business to rural area of developing countries through Foreign Direct Investment which has the effect of diminishing the local cultural food habit. They make their product cheaper to catch the poorer consumer and doing so they make it less nutrition dense and more energy dense and very often use harmful chemical for preservative and coloring purpose.

Food business is the type of activity requiring more adaptation from its actors. Even though homogenization of foodstuffs is a phenomenon that is expanding at very fast rates, the diets still remain largely national (Mak et al.,  2012).  This is an aspect which forces the food industry and TNCs operating in food industry to adapt to local needs. Global products and ideas can be accepted and adapted to suit local needs through “glocalisation” process. When transnational companies start operating on a new market, several strategies can be used (Filippaios and Rama, 2008), (Filippaios and Rama, 2008), (Mak et al., 2012). Strategies such as selling the product without changes on international markets; modifying products for different countries or regions; developing new products for foreign markets (Barbu, 2013) or exploring traditional local products (Danone, 2013). Examples of products modified to satisfy the local needs are the different varieties of burgers offered by McDonalds in different countries.  The increased consumption of “falafel” in Israel and the phenomenon of McDonaldisation are further proofs that globalization can lead to the reinvention of local food identities, or act as threat to these identities (Mak et al., 2012).

Furthermore, TNCs are major drivers of the acceleration of the nutrition transition, from traditional diets of whole or minimally processed foods to ultra-processed and energy-dense foods and drinks, and thus the normalization of unhealthy products (Moodie, et al., 2013), (Dummer and Cook, 2008), (Hawkes et al., 2012). Asia is a region where the change in dietary patterns is occurring rapidly passing through the stages of income-induced diet diversification and diet globalization and westernization (Pingali, 2006), (Schmidhuber and Prakash, 2013). These changes in nutrition together with the phenotypic and genotypic predisposition towards a more efficient metabolism and NCDs could result in a fast increase in the obesity and NCDs prevalence over the next generations. Thus, globalization has direct and indirect effects of the development of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). First are illustrated by the globalised production and marketing of alcohol, tobacco, and products with adverse effects on health. The indirect effects are referred to the national economic performance and operate through changes in household income, the exchange rate, government expenditure, and prices (Beaglehole et al., 2003). Promoting changes in food systems the world globalization has been leading to the new challenges and opportunities. While many developing countries are faced with the enduring burden of food insecurity and under-nutrition, modification of diet and physical activity patterns are raising the prevalence of diet-related NCDs, primarily obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and hypertension (WHO, 2003). Sedentary lifestyles and adoption of dietary patterns that can lead to high rates of obesity and NCDs are forced by increasing globalization (FAO, 2004).

As a conclusion, it can be pointed out that the role of food industry is to make good food available at the lowest price possible. Also, transnational companies are becoming more influential and globalization is a process that increases continuously. These phenomena have both positive effects and negative effects. Food is now more available, therefore attention should be given to consumer education for people to be able to choose a correct diet in order to avoid health problems.

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