Unilever sees 'return to poverty' in Europe

FRANKFURT: Dutch food and cosmetics giant Unilever expects poverty to rise in Europe as a result of the eurozone crisis and is therefore rethinking its marketing, according to a newspaper report Monday.

"Poverty is returning to Europe," the head of Unilever's European business, Jan Zijderveld, told the Financial Times Deutschland in an interview.

"If a consumer in Spain only spends 17 euros ($21) when they go shopping, then I'm not going to be able to sell them washing powder for half of their budget," Zijderveld noted.

Unilever would therefore use marketing strategies that it used in developing countries in Asia, he suggested.