Researchers from Northeastern University in the US have developed a system for evaluating whether a food product is suitable for marketing to consumers in several different geographical and cultural markets, using an approach known as 'mind genomics'.

This is a bold proposal--will they be able to discover a food product that can truly be marketed globally without modification? Or, will the study make a recommendation that when carried out, ultimately fails, and the unsuccessful company quietly goes back to localizing its products? I had trouble imagining any food product that could be marketed globally without localizing it. Beverages like Coke are marketed in a very local fashion, and the product itself is made locally from the area's water supply. Therefore, even a very plain-labelled bottle of highly-distilled water might be unmarketable globally if it is marketed and sold it in exactly the same way in every country .

Then again, they may discover that the food product most suitable for marketing globally is drinkable yogurt.