The emphasis of this chapter is on particular BHR issues and challenges as they arise in different industries, how those industries deal with them, and what specific policy instruments have been put in place to address those issues. The brief overviews provided do not aim at being comprehensive, but rather at giving short introductions to the prevailing challenges, solutions, and best practices in some of the industries that are most exposed to human rights risks and impacts. Furthermore, it will outline some of the more prominent sector-specific guidelines and initiatives in these industries.The following industries are dealt with: the Extractive sector; the Finance and Banking sector; the Information and Communication Technology sector; the Garment and Footwear sector; and the Food, Beverage, and Agribusiness sector.

Middle class population accounts for about 48% of the whole world, which in expenditures represent 53% regarding the global GDP. The middle of the socioeconomic pyramid from developing economies is also an important market. In Latin America, this sector of the population grew 50% the past decade. This trend is reflected in the growth of consumption and demand of essential and discretionary products. As the market has been changing, the tastes and preferences of this population have been changing as well. In order to understand this phenomenon, we analyze firms from Latin America.

These are the cases of Grupo Fabricas Selectas (Mexico) with toy balls, Sanchez y Martin (Mexico) manufacturing bar soaps and detergents, and Tricot (Peru), Topitop (Chile), and Permoda (Colombia) – the three of them in the garment sector. Main lessons regarding their success in the middle of the pyramid are the following: these firms are strongly focused on R&D in order to create products with a strong value that consumers of the middle of the pyramid really appreciate and thus gain consumer preference. Moreover, some firms have created commercial networks and alliances to meet middle of the pyramid consumers’ wants and needs.