CEOs From World’s Major Businesses Set To Advance Action on Urgent Sustainability Challenges at the Consumer Goods Forum’s Global Summit

May 29, 2024 /3BL/ - Hundreds of CEOs from the world’s major consumer goods retailers and manufacturers are gearing up for The Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) Global Summit in Chicago, United States, which will involve three days of inspiring and action-orientated talks to help catalyse the positive changes that people, planet and business urgently need.

• The Consumer Goods Forum’s upcoming Global Summit, from 11-14 June in Chicago, will unite CEOs from hundreds of retailers and manufactures to accelerate progress on crucial industry issues including forests, human rights, plastics, healthier lives, food waste, food safety, net zero, supply chains and product data.
• Amidst a rapidly changing business environment, driven by digital innovation, geopolitical shifts, and escalating environmental and social concerns, the event will provide a vital forum for leaders to integrate sustainability with profitability to help ensure better lives through better business.

The Global Summit is the landmark annual forum for industry leaders to come together and discuss strategies to integrate sustainability with profitability to meet both immediate and long-term challenges.

Themed “Empowering Businesses to Deliver a Better Tomorrow”, the event will gather decision makers from companies, including Ahold Delhaize, Mondelēz International, The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, L’Oréal, PepsiCo and Walmart, for a series of inspirational talks.

Wai-Chan Chan, Managing Director of The Consumer Goods Forum, said:

The Global Summit is a catalyst for important industry change, setting new standards for responsible business practices. It will equip leaders with tools and insights to navigate their companies towards sustainable prosperity, aligning business success with social and environmental stewardship.

Uniting many of the world’s most influential business leaders, the event will harness the collective expertise and reach that makes the CGF a powerful force for good. We will shine a light on where change is happening and where even greater action is needed, to keep pushing forward progress across the global consumer goods community.

The Summit will provide an opportunity for industry leaders to drive forward the CGF’s nine Coalitions of Action, which are ensuring systemic change on forests, human rights, plastics, healthier lives, food waste, food safety, net zero, supply chains and product data. Across three days, attendees will share insights and inspiring examples of progress to enable faster action. The Summit is all about encouraging active participation and fostering an environment where ideas and innovations are shared and developed.

Last June, the CGF’s Co-Chairs – Frans Muller, President and CEO of Ahold Delhaize, and Dirk Van de Put, Chairman & CEO of Mondelēz International – launched five Acceleration Areas designed to speed up the systemic change continuously driven by its Coalitions. The Summit offers an important chance to ramp up the delivery of these five focused actions: mainstreaming a deforestation and conversion-free approach to supply chains; adopting CGF’s Golden Design Rules to enable a circular economy for plastics; embracing Human Rights Due Diligence; establishing employee wellbeing programmes; accelerating emission reductions.

Frans Muller, President & CEO of Ahold Delhaize, and Co-Chair of The CGF said:

The consumer goods sector has a critical part to play in the transition to a greener, healthier, and more resilient future, and every business must step up to go further. While the scale of the challenges we face are unprecedented, they are also shared – so there is great power in tackling them together. As the CGF is the only CEO-led organisation that brings together both manufacturers and retailers globally, the Global Summit is a vital milestone to accelerate impact.

Dirk Van de Put, Chairman and CEO of Mondelēz International and Co-Chair of The CGF said:

By uniting many of the world’s most influential business leaders, the Summit will harness the collective expertise and reach that makes the CGF a uniquely powerful force. It is a huge opportunity for inspiration, networking and collaboration. We will be urging all the CGF’s members to connect, collaborate and actively contribute towards our Acceleration Areas, using the Summit to really ramp up understanding of how every member can get involved. Our message is that the entire consumer goods industry must continue to step up and go further.

Speakers and panellists announced so far include:

• Frans Muller, President and CEO of Ahold Delhaize
• Dirk Van De Put, Chairman & CEO of Mondelēz International
• Cécile Beliot-Zind, CEO of Bel Group
• James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company
• Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of Danone
• Carlos Abrams-Rivera, CEO of The Kraft Heinz Company
• Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L’Oréal
• Ramon Laguarta, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo
• Hein Schumacher, CEO of Unilever
• Kathryn McLay, President & CEO of Walmart International
• Colleen Wegman, CEO of Wegmans

Key topics will include the impact of digital transformation, the dynamics of global market shifts, and the strategic implementation of ESG principles. Retailers will be at the forefront of discussions on managing scope 3 emissions through innovative strategies across the supply chain, and the event will showcase how AI and other advances can enhance efficiency and responsiveness to evolving consumer and investor expectations. Talks from leading NGOs, such as The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Bite Back 2030 and WWF, will also feature as part of the three-day programme.

With more to be announced, highlighted sessions across the programme include:

• The Challenged Consumer – Shifting Values & Behaviours with
  • Sajal Kohli, Senior Partner of McKinsey,
  • James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company
  • Hein Schumacher, CEO of Unilever
  • Kathryn McLay, President & CEO of Walmart International
  • Malina Ngai, Group CEO of A.S Watson Group
• The Journey to Net Zero with
  • Anastasia Kouvela, Managing Director and Partner of Boston Consulting Group
  • Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of Danone
  • Nina Jönsson, CEO of ICA
  • Scott Price, Group Chief Executive, DFI Retail Group
  • Ramon Laguarta, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo
  • Cécile Beliot-Zind, CEO of Bel Group
• GenAI: Future Trends & the Impact on Our industry with
  • Poul Weihrauch, CEO and Office of the President of Mars Inc.
  • Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture
• Sustainable Growth: Unveiling Shareholders’ True Expectations with
  • Jessica Moulton, Senior Partner of McKinsey & Company
  • Richard Taylor, Managing Director, Consumer and Consumer Health Investment Banking of Jefferies
  • Michael Steib, Partner of Melitas Ventures

To find out more, visit our website.

Notes to Editors

Visit CGF on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube for updates and new programme confirmations. For more information about media access to speakers and to enquire about receiving a potential press pass to attend the Summit, please contact cgf@forster.co.uk

About The Consumer Goods Forum

The Consumer Goods Forum (“CGF”) is a global, parity-based industry network that is driven by its members to encourage the global adoption of practices and standards that serves the consumer goods industry worldwide. It brings together the CEOs and senior management of some 400 retailers, manufacturers, service providers, and other stakeholders across 70 countries, and it reflects the diversity of the industry in geography, size, product category and format. Its member companies have combined sales of EUR 4.6 trillion and directly employ nearly 10 million people, with a further 90 million related jobs estimated along the value chain. It is governed by its Board of Directors, which comprises more than 55 manufacturer and retailer CEOs. For more information, please visit: www.theconsumergoodsforum.com.