Blog26 Jun 2024Industry Solutions
Demystifying the CPG Aisle: How Data and GPT are Reshaping Consumer Packaged Goods Industry The CPG industry, encompassing everything from your morning coffee to beverages and snacks, is undergoing a significant transformation. While core consumer needs remain the same, how we shop for and interact with these products is...
Blog26 Nov 2024Industry Solutions
Accelerating Net Zero in the CPG Industry with a Data-Driven Approach Net Zero – a state in which carbon emissions are cut to a minimum – is not merely a climate goal or social imperative, but an opportunity to create value for Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG) leaders....
Blog30 Jan 2023Industry Solutions
Retail & CPG: Winning the Cost and Profitability Race in a Volatile and Uncertain Market Today’s business landscape in the retail and CPG world is riddled with unprecedented global uncertainty. Inflationary pressures, logistical issues, foreign exchange and energy price rises – the variability and volatility in component costs have increased...
Blog11 Apr 2024Industry Solutions
Embracing Sustainability Regulations: Strategies for CPG, Retailers, and Suppliers in a Changing Landscape The evolving landscape of sustainability-related regulations presents opportunities for CPGs and retailers to drive innovation and strengthen partnerships within their supply chains. Proactive collaboration will be key to balancing compliance with these important initiatives while...
Blog19 Nov 2021Industry Solutions
Purposeful Shopping Can Be a Question Mark for CPGs — Is Data Transparency an Answer? The pandemic accelerated changes already in motion. McKinsey coined “the next normal” to describe the Covid-spurred generational shift in how people live and shop and, most crucially, what they care about. Buyers today are doing...
News Update26 Mar 2025Industry Solutions
AI is No Longer Just a Tool – It’s Becoming Part of CPG Companies’ DNA IBM’s latest study, surveying 1,500 AI leaders, reveals a pivotal shift: AI adoption is scaling across every business function, embedding itself into the very DNA of leading CPG companies. From R&D to supply chains, AI...
Blog15 Dec 2021Industry Solutions
Building a Data Foundation to Help Democratise Data Analytics For CPGs At a recent conference, I was struck by an admission of a data leader at a top 10 consumer goods company about the poor state of data in CPG. “Nobody has figured out master data...
Blog18 Jan 2022Industry Solutions
5 Retail-Consumer Products Trends to Watch in 2022 Retail struggling!? Not quite in 2021 according to IHL Group[1]. US Retail growth in 2021 through November was $831B USD. The growth for November alone was $91.1B USD. Total retail growth year to year is...
Podcast17 Dec 2021Industry Solutions
Trends in the CPG Industry In this episode of The Consumer Goods Forum’s End-to-End Value Chain (E2E) podcast series, Justin Honaman, Amazon’s Head of Worldwide Business Development, Consumer Products – Food & Beverage, has a lively discussion with E2E Director,...
Blog20 Jun 2022Industry Solutions
The Future of Ethical Commerce and Sustainability in Fast Moving Consumer Goods Companies (FMCG) The UN World Commission on Environment and Development defines sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Sustainability is therefore the process by...
Blog01 Feb 2021
Why Brands Must Master Marketplace Strategies to Win Consumers, and Not Focus on Mass Personalisation Retail is on the cusp of entering Generation 5.0 (Retail 5.0), the next era of its evolution. In this new future phase of worldwide retail, growth for consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands will be...
Blog17 Dec 2020
From Laggard To Leader: Scaling Digital Operations & Extracting Value It’s a tricky time for Manufacturers. Technological advances, global trade tensions and market evolutions and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, have accelerated the shift to digital, end to end, from consumer to supply chain and...
Blog01 Apr 2020Industry Solutions
Artificial Intelligence is Accelerating Business-to-Consumer Response I got an email recently from Amazon, that as a Prime member, I was now eligible for free grocery delivery, which previously cost $14.99/month with the AmazonFresh grocery delivery service. Amazon is rolling out...
Press Release29 Apr 2021Corporate
CGF Announces New Members for April 2021 PARIS, 29th April 2021 — The Consumer Goods Forum is delighted to announce the following new companies have joined our global membership community and, in doing so, have confirmed their commitment to our vision of...
Press Release05 Jun 2019Corporate
Online Global Growth of 163% Predicted By 2023, Adding $257bn to Food and Consumer Goods Industry LONDON and PARIS, 5th June 2019 — Digital technologies are revolutionising the way the food and consumer goods industry operates and online sales are forecast to grow 163% by 2023 across major markets, according to a...
Podcast21 Sep 2021Industry Solutions
WinterComes Pilot Spotlight: TradeLens In this episode of The Consumer Goods Forum’s End-to-End Value Chain (E2E) podcast, Mattias Praetorius, Global Head of FMCG, and Jeppe Kobbero, Senior TradeLens Product Manager at Maersk join to share insights on their TradeLens pilot project, featured...
STANDARD: The BRCGS Global Standard for Ethical Trade & Responsible Sourcing Issue 2 achieved SSCI Recognition under Scope AI — Social Compliance: Manufacturing & Processing in November 2021.
BRCGS is an established global standards leader, with a rigorous GFSI recognised assurance program that touches every aspect of the 21st century supply chain – from food ingredients to packaging, distribution, retail and beyond. It sets the benchmark for best practice manufacturing, helping to provide reassurance that products and services are high quality, legal and safe. BRCGS is recognised across food and non-food categories as the global standard underpinning brand reputation through compliance, at over 30,000 certificated sites in 130 countries. Visit brcgs.com to find out more.
Fairness, Integrity, Safety, and Health (FISH) Standard for Crew
STANDARD: FISH Standard for Crew Version 1.0 achieved SSCI Recognition in March 2025 for Scope CI — Social Compliance: At-Sea Operations.
The Fairness, Integrity, Safety, and Health (FISH) Standard for Crew is a voluntary, third party labour certification program for wild harvest fishing vessels. FISH is designed to provide harvesters a tool to demonstrate to customers and other stakeholders that the seafood harvested comes from responsible sources with respect to crew treatment, compensation, and conditions. It was developed with input from the full seafood supply chain, including large and small harvesters, processors, retailers and restaurant groups, in consultation with labour non-profit organisations, to create a program that is open to vessels and fleets of all sizes around the globe. Read more about the Standard here.
STANDARD: The Florverde standard for the sustainable production of flowers and ornamentals version 7.2.1 achieved SSCI Recognition under Scope BI – Social Compliance: Primary Production in April 2024.
Florverde Sustainable Flowers (FSF) is an independent social and environmental standard which ensures that flowers certified under this scheme have been responsibly produced. This requires flower growers to adopt measures that will protect and enable worker’s rights, implement best environmental practices, and comply with national regulations. FSF also helps safeguard quality by requiring the proper care and handling of flowers.
STANDARD: FSSC 24000 Social Management System Certification Version 6.0 achieved SSCI Recognition under Scope AI — Social Compliance: Processing and Manufacturing in January 2024.
The aim of FSSC 24000 is to ensure that social sustainability management system requirements are met, resulting in certifications that assure organisations provide safe and fair working conditions, meet business ethics requirements, and apply due diligence in their supply chain management. FSSC 24000 provides a strategic approach incorporating the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle and risk-based thinking, which ensures the identification and control of social risk and continuous improvement. This process demonstrates corporate responsibility and facilitates improving the social management systems and performance thus driving impact.
FSSC 24000’s scope of certification includes the manufacturing and processing sector (food and non-food), including its related service provision. The certificate confirms that the organisation’s social sustainability management system is in conformance with the FSSC 24000 Scheme requirements based on the following normative documents:
BSI/PAS 24000:2022 – Social management system requirements (Publicly Available Specification)
FSSC 24000 Additional Requirements (as determined by the FSSC Board of Stakeholders)
The FSSC 24000 certification scheme is owned and governed by the non-profit Foundation FSSC and outlines the requirements for the audit and certification of a Social Sustainability Management System of an organization. More information on the FSSC 24000 Scheme is available on their website.
Responsible Fishing Vessel Standard
STANDARD: The Responsible Fishing Vessel Standard 2.1 achieved SSCI Recognition under Scope CI — Social Compliance: At-Sea Operations in November 2022.
In 2018, Global Seafood Assurances and the UK Sea Fish Industry Authority (Seafish) announced a memorandum of understanding to work together to create the next version of the Responsible Fishing Scheme (RFS), committing to expand its global applicability, which resulted in the creation of the Responsible Fishing Vessel Standard. Now part of the Global Seafood Alliance, GSA took ownership of the standards last year. The first RFVS-certified vessel was announced in Australia in January, and the second set of RFVS-certified vessels was announced in the United Kingdom in April. The standard addresses social responsibility, including working conditions and worker voice, about fishing vessels.
STANDARD: The SIZA Social Standard Version 6 achieved SSCI Recognition under Scopes AI — Social Compliance: Manufacturing & Processing, and BI — Social Compliance: Primary Production in June 2023.
SIZA, the Sustainability Initiative of South Africa, is enabling the South African agricultural sector to become a global leader in sustainable farming, ethical trade, and environmental stewardship. The aim is to encourage continuous improvement in practices over time. SIZA aims to have a cost-effective approach for growers by supplying one standard and one audit, no matter which market a producer supplies. SIZA engages directly with stakeholders throughout the value chain to improve supply chain sustainability, ensuring compliance and reducing risks while at the same time offering support and training with regard to best practices and continuous improvement. Verification occurs via third-party audits. For more information on SIZA, please visit our website: www.siza.co.za
Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association (WIETA)
STANDARD: WIETA Standard Version 4.0 achieved SSCI recognition under Scope AI — Social Compliance: Manufacturing & Processing, and BI — Social Compliance: Primary Production in January 2025.
The Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association T/A WIETA was the first South African social standard, established in 2002, to establish an appropriate social auditing methodology for fruit and wine suppliers in South Africa. WIETA proudly demonstrates how a multi-stakeholder model can successfully promote a world class ethical trade and human rights programme within the wine value chain. Innovative social dialogue engagements, a rigorous capacity building and training programme for both workers and producers, coupled with a participative multi-pronged approach to auditing and remedial approach to ensure sustained corrective actions.
Founded in 2003, the amfori BSCI enables companies to drive sustainability by setting up the human rights due diligence principles that business enterprises strive to implement in their global supply chain.
Representing over 2,400 participants in 46 countries, the amfori BSCI operates in a variety of sectors, the two largest being General Merchandise, and Garment & Textile with a combined annual turnover is evaluated to EUR 1.6 trillion.
The amfori BSCI Code of Conduct set out the values and principles for the implementation of supply chain due diligence, based on the OECD’s six-step framework. The amfori BSCI System Manual outlines the supporting tools and methodology for participants to exercise human rights due diligence and environmental protection set out in the amfori BSCI Code of Conduct.
Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA)
STANDARD:The Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) is currently being benchmarked under Scope BI – Social Compliance: Primary Production.
Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) is a business membership organisation which was established in 2002. It is an organisation meant to promote the interest of its members who are engaged in the production and export of cut flowers, fruit, vegetables, herbs, cuttings as well as vegetable seeds.
STANDARD: The KFC Flowers and Ornamentals Sustainability Standard Version December 2021 is currently being benchmarked under Scopes AI — Social Compliance: Manufacturing & Processing, and BI — Social Compliance: Primary Production.
Kenya Flower Council (KFC) is the country’s leading Business Membership Association for growers and exporters of cut-flower and ornamentals. KFC members account for approximately 80 percent of Kenya’s floricultural exports.
KFC also owns the Flowers and Ornamentals Sustainability Standards (FOSS), a trusted standard worldwide. It is one of only three internationally benchmarked standards that demonstrate sustainable social, environmental and good agricultural business practice benchmarks set by the EU-based Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI). The standard encourages commitment to ethical practices, innovation and promoting equitable trading practices, thus ensuring that certified producers foster sustainable, responsible and safe production of cut flowers and ornamentals.
The Council is in the forefront promoting Kenya as a reliable source of quality cut flowers and ornamentals and the country’s competitiveness in the global floriculture trade. KFC is actively engaged in all major trade negotiations in existing, new and emerging markets and in amplifying Kenya’s image in the international market as the most trusted source of cut flowers and ornamentals.
Currently, Kenya is the third largest producer of cut-flowers and ornamentals in the world and exports to over 60 destinations globally. Floriculture is the fastest growing export sector in the Kenyan economy, providing direct employment for over 200,000 workers.
KFC engages with key actors locally for a favourable business environment for growers and exporters of cut flowers and ornamentals.
STANDARD: The MPS-SQ Standard is currently being benchmarked under Scope BI — Social Compliance: Primary Production.
MPS, owned by Stichting MPS, is a leading organisation dedicated to supporting sustainability in the agricultural sector through its trusted certification schemes. The MPS-SQ Standard, introduced in 2002, is designed to ensure that agricultural products are produced under good working conditions. The standard applies to growers and their entire company, addressing key areas such as employee working conditions, health, and safety. It is built on universal human rights, the codes of conduct of local representative organisations, and international agreements of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The MPS-SQ Standard also ensures fair treatment for family members working in family-run agricultural operations and sets minimum requirements for working conditions, encouraging compliance with stricter national, local, or international laws to provide the highest level of worker protection. By promoting ethical labour practices, My MPS aims to improve worker safety, health, and well-being while enhancing the image of the agricultural sector. MPS is applying for SSCI’s Scope BI — Social Compliance: Primary Production, reaffirming its commitment to advancing sustainable and responsible practices across the agricultural supply chain.
The Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard, is designed to deliver more value to the more than four million farmers and workers and thousands of businesses that use Rainforest Alliance certification to drive more sustainable agricultural production and responsible supply chains. The Sustainable Agriculture Standard is used in more than 70 countries around the globe. Their program focuses on coffee, cocoa, tea, bananas, and many other important commodity sectors facing urgent environmental and social challenges.