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Search The collaborative work will be carried out by a diverse working group of industry CEOs and Chairmen, as well as expert stakeholders from outside the industry. The working group isled by Paul Bulcke, CEO of Nestlé Group and Dick Boer, CEO of Ahold. It addresses three main areas of work: 1) access and availability of products and services that support healthier diets and lifestyles, 2) transparent, fact‐based information that helps consumers to make informed choices communication, 3) educational programmes to raise awareness and inspire healthier lifestyles.
Board of The Consumer Goods Forum adopts three resolutions on Health and Wellness:
1) Access and availability of products and services that support the goal of healthier diets and lifestyles,
2) Transparent fact based information to help consumers make informed product choices and usages,
3) Communication and educational programmes to help raise consumer awareness on health and wellness.
BARCELONA, Spain,15th June 2011 – On the first day of its annual Global Summit in Barcelona, The Consumer Goods Forum unveiled new industry‐wide resolutions on consumer health and wellness.
The three resolutions, approved by the Board of Directors of The Forum, are built upon and leverage existing proven initiatives such as the International Food & Beverages Alliance, GMA commitments in the US and food and beverage industry commitments to the EU Platform. They advocate for empowering consumers with products and services and meaningful information to help them make informed choices and support healthier diet and lifestyle, and physical activity.
Commenting on the announcement, Nestlé Group CEO Paul Bulcke said: “We believe that manufacturers and retailers have a key role to play in improving the health and wellness of consumers. Working together and partnering with stakeholders such as public health authorities and healthcare professionals, will help our industry accelerate its collaborative effort and assure a positive impact on health and wellness in particular and on society at large.”
Ahold CEO Dick Boer said: “The industry has taken a bold, positive step today towards a healthier future, but accountability is a fundamental component of this initiative. We will monitor and learn from our efforts and report on our progress.”
The team of Forum member companies charged with delivering the health & wellness resolutions is co‐chaired by Nestlé and Ahold, and includes AEON, Barilla, Carrefour, The Coca‐Cola Company, Delhaize, General Mills, Grupo Bimbo, Johnson & Johnson, Kao, Kellogg, Kraft, L’Oréal, Metro, Pepsi Co, Procter & Gamble, Sobeys, Tesco, Unilever and Walmart.
Lars Olofsson, Carrefour Group CEO and Co‐Chair of The Forum commented: “This is the first time that the consumer goods industry ‐ manufacturers and retailers, the food and non‐food sector‐, is speaking with one voice, addressing consumer health and wellness on a global level.”
Fellow Co‐Chair Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of The Coca‐Cola Company added: “Today’s consumers are more empowered than ever and their expectations are changing. As an industry, we need to be out ahead of these changes and aligned behind one voice.” A number of The ConsumerGoods Forumcompanies already have well‐established programsin place to address the Health & Wellness of consumers and shoppers. Those programmes will continue.
The next steps for the working group will be to define implementation plans and measurements.
Media inquiries:
Sabine Ritter:
s.ritter@theconsumergoodsforum.com
Tel: (+33) 6 45 56 66 44
Notes
1. A total of 24 specific commitments for the food and non‐food consumer goods sectors were agreed. The full text of the resolutions can be downloaded here.
2. The resolutions are built upon and leverage existing industry initiatives, such as the International Food & Beverages Alliance.
3. The announcement follows two resolutions on climate change, announced during the Cancun Climate Summit in November 2010. At this time, the Consumer Goods Forum pledged to mobilize its collective resources to help achieve zero net deforestation by 2020. It also resolved to phase out the use of HFC refrigerant gases, which contribute to global warming.
About The Consumer Goods Forum
The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) is a global, parity‐based industry network, driven by its members. It brings together the CEOs and senior management of over 650 retailers, manufacturers, service providers and other stakeholders across 70 countries and reflects the diversity of the industry in geography, size, product category and format. Forum member companies have combined sales of EUR 2.1 trillion and their retailer and manufacturer members employ over 9.1 million people.
The Forum was created in June 2009 by the merger of CIES ‐ The Food Business Forum, the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI) and the Global CEO Forum. The Consumer Goods Forum is governed by its Board of Directors, which includes 50 manufacturer and retailer CEOs and Chairmen.
The Forum provides a unique global platform for knowledge exchange and initiatives around five strategic priorities – Emerging Trends, Sustainability, Safety & Health (Health & Wellness), Operational Excellence and Knowledge Sharing & People Development – which are central to the advancement of today’s consumer goods industry.
The Forum’s vision is: “Better lives through better business”. To fulfil this, its members have given the Forum a mandate to develop common positions on key strategic and operational issues affecting the consumer goods business, with a strong focus on non‐competitive process improvement. The Forum’s success is driven by the active participation of the key players in the sector, who together develop and lead the implementation of best practices along the value chain. With its headquarters in Paris and its regional offices in Washington, D.C., and Tokyo, the CGF serves its members throughout the world.
