Press Release
03 July 2012

Pick n Pay Chairman Gareth Ackerman has taken over the reins as the co-Chairman of the International Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) in Istanbul, Turkey at the forum’s annual Global Summit.

Ackerman said, “This is excellent global recognition for Pick n Pay as a company, and augurs well for our long term involvement in the Consumer Goods Forum.
The 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.

“Our involvement at this level is an honour and puts us in a prime position to leverage the best of international practices in order to predict change and consumer trends before they reach the tipping point. By doing this, and contributing the vast knowledge base that we have accumulated as Pick n Pay over more than four decades, we are able to embrace change and be ahead of the curve,” said Ackerman.

The world’s top retailers are members of the forum which provides a unique global platform for knowledge exchange and initiatives around five strategic priorities – Emerging Trends, Sustainability, Safety and Health, Operational Excellence and Knowledge Sharing and 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 sectors, who together develop and lead the implementation of best practices along the value chain.

Ackerman said, “The vision of the forum fits well with Pick n Pay’s view that ‘doing good is good business’. It is an honour to be in a position to help guide this international conversation and make a contribution to such important issues as food security, best retail practices, and a host of other issues that retailers need to address in order to do business in a world where so much has changed, and there are so many challenges.”