The Consumer Goods Forum Publishes Survey Results Tracking Implementation of Health & Wellness Resolutions

PARIS, January 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

The Consumer Goods Forum ("The Forum") today announced results from its inaugural survey aimed at establishing where The Forum members are in meeting the Health & Wellness Resolutions ("the Resolutions"). The results were published as part of a "Progress Report", also released today, which was produced in conjunction with Deloitte, and is designed to track industry progress on implementing the Resolutions and help facilitate fact-based dialogue with The Forum's wider membership and key stakeholders.  

Initially launched as a pilot survey for The Forum's Board member companies, the goal is to expand future editions to The Forum's entire membership on an annual basis, with each subsequent version marking industry progress and direction.  Results from the inaugural survey show that:

• 100% of respondents have established policies and activated programmes on at least one of the Resolutions;
• 70% of respondents have established policies and activated programmes on all three of the Resolutions;
• 93% of respondents have communicated publicly about their health and wellness initiatives; and
• 53% of respondents have communicated their health and wellness initiatives as part of a CEO statement and/or Annual Report to shareholders.

Approved in June 2011, the Health & Wellness Resolutions are designed to support the aspirations for healthier diets and lifestyles of consumers, shoppers, employees, their families and the communities the industry serves. The Resolutions are intended to reflect the contributions of each of the sectors involved - food and beverage, personal care, manufacturers and retailers - in addressing consumer's expectations and key public health concerns and in providing solutions that improve and enrich consumers' lives.

Paul Bulcke, Nestlé CEO and Manufacturer Co-Sponsor of the Initiative, said, "With the world witnessing a disturbing rise in lifestyle-related illnesses, like non-communicable diseases, there are so many things that each of us, big or small, can do as individual companies and collectively as an industry. The key to addressing these health and wellness challenges is that each company assumes its responsibilities and seeks collaboration with retailers and manufacturers, both food and non-food, and their common stakeholders to promote healthy living and a culture of prevention".

Dick Boer, Royal Ahold CEO and Retailer Co-Sponsor of the Initiative, said, "The Resolutions are seen as an important voluntary commitment for those companies looking to improve and enrich consumers' lives, and the results from our pilot survey are definitely positive. They show that collaborative efforts to improve the health and wellness of global populations are taking place. We expect future surveys to continue to help us understand where the industry stands in these efforts and to evolve as new health and wellness challenges arise".

The Forum, with its diversity of membership and global reach, is well positioned to help advance health and wellness among consumers globally. The Forum sees its role expanding in the upcoming decade so that, collectively, it can create positive change and be the partner of choice for its key stakeholders.

The full report is available for download from The Forum's Health & Wellness website.

-- Ends --

About The Consumer Goods Forum

The Consumer Goods Forum ("The Forum") is a global, parity-based industry network that is driven by its members.  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.  The Forum member companies have combined sales of EUR 2.5 trillion. Their retailer and manufacturer members directly employ nearly 10 million people with a further 90 million related jobs estimated along the value chain.

The Forum is governed by its Board of Directors, which includes 50 manufacturer and retailer CEOs and Chairpersons.

The Forum provides a unique global platform for knowledge and best practice sharing around the following strategic priorities: Sustainability, Product Safety, Health & Wellness, End-to-End Value Chain & Standards, which are central to the advancement of today's consumer goods industry.

The Forum's mission is, "Bringing together consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in pursuit of business practices for efficiency and positive change across our industry benefiting shoppers, consumers and the world without impeding competition". 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-competitively sensitive 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 Forum serves its members throughout the world. For more information, please visit: http://www.theconsumergoodsforum.com.

For more information on the results, please contact:

Sharon Bligh
Senior Manager, Health & Wellness
The Consumer Goods Forum
s.bligh@theconsumergoodsforum.com

For media enquiries, please contact:

Lee Green
Communications Manager
The Consumer Goods Forum
l.green@theconsumergoodsforum.com