The 4th edition of the Sustainable Retail Summit has officially come to a close in Berlin. Close to 300 industry experts convened at the Hilton Hotel in the German capital for two days of thought-provoking insights, best practice sharing and deep discussions around the hard truths in health and sustainability that face the consumer goods industry today. 

Day One:

The day began with an official welcome from the CGF’s Managing Director Peter Freedman who set the tone for the day, emphasising that this year has been a game-changer in terms of consumer attitudes to positive change. The industry has achieved a lot, but much more remains to be done. Olaf Koch, CEO of METRO, then took to the stage, telling delegates that change starts with how we influence people. He praised delegates, saying that by being here they are acknowledging that we must work together and collaborate to drive positive change. 

The CGF in Action session saw the Co-Chairs of the Sustainability and Health & Wellness Steering Committees take the stage to paint a picture of today’s leading industry challenges. Isabelle Grosmaitre, Danone, and Marcus Osborne, Walmart, highlighted that more and more, people are looking for solutions to address their health challenges and drew attention to the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration at the crux of the Pillar’s Collaboration for Healthier Lives (CHL) initiative. Veronika Pountcheva, METRO and Christine McGrath, MondelÄ“z International, then spoke on the CGF’s pathway forwards on deforestation, plastics and forced labour. 

Solitaire Townsend, Co-founder of Futerra, then spoke on shifting consumer behaviour and trends, sharing some hard-hitting truths with delegates, noting that an increasing number of consumers want brands to be sincere, honest and transparent. Consumers are increasingly demanding the facts, and feel they have a responsibility to choose the right product. Dare to be honest, and share facts, Solitaire told delegates.  

Click to read the full day one summary.

Day Two:

Moderator Tom Heap, BBC, welcomed delegates back and opened the Start-Up Pitch Battle, a new addition to this year’s programme, which brought together speakers from five start-ups, including Too Good To Go, Evigence, Why Waste, Contronics and Rubikloud, to pitch their innovative solutions to tackling food waste to a panel of industry experts. 

Tom Heap then opened the first Breakout Session of the day on the role of communication and marketing in telling stories about sustainable business practices. Perrine Bouhana, GlobeScan, then went on to introduce her company’s consumer insights report on Sustainable & Healthy Living, a study of 25,000 consumers from around the world. This was followed by Jo Rallig, The Food Foundation and Veg Power, presenting VegPower’s work to get more people to eat more vegetables. The Breakout ended with Dean Sanders, Anthesis, exploring the story behind brands, and the powerful stories that can be told. 

Experts took a deep dive into driving collaboration and enabling health in the second Breakout Session, where Khaled Tawfik, BCG, presented learnings from the Collaboration for Healthier Lives initiative (CHL) in the UK. Initial findings from a consumer insights survey were then shared by Sandra Braeunlein-Reuss, Nielsen, and Tanmay Jain, BCG. Maggie Biscarr, PepsiCo, then took to the stage to share the CHL US “One for Good” case study in Hagerstown, followed by Nikta Vaghefi, Groupe Savencia, and Thomas Kyriaco, Danone, sharing learnings from the CHL France “On S’y Met” initiative. Rosie Warin, Kin & Co, delved into the importance of employee health and wellbeing and the session concluded with a panel discussion including Demir Aytaç, Migros Ticaret A.S., Bertrand Swiderski, Carrefour and Marion Caillard, Mediaperformances.

Click to read the full day two summary.

Click to view day one and two image gallery.

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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 3.5 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 50 manufacturer and retailer CEOs. For more information, please visit: www.theconsumergoodsforum.com.

The Consumer Goods Forum

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 3.5 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 50 manufacturer and retailer CEOs. For more, please visit: www.theconsumergoodsforum.com.

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Contact:
Lee Green
Director, Communications
+33 1 82 00 95 70

Louise Chester
Communications Officer
+33 1 82 00 95 91

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