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Search — Denise Morrison and Gareth Ackerman will run the global industry body for next two years
— Announcement made at end of CGF Annual Summit, held in New York
Paris and New York, 24th June, 2015 – The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), the global body for the consumer goods industry, announced today that it has elected two new Co-Chairs for its Board: Denise Morrison, President and Chief Executive Officer of Campbell Soup Company and Gareth Ackerman, Chairman of Pick n Pay. Morrison will chair the Manufacturer College of the Board while Ackerman will chair the Retailer College.
The pair will lead the CGF Board for two years, and replace outgoing Co-Chairs Dick Boer, President and Chief Executive Officer President and Chief Executive Officer President and Chief Executive Officer of Royal Ahold, and Paul Bulcke, Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé. In addition, Marc Bolland, Chief Executive Officer of Marks & Spencer, and Ian Cook, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Colgate Palmolive, have been appointed as the new Vice Co-Chairs (in the Retailer College and Manufacturer College respectively). Today’s announcement was made following the meeting of the CGF Board of Directors, which took place on the opening of its 59th Annual Summit, in New York from the 24th to 26th June.
Delivering growth through change
The new Co-Chairs take responsibility at a fascinating time for the industry, as technology continues to revolutionise how businesses interact with each other, their customers and the wider world. They will work together to ensure that the CGF continues to deliver on its core mission – to lead the consumer goods industry, to drive positive societal change, and to improve business efficiency. It does this through focusing on several priority areas for the industry: environmental and social sustainability, product safety, health and wellness, and end-to-end value chain.
Denise Morrison is President and Chief Executive Officer of Campbell Soup Company, a global food company that makes a range of products from high-quality soups, simple meals and snacks to packaged fresh foods and beverages. Prior to this, Denise held a number of positions at Campbell, including Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, leading the company’s U.S. and North American businesses, after having joined as Chief Customer Officer. For the past two years she has held the position of CGF Vice Co-Chair and will be the CGF’s first ever female Co-Chair.
Commenting on her election, Denise Morrison said: “I am excited by this opportunity to serve as Co-Chair to lead the Consumer Goods Forum’s Board and drive the mission forward promoting ‘Better Lives through Better Business.’ The organization addresses some of the most important issues facing consumer goods companies globally. Seismic social, economic and technological shifts are transforming consumers’ expectations of companies and the products we make. By harnessing the collective efforts of our industry to build and sustain consumer trust, we have the opportunity to drive both growth and positive change by meeting the needs of people worldwide.”
Gareth Ackerman is Non-Executive Chairman of retail chain Pick n Pay Stores Ltd, one of Africa’s largest and most successful retailers. He is an experienced member of the CGF Board, having previously served as both Co-Chair and Vice Co-Chair.
Commenting on his election, Gareth Ackerman said: “I am delighted to have been elected co-chair of the Consumer Goods Forum. Bringing together 400 businesses in 70 countries, with combined sales in excess of EUR 2.5 trillion, the Forum has a unique opportunity to harness the power of consumers to improve the lives of people across the globe. I am particularly excited to be the first co-chair from Africa, home to the world’s fastest-growing population. It is a continent of huge challenges yet almost limitless opportunity. The Consumer Goods Forum is stronger for its African businesses. And Africa will benefit from the work that the world’s best consumer businesses are leading on sustainability, health, product safety and our value chain and many other areas.”
Both Ms Morrison and Mr Ackerman emphasised their gratitude to Mr Boer and Mr Bulcke for their outstanding contribution to the CGF over the previous two years, and thanked them on behalf of the Board for their exceptional leadership. They have served as Vice Co-Chairs since June 2013, when they were elected at a meeting of the Board of Directors in Tokyo.
— Ends —
NOTES TO EDITORS
Full Biographies
Denise Morrison
Denise Morrison became President and Chief Executive Officer of Campbell Soup Company in 2011. She was elected as Director of the company in October 2010.
Denise joined Campbell in April 2003 as President of Global Sales and Chief Customer Officer, and was named President of Campbell USA in June 2005. She was named Senior Vice President and President of the North American Soup, Sauces and Beverages category in October 2007 and has handled the Campbell USA, North America Foodservice, and Campbell Canada businesses. She was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in October 2010, leading all of Campbell’s global businesses, corporate strategy, global advertising & design and research & development.
Previously, she served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Kraft Foods’ Snacks and Confections divisions, responsible for leading brands such as Planters nuts, Life Savers candies, and Altoids mints. Denise began her career in sales at Procter & Gamble in Boston, Mass. She later joined Pepsi-Cola in Trade and Business Development. She then spent most of the 1980s at Nestle USA, where she held senior marketing and sales positions, including Business Director for Confections Marketing, National Sales Manager of Frozen/Chilled and Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Nestle Ice Cream Company. In 1995, Denise moved to Nabisco Inc. She served as Senior Vice President, led the Nabisco Food Company’s sales organization and was General Manager for the Down the Street division.
Denise serves on the board of the Grocery Manufacturers Association and has served as Vice Co-Chair of The Consumer Goods Forum. She is a founding member of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, an initiative composed of manufacturers and retailers. It is designed to combat obesity in the marketplace, workplace, and in schools through communication and education. Denise was named to President Barack Obama’s Export Council in 2012. Denise serves as a Director on the board of Met Life, Inc. and has previously sat on the boards of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Ballard Power Systems. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for Catalyst.
Denise earned her B.S. degree in economics and psychology from Boston College, graduating magna cum laude. She was inducted into the Order of the Cross and Crown Honor Society for academic and extracurricular achievement.
Gareth Ackerman
Gareth Ackerman is non-executive chairman of retail chain Pick n Pay Stores Ltd, a position he has held since March 2010. In February 2012, he became Executive Chairman on an interim basis (until the appointment of a new Chief Executive), where he was responsible for the strategic direction of the company.
The Pick n Pay Group is one of Africa’s largest and most successful retailers, with operations in South Africa and stretching as far as Zambia in the north and Mauritius in the east.
Prior to this position, he was Chairman of Pick n Pay Holdings Ltd (Pikwik) and he remains a member of the Pikwik Board. Gareth has had many years of experience in the retail industry. In his early career with Pick n Pay, he held various roles. These included setting up its Australian operations and serving as Managing Director of Blue Ribbon Butcheries, before his appointment in 1992 as Joint Managing Director of the Pick n Pay Group. He is co-chairman of the CGF’s knowledge pillar.
He is also chairman and co-founder of Pleiad Capital Management, which engages in private equity investment and corporate finance, as well as strategic consulting advice. Gareth is a trustee of the Ackerman and Pick n Pay Foundations, which engage in philanthropic and charitable activities.
A passionate contributor to the issue of global food security and sustainable development, Gareth Ackerman has a social sciences degree from the University of Cape Town and a post-graduate business diploma from the University of Oxford. He is a tutor at Oxford University’s Saϊd Business School, of which he is an associate fellow and serves on their Executive Education Advisory Board. He has lectured at universities in the Netherlands, South Africa and the US and has given a number of presentations at other international conferences.
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 2.5 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 50 manufacturer and retailer CEOs.
For more information, please visit: www.theconsumergoodsforum.com.
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