FRANCE – James Quincey, Chairman & CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, and Daniel Zhang, Chairman & CEO of Alibaba Group have been appointed as the new co-chairs of the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF).  

The announcement was made after the Board of Directors meeting held during this year’s Global Summit, which is being held virtually for the first time. 

Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) is a global, parity-based industry network that encourages 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. 

Its member companies are said to 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. 

According to a statement from CGF, the new pair will lead the CGF Board for two years and replace outgoing Co-Chairs Özgür Tort, CEO of Migros Ticaret, and Emmanuel Faber, former Chairman & CEO of Danone.  

In addition, Frans Muller, CEO of Ahold Delhaize, and Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever, were appointed Vice Co-Chairs. 

James and Daniel take over the Co-Chair roles following a challenging period brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic and an increasing need for companies to show consumers, employees and investors that they are proactively addressing today’s sustainability, health and safety challenges. 

The CGF has also gone through its own strategic shifts with the creation of eight Coalitions of Action which James and Daniel will work to ensure are adopted and implemented by CGF members on the ground in regions all over the world. 

Buama to head German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa  

Meanwhile in Germany, the Board of the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa(GISCO) has elected Merit Buama as its new Chairwoman.  

GISCO is a joint initiative of the German government, civil society, industry and retail and brings together relevant actors from Germany with those from the producing countries and international initiatives. 

The aim of GISCO is to improve the living conditions of cocoa farmers, to conserve and preserve natural resources and biodiversity in the producing countries, and to increase the share of sustainably produced cocoa 

Currently, Ms Buama is responsible for cocoa programmes worldwide at Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG and has been supporting the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa for several years. 

She replaces Wolf Kropp-Büttner who after 7 years of heading the organization did not stand for re-election but opted to stay on as a member of the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa 

Evelyn Bahn, INKOTA-netzwerk e.V., and Florian Schütze, Schwarz-Gruppe, were re-elected as Deputy Chairpersons.  

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