Colgate-Palmolive, General Mills, L'Oréal, Tesco, Unilever and 40 more of the world’s largest food and personal care brands, retailers and manufacturers will provide local aid to communities that have been hardest hit by the pandemic.
45 members of the Consumer Goods Forum
(CGF) have joined forces to launch a coordinated, global response to
mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on those who have been hit hardest by the
pandemic. The initiative, which involves some of the world’s largest food and personal care brands, retailers
and manufacturers — including
Colgate-Palmolive,
Danone, General
Mills, Johnson & Johnson
Consumer
Health,
L'Oréal,
Nestlé,
PepsiCo, Procter &
Gamble, Tesco,
Unilever and Walmart — is a
response to a CEO-led call to action for members to step up and act locally to
help alleviate the health and economic burdens now being experienced by people
globally.
The economic impact of the pandemic has been
catastrophic, with hundreds of
millions of people around the world having either lost their jobs or at risk of
doing so, or are otherwise struggling. Meanwhile, according to the World
Bank, the pandemic is expected to push an additional 88-115 million people
into extreme poverty this year — with the total projected to rise to as many as
150 million by 2021.
While CGF has long been involved in collaborative actions to drive adoption of
healthier diets, lifestyles and personal care
habits
through its Collaboration for Healthier Lives
Coalition,
and many of the companies involved have already stepped up in various
ways
to help fill gaps in products and services since the start of the pandemic, this
new call is a direct response to the challenges being faced by people due to
COVID-19 nearly a year on.
The group has identified a series of actions to accelerate support for
vulnerable communities during the pandemic — including improving access to
healthier foods and personal care products, donating food and personal care
products to food banks and community programs, and working with partners who
provide essential support locally. Members will also share learnings and best
practices via the CGF’s Global Learning
Mechanism,
so they can learn from each other and then deploy these actions rapidly.
Driving Internal Organizational Alignment and Better Cross-Functional Collaboration
Join us as leaders from Daggerwing Group, General Mills, J. Lohr Vineyards, Sylvain and Caribou Coffee explore aspects of evolving internal company governance, culture and collaboration that enable stronger connections with consumers across generations and with evolving mindsets — Wed, May 8, at Brand-Led Culture Change.
On behalf of CEO members of the CGF Board of Directors, Frans Muller,
President & CEO of Ahold Delhaize; and Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider said:
“As key representatives of the global consumer goods industry, we are united in
our efforts to help people struggling with hunger during this unprecedented
crisis, especially the elderly and children. We must act together and intensify
how our products and services reach these most vulnerable populations, and
mitigate the negative health and economic burdens that families around the world
are experiencing during COVID-19. Through our Collaboration for Healthier Lives
Coalition, we have already engaged in local action, but we know there is more
work to be done. We need to go further and faster together.”
“This is a critical time for us,” said CGF Managing Director Wai-Chan Chan.
“Our members recognize their responsibility to meet the needs of the most
vulnerable and we welcome this call from our Board of Directors; and are
delighted to see so many members stepping forward and committing to work within
their communities, and with local partners, to provide much needed support.”
CGF says it will collect feedback on all the actions taken by its members and
develop aggregated reporting on the progress of the initiative towards the end
of the first quarter 2021.
Published Dec 21, 2020 7am EST / 4am PST / 12pm GMT / 1pm CET
Sustainable Brands Staff