Industry leaders gather in Instanbul amid global chaos

While the European Union continued to meltdown and Moody’s was downgrading major U.S. financial institutions, 800 representatives from leading retailer and CPG companies were gathered in Instanbul for the Consumer Goods Forum annual Global Summit.



The group elected Gareth Ackerman, chairman of one of Africa’s largest retail chains, Pick n Pay as its new co-chair to replace Lars Olofsson, formerly CEO of Carrefour. Ackerman will work jointly with the existing co-chair Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. The group also elected two vice co-chairs including Dick Boer, CEO of Ahold and Bob McDonald, chairman, president and CEO of Procter & Gamble.



Retailing Today did not fly to Turkey to attend the event, but a recap of the event provided by the Consumer Goods Forum is available here.



The Consumer Goods Forum is a global industry network designed to connect the CEOs and senior management of more than 400 retailers, manufacturers, service providers and other stakeholders across 70 countries. The group’s mission is, “better lives through better business.”