Alan Mitchell

Nothing to Sell, Plenty to Offer

As a “lifestyle concierge service”, Ten Group’s approach to business is worlds apart from that currently inhabited by consumer goods manufacturers and retailers. Can we learn anything from it?

RebuildingTrust andTaking GlobalResponsibility

These words summarize the context of this issue. The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) is now the largest consumer goods organization in the world. Its reach and inclusiveness are truly breathtaking, and if it can help all of its members to work together more effectively, it can make a big contribution to solving the many global challenges we face.

Information enhanced Customer Relationship

The birth of The Consumer Goods Forum marks the beginning of a new era of cooperation between retailers and suppliers across the world to collectively address the major challenges facing our industry and society across the globe. The contribution of the International Commerce Review is to ask the leading voices in the industry to articulate these new challenges, mobilise the best brains in the academic world to help develop answers to them, and report on pioneering success stories.

We need to challenge our current ways of working

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe joined Nestlé as a salesman in Austria in 1968. In 1970 he became sales manager and later director of marketing in Chile, moving on to other posts in Latin America including managing director Ecuador and Venezuela. In 1987 he transferred to Nestlé headquarters in Vevey as vice president in charge of the Culinary Products Division and in 1992 he became executive vice president with responsibility for a range of categories including food, ice cream, chocolate and confectionery, petfood and Buitoni. In this role, he developed Nestlé’s branding policy which revolves around a strict hierarchy of brands on the global, regional and local levels.In 1997 he was appointed to the Board and as CEO. He was elected Chairman of the Board in 2005. Under his leadership Nestlé has experienced a consistent run of healthy sales and margin growth.

Seizing the information sharing opportunity

Danny Wegman is CEO of Wegmans Food Markets, a privately held, family owned company based in Rochester, New York. He is also Chairman of GS1’s Management Board. GS1 is a global industry body dedicated to the creation and implementation of global standards.