CGF Head of North America Wesley Wilson on Health, AI & Consumer Values | Live From CGF 2025

Hello everyone.

Welcome back.

It's Omnitok Retail coming to you live from the Consumer Goods Forum in the Vuzion Group booth.

I'm Ann Mazinga.

And I'm Chris Walton.

And we are here once again, back again for another great interview with Wesley Wilson, the head of North America for the Consumer Goods Forum.

Wesley, welcome.

Thank you for having me.

How's your show been going so far?

Fantastic, of course.

Fantastic, right?

Been a great couple of days so far.

Good, I bet.

So let's start with that.

So actually why don't we start out with, with your background and also like what is it that this Consumer Goods Forum actually does?

Sure.

So we'll start with what the Consumer Goods Forum does.

Okay, let's do that.

So I would say we really focus on three areas.

So we, we invest in leadership in the industry.

So we look at, you know, we connect our CEOs, we build the network globally across industries, across channels.

But then we also invest in future development of leaders in the industry.

We have a future leaders program that actually builds the future leaders of the industry, invest in them so they understand the issues in the industry, how to better serve customers.

But then also issues like sustainability and responsibility.

We do innovation.

So if there are areas where, across the industry there are areas that need to be tackled, where companies need to collaborate, that could be plastic packaging innovation, could be innovation on healthier lives, it could be the climate transition.

So different areas that are pre competitive where the industry needs to work together, we bring people together for innovation.

The last area is impact.

Impact.

And for impact we at things like food safety, we look at sustainability, both social and environmental.

And again, how do we bring the industry together to really drive the change that we need to see?

That's not, these aren't competitive issues.

Right.

These are issues that the industry wants to work together on.

So we have that level playing field where everyone can build and compete and serve customers from there.

And.

And what?

And what?

And let's go now to your background.

That's a great overview.

So how did you get into this?

Like why, why did you say, you know, I want to be a part of that, I want to do this?

Sure.

So I have a background.

So the beginning of my career was in the US government.

Economics background.

Found my way into the consumer goods industry both at Mars and then at Walmart.

Okay.

Worked a lot with the CGF team while I was at Walmart.

Oh you did?

On a whole range of different issues from Walmart.

Ended up in consumer goods investment.

But then, you know, this position came up and based on that experience at Walmart and the kind of work I had been able to do with the team, was really excited about the opportunity to see what we could do with CGF and kind of growing it, developing it more in the US And Canada.

That seems very important.

Okay, well, Wesley, what are you hearing?

Let's get back to the conference theme for a second.

Sure.

What are you hearing at the conference right now is really top of mind for customers for those retailers and brands that you work so closely with?

Yeah, sure.

I think, I think retailers and brands are dealing as, as we all are in different ways.

The world is changing very quickly.

There's geopolitics, there's technology, and those are impact the day to day decisions that consumers make.

Right.

The realities that consumers are confronted with day to day.

And so I think what, what I hear retailers and what I hear manufacturers and service providers talking about is they want to understand that reality.

Right.

They're trying to recalibrate and understand how do we, how do we, how do we better serve, how do we work with and support customers through this time so that they can continue to live out their values?

Customers can live out their values and the industry can support them in doing that.

And what are you hearing consumers want the most?

Like, are there certain trends that are bubbling up to the top?

Yes, I think one significant area I would say is I think health and wellness.

Okay.

And so that's reflected in our Healthier Lives initiative.

That's part of our innovation work.

We do see customers asking, asking for, asking hard questions about, okay, how do I live a healthier life?

How do my, how do I help my family, my kids live a healthier life?

And so I think that is, that's something that's very strong.

I think the other thing is that we're, you know, that has to be done along with other issues.

There's questions of convenience.

Of course, things are not getting any easier in terms of price, budget for customers.

Right, budget.

So all of those things kind of factor in, but it doesn't negate or it doesn't detract from the types of things that customers want in terms of value.

Right.

And Wesley, you know, health is health, health as important.

It is, it's kind of an amorphous word in a lot of ways.

It's a hard to define.

Like how, when you, when you, when you talk about consumers wanting more health and wellness in their lives, how do you think about that or how do you define that, you know, from your standpoint and your experience?

Well, I think from a customer's point of view, between the customer and the industry, it's really not the industry's job to define that for the customer.

So the customer, we have to follow the customer and we have to follow where they lead.

And so if they're kind of focusing on health and wellness, then the industry needs to respond, they need to understand that, and they need to move with and follow the customer on those trends.

So I don't, you know, for the industry to say, ah, this is what health is, or this is smart.

Now, now we have a responsibility to listen to the customer and understand what their needs are and to translate what's going on, you know, in terms of science, in terms of trends, other things, to make it accessible and to support, again, how they're wanting to live their values and how, how they, you know, are doing what they see.

But, but our job is to support the customer.

To support the customer.

Okay, so to that point, then, what have you seen work?

Well, if we get to brass tacks and practicality, what have you seen work?

Well, in terms of action, steps that either retailers have taken, brands have taken, you know, in the promotion of facilitating or helping their consumer live a healthier life.

Yeah.

So I think offering a wider range of choices, right, that customers are looking for healthy ingredients, they're looking for different formulations, they're looking for information, they're looking for tools.

And this is not only food.

I think there's a role for consumer health in this.

Right.

There's, you know, it even bridges over into healthcare.

Between the consumer world and healthcare, there's definitely pieces that connect there, where people are looking for solutions to try to kind of understand.

Like, okay, I have all this information, I have all these things that are coming at me.

How do I get my head around this for me and my family?

So I think that in addition to the products, the individual products and how those may be formulated for different lifestyles or different needs, you have kind of the information and support component which both retailers and brands play a critical role in providing.

How does price factor into this?

I mean, are you hearing from consumers?

Like, I think there's a lot of people that want to live a better life, eat better food, better ingredients.

How are the retailers and brands that you work with at CGF really thinking about how to make that or accommodate more, More people?

Yeah, I think, I think kind of the first reality to understand is, you know, customers, all customers, certainly me, you know, everyone works within their price constraints.

Yes, right.

So.

And that hasn't changed.

Right.

Right.

So customers still, you know, they have, you know, I have this much money each month, I've got to feed myself, I've got to feed my family, I've got to engage in the products and services that support the health of my family.

So you know, having, being focused on making things affordable and making things reasonable and accessible is absolutely essential.

Yeah, that's what the consumer goods industry, it's one of the things that the consumer goods does really well when you look at a time where the cost of healthcare and the cost of wellness just keeps going up and up and up and it goes out of the reach of people to be able to access and understand consumer goods and retail can play a role in saying like, hey, no, we can actually make this more accessible.

And so I think that's an absolutely essential component.

That said, throughout my career I've seen both kind of repeated examples of where customers are, do look for and are willing to pay a premium for products that are healthier when they can, how they can.

Right.

And they, they will make trade offs, they will kind of make choices in their basket and their behaviors to, to engage in healthier behavior.

So the idea that, oh, customers don't want health or wellness or are willing to pay for it, I mean, listen, everyone has their limits but where they can in the way that they can, they do make choices in that direction and they are willing to spend on it.

That's clear.

And it sounds like through the, some of the things that you're talking about with the retailers and brands working together to help create tools so that they can find or budget more affordably or like look at their whole set of, you know, needs that they have for their basket for the week and say I need to make a trade off here or how do I like it?

Here's the information.

How do I understand, how do I engage?

What, what do I need to know and, and help me make the decisions as a customer that I need to make.

And so that's a major development here that's going to be taking place over the course of the next few months.

But what else, what else do you think is going to change or what would you predict is going to change about other shopping trends in the next five to 10 years?

Oh, I mean, how, how people shop, obviously.

I mean I think everyone talks about it, but the kind of pace of change in that and the intensity of it.

I think one of the things that we're doing as the consumer goods forum and that we're looking at is, you know, obviously AI digital It's a very competitive issue.

But there are pre competitive elements to that.

Right.

Which is how do you use data responsibly?

Right.

How does the industry come together on that?

How do you think about those types of questions?

Also, how do you support innovation that does actually not only serve the industry, but serve the customer?

Right, right.

And so how can the industry, again, some of that's competitive, but there are a lot of pre competitive areas in that where the pace of change is so fast.

Yes, right.

That the convers that we're having among star members is, okay, how do we connect them with the tools and the innovation that's out there?

And what kind of innovation does the industry need to be able to support customers in the things that they want?

Right.

I mean, we spent a lot of time talking about wellness, but we haven't even touched on the sustainability issues that come into play there and the collaboration effort that's required for that, the food waste and all that.

So.

Wow.

Well, we'll have to have you back sometime, talk about that maybe the next time.

Well, thank you, Wesley.

Thanks for joining us.

The head of CGF for North America.

Thanks to Fusion Group for sponsoring our coverage from the Consumer Goods Forum here in Amsterdam.

And until next time, Anne, be careful out there.