GMA Introduces CFO Advisory Group

The Grocery Manufacturers Association said yesterday it has formed the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Committee, made up of financial professionals from leading food, beverage, and consumer products companies. The group will meet semi-annually and maintain a continuing dialogue on financial realities, trends, and business challenges in the domestic and worldwide economy.

"The role of GMA is to provide leadership on the issues most impacting food, beverage and consumer products makers today," noted GMA s.v.p. of industry affairs Stephen Sibert. "Given the economic challenges our industry is facing and the globalization of CPG manufacturing, a forum in which our members can explore ways to adapt to market changes to ensure continued fiscal success has the potential to be an invaluable resource."

In its first year, the 19-member committee, headed by chairman Donal L. Mulligan, e.v.p. and c.f.o. at General Mills, Inc., and vice chairman Humberto Alfonso, s.v.p. and c.f.o. at The Hershey Co., will look at such issues as cost management, financial reporting, taxation, executive compensation benchmarking, and sustainability investments and practices.

"Our objective is to connect top industry CFOs and financial professionals to identify trends, regulatory changes, and benchmarks critical to every CPG maker's governance and bottom line," said Mulligan. "In doing so, we believe the industry at large can benefit by its members having more ready access to pertinent financial data and trend analysis and by GMA receiving counsel from senior financial leaders."

GMA associate member PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP will work with the committee, offering expertise on technical accounting and financial issues, identifying industry challenges and trends, and supporting various committee initiatives, in addition to continuing to jointly develop the annual financial performance report.
X
This ad will auto-close in 10 seconds