​Integrity. Excellence. Accountability.

GS1 South Africa trading as the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) is an industry association representing over 9 000 member companies in the Consumer Goods, Retail and Services sectors, which is one of the largest employers in South Africa. At the core of CGCSA's purpose is our vision to become the leading Consumer Goods industry platform for advocacy, collaboration and best practice in South Africa and across Africa.

Upcoming Events

Our Service Offering

Food Safety & Sustainability

FSSI is a leading platform for engagement and collaboration on food safety, quality, nutrition, health and wellness and related regulatory matters in Southern Africa
Consumer Goods Crime & Risk Initiative

The core mandate of CGCRI is to work together with members to mitigate against crime related risks within the retail and consumer goods industry and retail chain. This is achieved by offering a collaborative platform that addresses risks that include crime, civil disobedience, cyber-crime, bomb threats and terrorism.
Transformation, Training & Development

This platform supports transformation as a business imperative to contribute positively towards society. Positioning skills development at the core of employability.
Legal, Regulatory & Stakeholder Engagement

The role of the LRSE department is to shape the legal, regulatory and policy environment through advocacy and lobbying of key decision-makers to enable our members to trade better. We build and maintain strategic relationships with key and identified stakeholders to create an enabling environment for the viability and sustainability of the sector and our member organizations.
Global Standards & Solutions

GS1 is the leading supplier of barcodes in South Africa and the world. Our standards are the most widely used system of standards, and we offer a portfolio of services and tools to make adoption of our standards easier and more impactful for your business.

Member benefits when joining CGCSA

We help members trade better and build sustainable business through;


  • Advocacy, lobbying, engagement and collaboration on non-competitive industry matters

  • Sharing best practice standards

  • Focused regulatory and advisory services

  • Providing access to our hub of valuable industry insights

  • Ensuring alignment with global Sustainable Development Goals and the National Development Plan

Media

CGCSA Welcomes Decision to Withdraw Planned VAT Increase With Caution

24 April 2025

Johannesburg, 24 April 2025 – The Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) has welcomed with caution, the decision by National Treasury to withdraw the planned 0.5 percentage point increase in VAT which was due to be effective from 1 May 2025 saying it will go a long way to ease the financial burden on particularly poor households.

CGCSA CEO Zinhle Tyikwe says while retailers had been working hard to exhaust best efforts to apply the VAT increase by ensuring...






The Food Agency's efforts to combat hunger and reduce food waste in South Africa.

27 March 2025

FoodShare, a digital platform by FoodForward SA, connects beneficiary organisations with nearby food retail partners to collect surplus food, ensuring access to quality food even in remote areas.

The Food Agency in Cape Town addresses social issues through community research and activism, using food as an entry point to...






Annual Reports and Newsletters

CGF Annual Report: Powerful Impact of Consumer Goods Companies Collaborating to Tackle Industry Challenges

28 March 2025

The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) has released its 2024 Annual Report, Shaping the Future of Consumer Goods and Retail, showcasing the powerful impact of collaboration between manufacturers and retailers in addressing industry challenges.

The report highlights the achievements of CGF’s nine Coalitions of Action and five Acceleration Areas, driving faster industry transformation.

As the only CEO-led global organisation uniting consumer goods companies, CGF continues to shape a more sustainable and innovative future for the sector.






CGCSA Annual Report 2025/2026

26 March 2025

It gives me pleasure to present the GS1 South Africa, trading as the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) annual report in which we provide an overview of activities and initiatives carried out in the past financial year in fulfilment of our mandate, helping members trade better.

These activities are outlined by the GS1 SA divisions of Consumer Goods Crime Risk Initiative, Food Safety & Sustainability Initiative, Global Standards & Solutions, Legal, Regulatory & Stakeholder Engagement and Transformation, Training & Development.

In my foreword in the last annual report, I mentioned concerns about a number of challenges our members were facing, among these energy security and poor logistics.