Fast-moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) organisations are continually faced with the need to adjust their structures, objectives, processes, and technologies to develop and maintain a competitive advantage based on cost leadership and differentiation strategies, as modern consumers favour products that meet their specific needs. A leadership gap appears to exist in the current FMCG industry as the traditional FMCG landscape was characterised by mass production. The aim of the paper was to investigate the role of leadership in managing change within the FMCG industry in South Africa, focusing on RCL Foods. A non-probability sample comprising 95 leaders was drawn from a population of 102 leaders within RCL Foods Chicken division. Data was collected using an online Google Form questionnaire developed specifically for this paper by the researcher. Statistical analysis revealed the overall finding that the role of leadership in managing change is critical. It is proposed that FMCG businesses develop a formal change management framework to be used as a standard where they adopt expertly designed change management strategies that could be widely used to develop their business model as per the business change management approach. The paper encountered time and financial constraints and therefore recommends that future studies include a mixed methods approach to include qualitative data from both leaders and followers within other divisions at RCL Foods and within other FMCG companies, both locally and globally.