Danone Mission’s Committee On-Boards Ron Oswald

Last year, Danone became an Entreprise à Mission i.e. a purpose-driven company. This new status is a novel step in the pursuit of a model of sustainable value creation for all stakeholders: employees, partners, shareholders, and many others.

An independent Mission Committee has been framed and tasked with reviewing and challenging the company’s roadmap and progress especially on subjects such as health and nutrition, water, agriculture, biodiversity, packaging, social innovation, people and social matters.

Ron Oswald’s appointment will enable the Mission Committee to harness benefit from the intellect and experience of one of the most eminent figures in the international trade union movement.

Pascal Lamy, Mission Committee Chair stated- “On behalf of the entire Committee, which I am proud to lead, I want to extend a warm welcome to Ron. We have just released our first report, which shows how much work we have ahead of us and just how vital that work is. We are eager to put Ron’s experience and clear vision behind our quest to achieve Danone’s pioneering commitments.”

In 1987, Ron Oswald joined the International Union of Food Workers (IUF). In 1997, he was elected General Secretary and served in that position until 2017. IUF is a global union federation representing more than ten million food workers around the globe in 423 independent, democratic unions spanned across 127 countries. Under his leadership, IUF specify the standard for trade union negotiations among the sector’s largest global companies, promoting constant, determined dialog between their management teams and IUF.

Ron Oswald informed- “Having been involved as a representative of Danone’s international trade union counterpart, the IUF, for 30 years, I am honoured to join this pioneering governance initiative as a member of the Mission Committee. Over the years, I have witnessed Danone’s effort to remain faithful to its dual economic and social project and now to its new governance model as a purpose-driven company. I am also deeply humbled to join a group of such committed and distinguished fellow Committee members.”

Ron also carries on serving as a senior adviser to IUF and is a prominent personality in the global trade union movement, heading up numerous works on human rights related issues at multinational food and beverage companies.