Danone: Former IUF General Secretary Ron Oswald joins Danone’s Mission Committee

Press release – Paris, May 3, 2021

Former IUF¹ General Secretary Ron Oswald
joins Danone’s Mission Committee

One year ago, Danone became an Entreprise à Mission – a purpose-driven company. This new status is a new step in the pursuit of a model of sustainable value creation for all stakeholders: employees, partners, shareholders, and many more. An independent Mission Committee has been formed and tasked with reviewing and challenging the Company’s roadmap and progress particularly on subjects such as health & nutrition, water, agriculture, biodiversity, packaging, social innovation, people and social matters.

Ron Oswald’s appointment will allow the Mission Committee to benefit from the insights and experience of one of the most prominent figures in the international trade union movement.

Pascal Lamy, Mission Committee Chair, said:

“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.”

Ron Oswald joined the International Union of Food Workers (IUF) in 1987. He was elected General Secretary in 1997 and served in that capacity until 2017. IUF is a global union federation representing over ten million food workers around the world in 423 independent, democratic unions spanning 127 countries. Under his leadership, IUF set 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 said:

“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 continues to serve as a senior adviser to IUF and is a major figure in the global trade union movement, heading up work on human rights issues at multinational food and beverage companies.

About Danone (www.danone.com)
Danone is a leading multi-local food and beverage company building on health-focused and fast-growing categories in 3 businesses: Essential Dairy & Plant-Based products, Waters and Specialized Nutrition. With its ‘One Planet. One Health’ frame of action, which considers the health of people and the planet as intimately interconnected, Danone aims to inspire healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices. To accelerate this food revolution and create superior, sustainable, profitable value for all its stakeholders, Danone has defined nine 2030 Goals, and paved the way as the first listed company to adopt the “Entreprise à Mission” status in France. With a purpose to bring health through food to as many people as possible, and corresponding social, societal and environmental objectives set out in its articles of association, Danone commits to operating in an efficient, responsible and inclusive manner, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. By 2025, Danone aims to become one of the first multinational companies to obtain B Corp™ certification. With more than 100,000 employees, and products sold in over 120 markets, Danone generated €23.6 billion in sales in 2020. Danone’s portfolio includes leading international brands (Actimel, Activia, Alpro, Aptamil, Danette, Danio, Danonino, evian, Nutricia, Nutrilon, Volvic, among others) as well as strong local and regional brands (including AQUA, Blédina, Bonafont, Cow & Gate, Horizon Organic, Mizone, Oikos, Prostokvashino, Silk, Vega). Listed on Euronext Paris and present on the OTCQX market via an ADR (American Depositary Receipt) program, Danone is a component stock of leading sustainability indexes including the ones managed by Vigeo Eiris and Sustainalytics, as well as the Ethibel Sustainability Index, the MSCI ESG Indexes, the FTSE4Good Index Series, Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, and the Access to Nutrition Index.

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1 International Union of Food Workers

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• PR - Former IUF General Secretary Ron Oswald joins Danones Mission Committee