Danone further progresses on Board renewal with two additions
Press Release – Paris, October 3, 2022
Danone further progresses on
Board renewal with two additions
Danone is pleased to announce that two senior leaders have been co-opted to join the Board of Directors as independent members:
- Gilbert Ghostine, currently Chief Executive Officer of Firmenich;
- Lise Kingo, former Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact.
Gilbert Ghostine and Lise Kingo will join Danone’s Board of Directors from October 15th and December 1st respectively. They will replace Guido Barilla, who decided to step down from the Board by anticipation, and Cécile Cabanis, who left the Board on June 30th.
Gilles Schnepp, Chairman of the Board said:
“First, I would like, on behalf of the entire Board, to warmly thank Guido Barilla for his active and constant involvement in the Board’s work since 2018. His undisputed business acumen and experience in the Consumer Goods sector, as well as his remarkable integrity and wisdom, have been an undeniable added value to Danone.
The addition of Gilbert Ghostine and Lise Kingo marks another milestone in the renewal of Danone’s Board of Directors. With their experience in senior leadership roles and expertise in Consumer Goods, Health, Nutrition and Sustainability, they will support us in the implementation of the Renew Danone strategy. I would like to thank them for accepting to join the Board and look forward to working with them.”
APPENDIX
Biographies
Gilbert Ghostine is the Chief Executive Officer of Firmenich, the Swiss largest private fragrance and taste company in the world. Since joining Firmenich in 2014, Gilbert has championed digital innovation, led the strategic repositioning of Firmenich into Natural, Biotech and Life Science leadership, and driven its growth into a recognized global leader in Environmental, Social and Governance.
Under Gilbert’s leadership, Firmenich has delivered strong and consistent organic growth whilst securing 14 strategic acquisitions, culminating in the planned merger with DSM in the first half of 2023. Gilbert’s tenure as Firmenich Chief Executive Officer will end in 2023, once the merger with DSM is achieved. Prior to joining Firmenich, Gilbert worked for 21 years with Diageo, holding several senior leadership roles across four continents.
In July 2022, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Gilbert is a Lebanese-national and holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Saint Joseph University, Lebanon. He also completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.
Lise Kingo is an Independent Board member of Sanofi and Covestro, as well as a non-executive Board member of the investment company Aker Horizons. Between 2015 and 2020, she was the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative uniting business to create a better world through universal principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
From 2002 to 2014 Lise was Executive Vice President, member of the Executive Management team, in Novo Nordisk with global responsibility for Compliance, HR, Communications and Sustainability. She spent more than 25 years in the company in various international business roles and was instrumental in defining the company’s sustainable business strategy and strong brand.
A native of Denmark, Lise holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, a bachelor's degree in Marketing and Economics from the Copenhagen Business School and a master's degree in Responsibility & Business from the University of Bath in the UK. Furthermore, she is certified as an international Board member by INSEAD.
Danone Board renewal – Reminder
On July 29, 2021, Danone announced the complete renewal of its Board of Directors: all current Directors – with the exception of Gilles Schnepp and the two Directors representing Employees – will be leaving the Board of Directors by the 2023 Shareholders’ Meeting.
In the meantime, Danone will propose the election of new, externally-recruited Directors, with the objective of constituting a more independent and compact Board of Directors featuring the right blend of FMCG-experience, capabilities and perspectives.
Composition of Danone’s Board of Directors as of December 1st
Gilles Schnepp, Chairman
Valérie Chapoulaud-Floquet, Lead Independent Director
Antoine de Saint-Affrique, Chief Executive Officer
Frédéric Boutebba, Director representing employees
Gilbert Ghostine
Lise Kingo
Michel Landel
Patrice Louvet
Géraldine Picaud
Susan Roberts
Bettina Theissig, Director representing employees
Serpil Timuray
About Danone ()
Danone is a leading global food and beverage company operating in three health-focused, fast-growing and on-trend categories: Essential Dairy & Plant-Based products, Waters and Specialized Nutrition. With a long-standing mission of bringing health through food to as many people as possible, Danone aims to inspire healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices while committing to achieve measurable nutritional, social, societal and environment impact. Danone has defined its Renew strategy to restore growth, competitiveness, and value creation for the long-term. With 100,000 employees, and products sold in over 120 markets, Danone generated €24.2 billion in sales in 2021. 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, Mizone, Oikos and Silk). 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. By 2025, Danone aims to become one of the first multinational companies to obtain global B Corp™ certification.
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