Personnel changes at RSPO as Dan Strechay moves to Mars

Dan Strechay, the global director of outreach and engagement for the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the palm oil industry’s largest eco certifier, has switched to consumer goods giant Mars. Strechay moves on after close to five years with the Kuala Lumpur-headquartered organisation to take on a role as director of sustainability communications and engagement at the maker of M&M’s, Snickers, and the Mars bar, based in the United States. Also leaving RSPO is head of human resources Shailaja Sharma at a period of transition for the organisation. Fay Richards is currently acting head of marketing and communications, based in London, while Preethi Jain is Asia Pacific head of outreach and engagement, based in India. Sara Cowling, global head of communications, is on maternity leave.

Beverley Postma was appointed chief executive of RSPO a year ago, replacing outgoing CEO Darrel Webber. Postma, who will soon to unveil a new five-year strategy for the certifier, is still based in Singapore ahead of a move to KL. RSPO said that while it has experienced staff changes in the past few months, the organisation is expanding personnel in the region, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia. “We are confident in our five-year strategy which details ambitious milestones and how we will achieve them,” a spokesperson said. In 2018, RSPO unveiled new standards that ruled out deforestation and growing on peat for its members. A report by Greenpeace last month found that while RSPO had strong standards and a solid approach to stakeholder engagement and transparency, implementation was an issue. RSPO emerged as the strongest of the certification bodies in the study.