PRESS RELEASE

APPOINTMENT OF CEO-DESIGNATE

RSPO Board of Governors appoint Ms Beverley Postma as Chief Executive Officer 

Kuala Lumpur, 3 April 2020: The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Board of Governors are pleased to announce the appointment of Ms Beverley Postma, as Chief Executive Officer-Designate with an expected start date of 1 May 2020. 

Beverley is an experienced CEO and scale-up strategist who thrives at the interface of business, government, and civil society. She leaves her current position as a consultant for GreenOcean Group, a Singapore-based sustainable business consultancy to join RSPO. Beverley is also the Founder and Executive Director of Food Industry Asia (FIA), the leading industry association for food companies in Asia, and was Chief Executive Officer of HarvestPlus based in Washington, D.C., where she managed a global team of more than 170 staff across fifteen countries.

Co-Chairs of the RSPO Board of Governors, Ms Anne Rosenbarger and Dato’ Carl Bek-Nielsen said, “On behalf of the board, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Ms Postma as the new Chief Executive Officer of RSPO. We are confident that with her more than 20 years of experience in the global food industry, Beverley will help RSPO reach new heights and create a greater impact on the sustainable palm oil value chain.”

RSPO’s Chief Executive Officer-Designate, Ms Beverley Postma said, “I'm honoured to be joining an organisation that plays such a crucial role in one of the most important commodities traded globally today. Though it is not without its challenges, the approach of the RSPO - in bringing diverse groups of stakeholders with individual interests together - is the best way to build effective partnerships and solve the world’s most difficult problems. Despite these uncertain times with our global community facing unique challenges amidst COVID-19, I look forward to this next chapter and to working with the Secretariat, our members, and stakeholders to achieve a more sustainable palm oil industry.”

The RSPO Co-Chairs added, “We must also extend our sincere thanks and utmost appreciation to Mr Bakhtiar Talhah for his demonstrated commitment and leadership during these past few months as Interim Chief Executive Officer. We are very pleased that Bakhtiar will return to the role of Chief Operating Officer where he has served the organisation admirably.”

Ms Postma is expected to join the RSPO in May 2020 and commence work on key projects alongside Bakhtiar Talhah, the RSPO Secretariat’s Senior Management team, RSPO members, and in collaboration with the RSPO Board of Governors.

About RSPO:

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable oil palm products through credible global standards and engagement of stakeholders. RSPO is a not-for-profit, international, membership organisation that unites stakeholders from the different sectors of the palm oil industry including oil palm producers, palm oil processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmental or nature conservation NGOs, and social or developmental NGOs.

This multi-stakeholder representation is mirrored in the governance structure of RSPO such that seats in the Board of Governors, Steering Committees and Working Groups are fairly allocated to each sector. In this way, RSPO lives out the philosophy of the "roundtable" by giving equal rights to each stakeholder group, facilitating traditionally adversarial stakeholders in working together to reach decisions by consensus, and achieving RSPO’s shared vision of making sustainable palm oil the norm.

The seat of the association is in Zurich, Switzerland, while the secretariat is currently based in Kuala Lumpur with satellite offices in Jakarta (ID), London (UK), Zoetermeer (NL), Beijing (CN) and Bogotá (CO).

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