August 21, 2020

 

OSI's Claire Donoghue is new board chair of European Roundtable for Beef Sustainability

 

 

The European Roundtable for Beef Sustainability (ERBS) has a new chair of the board, Claire Donoghue.

 

Donoghue is the operations director and head of sustainability of OSI Europe. OSI Group is a premier global food provider.

 

OSI said in a news release on Monday, Aug. 17, that Donoghue's election to the three-year position was announced on July 15 by ERBS, which is Europe's largest multi-stakeholder group for beef sustainability.

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As board chair, Donoghue will oversee the continued development of the sustainability platform, which launched in 2018 as a regional division of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB). Like its global counterpart, the ERBS works with stakeholders across the beef industry, from farmers to distributors, to guide improvements in a range of sustainability areas.

 

ERBS focuses in particular on animal health and welfare, animal medicine usage, farm management and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

 

Nicole Johnson-Hoffman, OSI chief sustainability officer, said regarding Donoghue's election as ERBS board chair: "As a founding member of the ERBS and staunch supporter of sustainability roundtables, OSI is thrilled to have one of our own at the helm of a group we've been proud to work with".

 

"We look forward to continuing to support Claire's work, at OSI and ERBS, to advance our vision of a more sustainable beef industry", she added.

 

Extensive experience in beef industry

 

Donoghue is equipped for her new role with extensive experience both in the beef industry and as a leader within the ERBS. Since late 2018, she had chaired its Technical Working Group, which develops strategies to recognise national and local beef sustainability programmes.

 

As board chair, Donoghue is closely tracking the progress of recognised programmes and platforms toward ERBS targets, which include a 15% intensity reduction in GHG emissions and 50% reduction in the use of certain animal medicines (those labeled "Highest Priority Critically Important Antimicrobials" by the World Health Organization), by 2023.

 

Donoghue also plans to continue to closely collaborate with the GRSB and expand the ERBS board to new members and representatives from more European countries.

 

"This is an exciting time to chair the ERBS. The Technical Working Group has worked closely with beef stakeholders to create common goals. Now, we will be focusing on reporting our progress against these goals, and will encourage further engagement from European stakeholders", Donoghue said.

 

"I look forward to leading this group while working collaboratively with our peers and subject matter experts throughout our global network".