Quorn fills newly created role of “Director of People and Planet”

The company explained that the role has been created to accelerate its status as a business of the future, with an environmental mission at its core.

Formerly of Unilever, Zhao brings nearly 20 years of HR experience to Quorn. She has held leading positions in multiple APAC markets, most recently as group HRD for The Dairy Farm Group in Hong Kong, before moving to the UK in 2018 to complete a master’s degree in environment, politics and society at University College London.

As part of this latest announcement, Quorn is also setting the following targets against which it will measure its progress in HR and sustainability moving forward:

· To become a net positive company by 2030;

· To achieve net zero emissions within its own operations by 2030;

· To achieve net zero emissions across its whole supply chain by 2050;

· To serve eight billion meals a year worldwide by 2030 – one for every person on the planet.

Zhao said: “It is an honour to join Quorn Foods and become the first person to undertake this new role. Living in Asia for much of my life, I have seen the damaging impacts of the climate crisis first-hand and, by encouraging more people to eat sustainable protein, we can help improve people’s lives.

“My HR experience has taught me that people are inspired by a shared purpose, and to achieve true, sustainable progress we must prioritise the engagement of our team. The COVID-19 pandemic poses serious challenges to the Quorn family, but the way our people are tackling the situation with bravery and dedication has shown me that I have arrived at a special company that is well set to make a difference to the future of our planet.”