ALTERNATE BOARD MEMBER
Name Of Organisation: Univanich Palm Oil Public Company Limited
Membership Number: 100740900000
Name Of Nominee: John Clendon
Position In The Organisation: Director
Summary of Nominee Profile
John Clendon is a New Zealander whose overseas career began as an advisor to small-holder and communal farm development schemes in the Solomon Islands , under the NZ Government's bi-lateral aid programme in the western Pacific.
In 1980 John joined the Unilever Plantations and Plant Science Group and for the next 18 years was employed in various management positions including Director of Unilever's Oil Palm Operations in East Asia, Chairman and Managing Director of Unipalmol Malaysia Sdn Bhd and director of Unifield PLC in the UK.
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In 1998 John left Unilever to become Managing Director of Univanich Palm Oil PCL in Thailand. With the sale of Unilever's stake in this pioneering plantation business the company became 100% Thai owned and in 2003 was listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Based in Krabi, southern Thailand, Univanich became a catalyst for the successful development of smallholder development throughout the region where the company's factories now purchase more that 95% of their oil palm fruit from independent smallholder farmers. For the most part, these small growers have converted their family farms from less productive crops such as rubber, coconuts or cattle grazing.
In 2022 John retired as the Univanich Group CEO but remains as a non-executive director on the Univanich Boards in Thailand and in The Philippines.
Summary of Organisation Profile
Univanich has been an initiator of the oil palm sustainability movement in Thailand. This has included the pioneering development of methane biogas capture for the generation of renewable energy at the company's five palm oil factories and an industry leading programme of employee housing and social facilities.
The company has also promoted advanced R&D at the Univanich Oil Palm Research Centre where development of drought tolerant hybrid seeds and oil palm tissue culture has made it possible for Thailand's farmers to achieve competitive crop yields in a region where marked dry seasons and soil moisture deficits were serious limiting factors for successful oil palm cultivation.
In 2012 the Univanich-Plaipraya Community Enterprise Group became the world's first group of Independent Smallholders to achieve RSPO certification. During the past decade this pioneering group has been an ongoing example of successful collaboration between a nucleus small company, independent small farmers and the RSPO.