Regal Springs Group Executive Vice President of Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer Peter Hajipieris will step down from his post next month, to be replaced by Laurent Develle.
Hajipieris joined the Singapore-based tilapia-farming company in 2017 as the company’s global advisor for corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and external affairs. He was subsequently tasked with developing the WE CARE program, a sustainability standards platform for all of Regal Springs’ farms and products, which launched in 2019. He also established corporate affairs, regulatory affairs, communications and community affairs (CSR) functions in Indonesia, Honduras, and Mexico, where Regal Springs farms tilapia in lakes without the use of chemicals, growth hormones, or antibiotics.
In an email, Hajipieris told SeafoodSource he is stepping down for family reasons and that his last day at Regal Springs will be 6 August.
“I am taking a short time out, hopefully,” he said.
Develle will join Regal Springs on 9 August as executive vice president, group general counsel, head of corporate affairs, and executive team member. Most recently, Laurent has practiced law with a focus on sustainability, particularly in the fields agriculture commodities and food processing. He has worked as an advisor to several seafood and aquaculture start-ups, and currently serves as an advisory board member at Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based blue tech start-up incubator Sea Ahead.
Previously, Develle worked as general counsel and compliance officer, and in other positions at Areva T&D, Millicom International Cellular, and Louis Dreyfus Company. He is a member of the World Commission of Environmental Law and Oceans, Coast and Coral Reefs Specialists Group at the U.N.-related International Union for Conservation of Nature. He has a master’s degree in French business law from the University of Paris and has degrees from the French Institute of Political Studies and from the Harvard Business School. He will be based in at the company’s Switzerland office.
“I am delighted to be joining Regal Springs to continue to ensure that we retain our reputational leadership position for responsible and certified premium tilapia in the industry and support our strategy to be the world’s best and most sustainable premium tilapia producer in the world,” Develle said in a press release. “I am pleased to join such an international team of talented executives and hope to contribute my cross-disciplinary expertise and experience to the challenges and opportunities of today’s tilapia industry.”
Alois Hofbauer, who was appointed Regal Springs’ CEO in November 2019, said the company will miss Hajipieris.
“We are sad to see Peter go. He has played an instrumental role in our operations risk management and in developing our industry leading integrated sustainability program, Regal Springs WE CARE. It is a unique global standards and social responsibility platform. On behalf of Regal Springs, I want to extend our sincere gratitude to Peter for his many contributions and wish him all the best for his future,” Hofbauer said. “We wish to extend a very warm welcome to Laurent as he joins the Regal Springs Family. We look forward to working with him and I am confident that he will be a strong cultural fit and be able to play a key role in our company and to support the next stages of our strategy. I wish Laurent great success in his new role.”
Photos courtesy of Regal Springs Group
