Former president of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and CEO of Premier Foods, Gavin Darby, has joined food redistribution charity The Felix Project as its new chair.

Darby’s career includes 15 years at Coca-Cola as well as work with large FMCG and Telecom businesses across Europe, US, Africa, India and China. He also serves on the Food and Drink Sector council and has held numerous non-executive board positions across food, telecoms, and testing sectors.

Darby said of the appointment: “I’m delighted to join The Felix Project as chair and especially so at this crucial time. Both food waste and food poverty are massive issues and I’m hugely impressed by the dynamism and commitment of the charity and its volunteers. I hope my appointment as chair will prove useful to The Felix Project as they face the inevitable protracted hunger crisis caused by Covid-19.”

Deputy chairman of The Felix Project, Justin Byam Shaw, said: “The appointment of Gavin as our new chair will strengthen the Felix Project at a time of extraordinary growth for our charity. To secure someone of his calibre and track record also serves as a statement of intent about the scale of our ambition.”