Team size: 12

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Our team has been involved in several significant cases and transactions recently. Some highlights include successfully defending our HAYAT trademark in a high-profile intellectual property dispute; conducting a capital increase of SIRMA Grup through a complex cross-border merger and reinforcing all our companies to secure fair resolutions in labour disputes. Recently, the Danone Tikveşli company concluded without any fines out of a competition investigation, as the Turkish Competition Authority did not identify any antitrust violations in the company’s activities. These cases showcase our team’s expertise in diverse areas of law and our commitment to delivering favourable outcomes for Danone companies.

What strategic priorities are guiding you and your team in 2024?

Danone Türkiye operates diverse businesses in the waters, dairy, and special nutrition markets. As an integral part of our company, our legal team is aligned with the organisation’s strategic priorities for 2024. We are focused on enhancing stakeholder service by deeply understanding the business needs of our internal clients across various departments. By aligning legal advice with strategic business objectives, we aim to provide proactive and solution-oriented legal support.

Furthermore, we are actively leveraging compliance to streamline our processes and increase efficiency. Implementing compliance programs in antitrust, data privacy, labour law, and contracts allows us to foster sustainable trust within and outside our organisation. This enables us to work more effectively, mitigate risks, and deliver timely legal services to our stakeholders.

In line with the company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainability, our team is also prioritising the expansion of expertise in emerging legal areas such as data privacy and environmental law. By staying ahead of regulatory developments and integrating sustainability principles into our legal framework, we contribute to the company’s long-term success while positively impacting society and the environment.

Overall, our strategic priorities for 2024 reflect our dedication to driving value for the organisation, fostering innovation, and upholding the highest standards of legal integrity and compliance.

Do you have a cause, business-related or otherwise, that you are passionate about?

As an in-house legal team, we are deeply passionate about fostering a culture of integrity, transparency, and accountability within our organisation. One cause that we are particularly passionate about is promoting the use of our speak-up and ethics line.

Our speak-up and ethics line serves as a crucial channel for employees to report concerns about unethical behaviour, compliance violations, or any other misconduct they may encounter in the workplace. By encouraging employees to speak up and report such issues, we demonstrate our unwavering commitment to upholding ethical standards and ensuring a safe and respectful work environment for all.

We actively promote awareness of the speak-up and ethics line through regular training sessions, communication campaigns, and other initiatives aimed at educating employees about its importance and how to use it effectively. Additionally, we ensure that reports made through the line are handled with the utmost confidentiality and impartiality, providing reassurance to employees who may have concerns about retaliation or repercussions.

By promoting the use of the speak-up and ethics line, we empower our employees to take an active role in maintaining a culture of ethics and compliance within our organisation. We believe that by speaking up, employees not only protect the company’s reputation and financial health but also contribute to a workplace where trust, integrity, and ethical behaviour are valued and celebrated.

In summary, our dedication to promoting the use of the speak-up and ethics line reflects our firm belief that ethical conduct is not just a legal requirement but a fundamental aspect of how we conduct business and uphold our company’s values.