A member of Danone Iberia’s in-house legal team since 2002, Francesc Casajuana Cuscó has been its general counsel directing legal, regulatory, security and compliance matters for the company since early 2016 and is now in charge of a highly qualified legal, regulatory and compliance function.

He provides some detail into the complexities of his day-to-day work at Danone: ‘In Iberia, Danone has five main businesses: dairy products, medical nutrition, baby food, waters and plant based products, each one with their own business strategy. In this sense, it is a key point of order to build a legal strategy which supports the business and is involved in the business decisions’. He is also keen to make sure the team remains united in focus despite containing individuals based in a number of locations.

‘In my current position I have an internal team of 18 people based in Barcelona, Lisbon and Madrid’, he explains, ‘So, in order to be successful in all our projects, a large part of my time is taken ensuring the team has a clear vision of the strategy of each business, and is mindful of whether they have the necessary support’. Casajuana is highly enthusiastic about the role that expert in-house counsel can have to play in a successful business: ‘An in-house legal department which is able to understand and help the business is a real competitive advantage for the company, as it can support the business to move into new areas when necessary, find new solutions and be a key business partner’.