Our Governance

foodwatch is a non-profit organization. To maintain its independence, foodwatch refuses state and EU funds, financing itself through contributions from supporting members and donations.

foodwatch has a strong presence across Europe, with national offices in France, Austria, Netherlands, Germany and a representation in Brussels. The role of foodwatch International is to oversee and streamline the collaboration of these national offices.

The foodwatch team is a diverse and dynamic team made up of individuals with a variety of backgrounds. Visit the team web pages of foodwatch Austria, foodwatch France, foodwatch Germany , foodwatch International and foodwatch Netherlands  to know more about us. 

Members

foodwatch is proud to be a member-driven organization. Our members have the power to influence our direction and actions. Annual General Meetings provide an opportunity for members to voice their opinions. According to our statutes, there are supporting members and voting members at foodwatch.

Our approximately 81 voting members are those who are considered members in the sense of association law. At the Annual General Meetings, they, for example, elect the members of the Supervisory Board or decide on the association's statutes.

Our more than 60,000 supporting members make our work possible with their contributions. Supporting members are open to participate in member meetings, and they can also propose voting members to the Supervisory Board.
 

Supervisory Board

The Supervisory Board is the elected representation of the foodwatch members. It works on a voluntary basis and advises and monitors the management. The members of the Supervisory Board are elected by the voting members for a period of three years each. 

The non-profit association foodwatch e.V. legally comprises foodwatch International, foodwatch Germany and foodwatch Austria. Therefore the Supervisory Board is the same for these three Units. The current members of the foodwatch Supervisory Board include:

• Stéphanie Anker - lives in Geneva, runs the consultancy Semeio and is also Chair of the Supervisory Board of foodwatch France.
• Marta Arranz - lives in Santander, Spain, works as a freelance consultant and is Director of the Climate SMILE Initiative.
• Kirsten Brodde - lives in Hamburg. She heads the finance and economics campaign at Greenpeace Germany, which focuses on the financiers of the climate crisis. In her spare time, she renaturalises a piece of land in Schleswig-Holstein.
• Karin Kiehn - lives in Berlin and is managing director of Olin gGmbH, a private environmental support organisation.
• Sofie van der Meulen - lives in the Netherlands, is a data law and bioscience expert and a sought-after speaker, particularly on the topics of inclusion and diversity. She is Chair of the Supervisory Board of foodwatch Netherlands.
• Peter Müller-Brühl - lives in Berlin and is Head of Market Expansion EMEA at the American solar company Enphase Energy Inc.
• Birgit Radow (Spokeswoman of the Supervisory Board) - lives in Berlin and works as a freelancer.

Whistleblower-Policy

To set a good example, we have committed to comprehensive internal measures to protect whistleblowers. Together with other organisations we set up a joint internal reporting office to comprehensively protect whistleblowers from reprisals. 
 

Finances

foodwatch ensures that its activities are not influenced by interests other than those of consumers. Donations exceeding 5,000 Euros per year, from individuals or corporations, are scrutinized for potential ties to relevant sectors. All major donors (over 5,000 Euros) are generally listed on the foodwatch website, with exceptions made for privacy reasons, in which case the donation is announced but the donor's name is disclosed upon request. Furthermore, foodwatch never accepts donations from the food industry or larger companies in the food retail sector.

foodwatch conducts regular financial audits by external auditors to guarantee the responsible use of its resources.

Part of the funding for the foodwatch offices in Austria and France is provided by foodwatch International. The Austrian office is 97% funded, while the French team receives 15% financial support in 2023. You can find detailed income and expenditure reports on our office-specific finance web pages of foodwatch France, foodwatch Germany and foodwatch Netherlands.