Kerry Group

Gary Sullivan is a pragmatic and results-driven Global Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) leader with extensive experience across FMCG, manufacturing, and multinational organizations. In his current role with Kerry Group, he leads the global EHS strategy, driving performance improvement, cultural transformation, and capability building across diverse regions and operations.

Building a Global Safety Culture

The experiences that have most shaped Gary’s approach to safety culture stem from working across multiple geographies, industries, and organizational maturities. Leading global transformations has reinforced for him that sustainable safety performance is not built through standards alone, but through culture—particularly how leaders engage, listen, and respond at the site level. Exposure to both highperforming and developing environments has taught him the importance of balancing global consistency with local relevance. For Gary, the most effective cultures are those where operations, supported by EHS own safety, and visibly led from the top.

Driving Ownership at Every Level

Gary strongly believes that safety cannot sit within a function—it must live within every role. To enable this, he focuses on simplifying EHS processes and making them accessible to frontline teams. He encourages teams to shift from reactive compliance to proactive ownership. Creating clarity around expectations, reinforcing positive behaviors, and recognizing contributions are all critical elements of his approach. Ultimately, he aims to build environments where employees feel both empowered and accountable for protecting themselves, their colleagues, and the communities in which they operate.

As workplace wellbeing gains traction, Gary sees psychological safety as a fundamental enabler of operational excellence. Organizations that foster trust, openness, and inclusion create the conditions for better decisionmaking, earlier risk identification, and more effective problem-solving. In his experience, teams that feel safe to speak up are significantly more resilient and adaptive. Going forward, he expects psychological safety to become increasingly embedded into core operational metrics—not as a standalone concept, but as a critical driver of reliability, engagement, and sustained performance.

Future Challenges for the Industry

The food and ingredients sector faces a complex and evolving set of EHS challenges. These include increasing regulatory expectations, the integration of sustainability and ESG into core operations, and the need to manage risk across global and often fragmented supply chains. At the same time, digital transformation is creating both opportunities and challenges, requiring organizations to rethink how they use data to anticipate and manage risk. Gary believes that organizations must invest in capability building, embrace datadriven decision-making, and strengthen governance frameworks while remaining agile. Success will depend on striking the right balance between standardization and flexibility, while maintaining a clear focus on risk-based priorities.

Advice to Emerging EHS Leaders

Reflecting on his career journey, Gary emphasizes the importance of leading with both empathy and impact. Technical knowledge and regulatory understanding are essential, but they must be complemented by strong communication, emotional intelligence, and the ability to influence at all levels of an organization. He encourages emerging professionals to spend time in operations, to understand the realities of frontline work, and to build credibility through practical experience.

Equally, he highlights the importance of resilience and continuous learning. The EHS landscape is constantly evolving, and leaders must remain curious, adaptable, and open to new ways of thinking. Above all, Gary advises future leaders to stay grounded in their purpose—protecting people, safeguarding the environment, and contributing to sustainable business performance.