Theo Spierings, who led the Dutch farmer dairy co-operative Royal Friesland Foods into the merger with Campina in 2008, is the man chosen to lead the New Zealand dairy giant.
In a press statement Fonterra’s Chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden said Mr Spierings would bring to Fonterra 25 years of knowledge of the global dairy industry. “He has a wealth of experience in managing dairy businesses across Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.”
“Most importantly, Mr Spierings has an in-built respect for the co-operative structure and for farmers and their commitment to co-operative principles. He is well recognised by his peers for his people leadership, delivery of results and strong strategic skills.”
His co-op background was welcomed by The New Zealand Cooperatives Association. Cooperatives Association chairperson Chris Knowles said: “The new CEO of Fonterra clearly understands cooperatives. I am very happy the appointment is a long-term cooperator who will clearly understand the tensions of farmer ownership and member funding.”
Spierings was acting CEO of Royal Friesland Foods when he presided over all aspects of its complex and highly sensitive merger with Campina. He left the company shortly after completing the merger as, prior to the transaction, both parties had already agreed on an independent CEO to take the new entity forward.
Fonterra, established 10 years ago, now tops the IFCN 2011 ranking of the top 21 milk processors by volume, processing 3% of world milk. It is ranked third in Rabobank’s latest Global Dairy Top 20. Ferrier has been with the co-op for eight years.
When he announced his intention to step down, Sir Henry van der Heyden commented: “Andrew has devoted eight years to building Fonterra into a highly successful co-operative delivering great results for its farmer shareholders and New Zealand.” The co-operative takes more than 90%% of the milk produced in New Zealand and has annual sales of almost $17 billion.
The New Zealand Herald reported that Ferrier, a Canadian by birth – and who featured on the cover of Dairy Innovation’s second issue in 2005, “has a group of deputies responsible for its divisions who are likely internal candidates”. In the end none of these were chosen and the post has gone to a Dutchman. This has lead to an interesting array of headlines about the appointment: ‘Fonterra names Dutch import as new chief executive’, ’Fonterra again taps foreigner as CEO’, ‘Fonterra heads offshore for new chief exec’ were a few.
Ferrier has had a huge impact on the New Zealand dairy industry and on the global dairy scene – including the founding of the Global Dairy Platform. It will be interesting to see Fonterra’s second decade unfold under Spierings.
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