September appointments in dairy

There are also changes at Arla UK, Dairy UK, Parmalat and Fonterra.

Hein Schumacher to succeed Roelof Joosten as CEO of FrieslandCampina

The Supervisory Board of Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. has appointed Hein Schumacher chief executive officer from January 1, 2018.

Schumacher will succeed Roelof Joosten.

Schumacher became a member of the executive board and CFO of FrieslandCampina in 2015. Previous to this, he worked, among others, at Heinz in both financial and general management positions in the Netherlands, the US, the UK and China.

Joosten has been CEO of FrieslandCampina since June 2015, and has been with the Dutch cooperative since 2004.

New role, new face at Arla UK

Arla Foods UK has appointed Steve Millard as its new head of e-commerce & digital.

The newly-created role forms part of Arla’s wider ambitions to increase the proportion of its online sales in the UK to 20% by 2025, as more shoppers than ever turn to digital retailers to purchase their household groceries.

Millard will lead the digital offer of Arla’s sales and marketing teams, engaging with major online retail outlets to increase the presence of its dairy products. This will include online-only retailers, as well as traditional high-street outlets and supermarkets.

Millard joins Arla from Jacobs Douwe Egberts, having previously worked at Burtons Biscuit Company, Tesco.com and Dunnhumby.

New chairman at Dairy UK

Dairy UK has announced its new chairman is the chief executive of Glanbia Cheese, Paul Vernon.

Vernon was elected to succeed Dr David Dobbin at the Dairy UK Annual General Meeting.

Vernon has worked with Glanbia for 22 years.

 Dairy UK CEO Dr Judith Bryans also welcomed Tomas Pietrangeli, MD of Arla Foods, and Andrew McInnes, MD of Müller Milk & Ingredients, as the newly-elected vice-chairs of the organization.

Bernier takes reigns of Parmalat

Parmalat’s board of directors has appointed Jean-Marc Bernier chief executive officer and general manager of the company.

Bernier has been employed by the Lactalis Group since 1995, holding positions in France and Italy, where he served as chief executive officer of Gruppo Lactalis Italia in the Italian dairy industry with such brands as Galbani, Invernizzi, Locatelli and Vallelata.

Arla Foods strikes vice CEO position

Arla Foods vice CEO and head of supply chain, Povl Krogsgaard, has stepped down and the company has decided not to appoint a new vice CEO. Instead, Sami Naffakh will become executive vice president and head of supply chain.

Krogsgaard’s Arla Foods career spans 30 years of substantial growth and change as the company has evolved from a Danish and Swedish dairy co-operative with limited international reach to a co-operative with farmer owners in seven European countries, a global sales and Supply Chain footprint and revenues of over €10bn ($11.7bn).

Naffakh will join Arla Foods in January 2018. He has a career covering leadership roles with Danone Early Life Nutrition, Reckitt Benkiser, Unilever, and most recently, The Estée Lauder Companies.

CFO appointment announced by Fonterra

Fonterra has appointed Marc Rivers as chief financial officer, effective March 1, 2018.

Rivers is currently CFO at Roche Pharmaceuticals Division in Switzerland, with oversight of NZ$51bn in sales including 14 manufacturing sites around the world.  His division of Roche is responsible for product distribution for 140 countries, focusing on the innovation pipeline and customer and market development.

He has a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and an International Masters of Business Administration, Finance and German from the University of South Carolina, Columbia US.

Great Lakes Cheese announces new leadership

Brad Belanger has been appointed as director of foodservice of Great Lakes Cheese. Belanger was formerly the senior director corporate accounts for Saputo Dairy.

The appointment was made concurrent with the announcement that Ned Dorman is retiring from his position as director of foodservice after 22 years with the company, effective August 1, 2018.

The company will be moving all foodservice functions to the corporate office in Hiram, Ohio. Dorman will continue as a consultant to the company and will work with Belanger to ensure a smooth leadership transition.