Having sold its consumer and integrated business in a landmark deal with Lactalis, Fonterra is embarking on a new era with a B2B-led strategy.
The New Zealand dairy co-op is turning its attention to its most profitable divisions – Ingredients and Foodservice – as it aims to maximise value for its farmers.
The plan is to invest in high-value ingredients such as premium protein powders and broaden its reach in both emerging and established foodservice markets. At the same time, Fonterra’s only remaining consumer business, in Greater China, will continue to require dedicated resources.
Allen served as head of Ingredients before becoming CEO. Now, he is reshuffling the leadership structure in a more distinct way – less category-first and more purpose-led.
How Fonterra is reshaping its Ingredients and Foodservice strategy
The three new appointments are:
Teh-han Chow, CEO Greater China, responsible for Fonterra’s Ingredients and Foodservice businesses across Greater China.
Gaby Amade, President Global Markets, in charge of the Ingredients and Foodservice businesses across Oceania, the Americas, Southeast Asia, Japan, the Middle East and Europe.
Elisa Giusti, Chief Growth and Strategy Officer, accountable for developing integrated market, product and group strategies, portfolio optimisation, innovation and global new business development.
This marks a departure from a more vertically focused structure and a shift towards ownership across multiple adjacent markets. It points to a nimbler operating model, where decisions affecting several markets can sit with a single executive rather than relying on multiple layers of management.
That intention is also reflected in Allen’s announcement.
“Through our new leadership structure, we’ll have a single point of sales accountability in each market for both Ingredients and Foodservice performance, supported by a global growth and strategy team tasked with ensuring our farmers’ milk accesses the highest value demand globally, both now and into the future.”
What the new appointments reveal about Fonterra’s growth ambitions
The appointment of a dedicated growth and strategy officer is particularly telling of Fonterra’s ambitions and its focus on executing its growth plan. Giusti served as executive vice-president of growth during Allen’s tenure at the helm of Fonterra’s Ingredients business and has now been handed a broader role that will draw on experience gained as director of marketing and new business development at Bimbo Bakeries before joining Fonterra in 2019.
She will be responsible not only for identifying new growth markets but also for pinpointing categories where the co-op can channel milk to maximise value.
Fonterra’s Gaby Amade has spent years overseeing the co-op’s Middle East, Africa and Central Asia operations under different roles and geographic structures. After serving as managing partner for FMCG in the MEA region at Global Trading Co. Ltd, he went on to lead MEA & Central Asia, then the Middle East, then MEA again, before Europe and Southeast Asia also fell under his remit.
Now that Fonterra has disposed of much of its Middle East and Africa consumer business, Amade has taken on a significantly broader portfolio, with Oceania, the Americas, Japan and Europe added to the remaining MEA operations under his leadership.
As for the Greater China business, Teh-han Chow was the obvious appointment, given his extensive governance and commercial experience across both Ingredients and the wider business during his time as regional CEO.
Taken together, the appointments suggest Allen is building a leadership team geared towards growth, value creation and faster decision-making as Fonterra doubles down on Ingredients and Foodservice following its historic strategic reset.
