Fonterra - New Head Of Value Add Ingredients

8 February 2007

Fonterra Appoints New Head Of Value Add Ingredients

Fonterra Co-operative Group has appointed Andrei Mikhalevsky to head up its new value add business of Fonterra Ingredients with products including customised dairy commodities as well as technically complex dairy ingredients.

Mr Mikhalevsky, who takes up his role on February 13, will be Managing Director, Fonterra Ingredients, while long-term dairy veteran, John Shaskey, focuses on the company's world-leading commodity business as Managing Director of Fonterra GlobalTrade.

The new appointments follow the division of the former Fonterra Ingredients into two businesses last year, with Fonterra GlobalTrade specialising in high volume commodity trading and Fonterra Ingredients in value add.

Announcing the appointments, Fonterra CEO Andrew Ferrier said that while Fonterra had always generated value add revenues in its broader Ingredients business, the new structure would better support higher value add performance through better focus and accountabilities.

"Increased value add profit is an important target for us. We have an aggressive target this year of an 80% step up in value add profits, and for the long term we need to drive more momentum into our growth in profits" said Mr Ferrier.

"A good proportion of this year's step up in performance will come from Fonterra Ingredients, and over the long term we need to see steady momentum in profit growth from both our Brands business and our Ingredients business".

Mr Mikhalevsky was most recently the Global President of the Flavours Division of the German listed company Symrise, a leading international manufacturer of flavours, fragrances and sensory ingredients. His track record includes 7 years with Georgia Pacific and related companies, rising up to head the North American Retail business, and 16 years with the Campbell Soup Company in senior management positions with the sales, finance, international and supply chain divisions.

He holds a BBA in Finance from Stetson University, Florida, completed the Food Executive Programme at the University of Southern California and attended the graduate studies programme at George Mason University.

Mr Mikhalevsky will be based in Fonterra's US headquarters in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. North America, along with Europe and Japan, is an important value add market for Fonterra.

"We now have in the business an excellent balance of skills with Andrei highly experienced in specialist and value add ingredients and John Shaskey with his wealth of experience and knowledge in the global commodities market," Mr Ferrier said.

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