Why Fonterra accepted defeat in the dairy aisle
OPINION: Fonterra's sale of its consumer dairy business to Lactalis is a clear sign of the co-operative’s failure to compete in the branded consumer market.
Since December 2019, Teh-han has been at the helm in an acting capacity, overseeing the co-op’s overall Greater China business, including Ingredients, Foodservice, Consumer Brands and China Farms. He replaced Christina Zhu.
Fonterra has had mixed results in China; while its ingredients and food service businesses have soared, China Farms business has struggled to make money.
The co-op has decided to offload China Farms, which carry 31,000 milking cows housed in a feedlot system and are now worth $500 million.
Over the past 10 years the co-op has invested over $1 billion in the farms with very little returns.
In its interim results announced in April, the co-op wrote down another $61m from the farms’ value. Last year it wrote down $200m.
Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell says Chow has made an impressive contribution but points out that “it’s certainly not been a steady-state”.
“Teh-han has been responsible for implementation of our new strategy across the Greater China business, and over the course of this calendar year, has shown outstanding resilience, resourcefulness and empathy in getting his team and our China business through the ongoing challenge of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
“Teh-han’s leadership has helped keep us in good shape during a very challenging set of circumstances, and I’m delighted to welcome him formally to the Fonterra management team – it’s well deserved”.
