Monday, 17 August 2020 09:26

Chow confirmed as Fonterra China head

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Teh-han Chow. Teh-han Chow.

Fonterra has confirmed the appointment of Teh-han Chow as chief executive officer, Greater China.

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”.

More like this

Strange bedfellows

OPINION: Two types of grifters have used the sale of Fonterra's consumer brands as a platform to push their own agendas - under the guise of 'caring about the country'.

Featured

India-New Zealand free trade agreement (FTA) dairy outcomes

OPINION: As negotiations advance on the India-New Zealand FTA, it’s important to remember the joint commitment made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the beginning of this process in March: for a balanced, ambitious, comprehensive, and mutually beneficial agreement.

Honesty vital in flood insurance claims, says IFSO

As New Zealand experiences more frequent and severe flooding events, the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO Scheme) is urging consumers to be honest and accurate when making insurance claims for flood damage.

National

Machinery & Products

New pick-up for Reiter R10 merger

Building on experience gained during 10 years of making mergers/ windrowers, Austrian company Reiter has announced the secondgeneration pick-up on…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Remembering Bolger

OPINION: Is it now time for the country's top agricultural university to start thinking about a name change - something…

Time for action

OPINION: If David Seymour's much-trumpeted Ministry for Regulation wants a serious job they need look no further than reviewing the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter