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Fonterra Greater China president, Christina Zhu.
Fonterra's business in China has blossomed in recent years.
Fonterra Greater China president Christina Zhu says for a long time the co-op was just an exporter with a small team based over there.
“It was just an agency model for NZ exports,” she says.
Today, Fonterra has about 1700 employees in China; 1100 people work in the 13 dairy farms.
About 500 staff form a core group looking after the co-op’s ingredients, food service and consumer businesses, working primarily in sales, marketing and distribution and supply.
Zhu joined Fonterra China seven years ago as vice-president of the ingredients business; she recalls working with around 20 staff.
“We didn’t have a marketing function, there was no supply chain or technical function either; we had a handful of junior sales staff.”
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