GERMANY – Arla Foods has appointed Markus Muhleisen as new Managing Director and Group Vice-president in charge of Arla’s operations in Germany and Austria effective from March 1, 2018.

Markus who succeeds Winfried Meier set to leave the company at the end of April 2018, will report to Peter Giortz-Carlsen, Executive Vice-President and Head of Europe at Arla Foods.

Meier was commended for having ensured successful integration of the Arla-Milch Union Hocheifel union that merged them into Germany’s third largest dairy.

Markus worked for General Mills as Managing Director for Northern Europe (UK, Germany and Ireland), Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific region.

He held various high ranking positions at the company including its Haagen-Dazs and Knack & Back companies.

Before joining General Mills, he showcased 8 years of his knowledge in economics in various management positions at Nestlé Cereals in Frankfurt and Asia.

According to Peter Giørtz-Carlsen, Markus has led big food brands and teams to success in Germany and internationally.

Having a good track record in fostering growth in challenging environments, Peter said that he was well suited to contribute greatly to Arla’s Good Growth Strategy 2020 in Germany.

“We want to further accelerate our brand growth in Germany and expand the export business.

In doing so, we rely on our strong portfolio of global and local brands and even more intensive cooperation with our retail customers and consumers,” said Peter Giørtz-Carlsen.

As Arla looks forward to identifying growth opportunities through innovative products, it is shifting its focus on 6 main regions that show Arla’s potential to grow including China, Nigeria, USA, Russia, Northern Europe and the Middle East.

In its 2017 financial year, Arla reported growth for its share of branded business to 44.6%, resulting to strong gains for Arla skyr brand in German.

Markus joins a team of Arla’s committed world class management team who have a mission to grow Arla’s revenue from US$12.69 billion reported in 2017 to as high as US$13 billion in 2018