NEW ZEALAND – Fonterra has appointed Fraser Whineray to its management team in the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer, starting in early 2020.

Mr Whineray will join the dairy cooperative form the New Zealand -based electricity generation and retailing company Mercury NZ, where he currently serves as the Chief Executive.

Mr Whineray has also held several senior leadership roles since joining the company in 2008. He led the rebrand of Mercury from Mighty River Power in 2016, led the development of the company’s first wind farm, New Zealand’s first major generation development since 2014.

During his tenure at Mercury, the company has made a record annual profit of $357 million (US$225.45 million) in the year to June, with revenue rising 11 percent to NZD2 billion (US$1.26 billion).

Fonterra chief executive officer Miles Hurrell says Mr Whineray is a results-orientated New Zealand business leader.

“Fraser has demonstrated he can transform organisations to achieve growth in complex environments through a focus on innovation, customers and his team,” Hurrell said.

“He is motivated to contribute to New Zealand’s export success and to drive sustainability, innovation and efficiency in business – three strengths that we believe can create real value. He is going to be a great addition to our management team.”

Fraser has also served in the dairy industry, having started his career as a graduate of the New Zealand Dairy Board’s technical training programme and spending time at some of our manufacturing sites and in export markets.

Fraser said he is looking forward to returning to the dairy sector and working alongside the many dedicated people at Fonterra. 

“I am pleased to be able to continue in a role which contributes to New Zealand, and has strong, genuine relationships with many regional communities, Maori land trusts and local iwi across the country”.

Mt Whineray has also held roles at Credit Suisse, Puhoi Valley Cheese and Carter Holt Harvey and is currently the Chair of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council.

He holds an MBA from theUniversity of Cambridge, a Post Graduate Diploma in Dairy Science & Technology from Massey University and a Bachelor of Chemical & Process Engineering from the University of Canterbury.

Fraser Whineray will join the dairy cooperative’s management team as chief operating officer as Fonterra looks to focus on rolling out its new restructuring strategy.

He will continue with Mercury until his move to his new role at Fonterra around the end of the first quarter of 2020.