USA – American dairy cooperative Darigold has appointed Joe Coote, the current president of Darigold’s global ingredients division, as its next chief executive officer.
Coote is succeeding Stan Ryan who will be retiring at the end of the company’s fiscal year ending 31 March.
Ryan joined Darigold in 2016 after spending 25 years at Cargill and is said to have led efforts to modernise and globalise the co-op.
“Leading Darigold for the last six years has been a tremendous honour. I’m proud to be associated with this enterprise and its enduring commitment to success,” said Ryan.
“I am confident that I am leaving the co-op with a solid foundation of capabilities and the internal team to deliver that bright future, especially with Joe at the helm.”
Coote joined Darigold in November 2020 and is said to have previously served in various leadership roles with ‘one of the world’s largest dairy companies’.
“We brought Joe into our company with succession in mind, and as a candidate to replace Stan,” Allan Huttema, chairman of Darigold’s board of directors, said.
“He brings extensive experience leading international organizations, including 14 years in senior leadership positions in global and domestic dairy.”
During his time at Darigold, Joe has made significant impacts in the company’s global ingredients division, building strong relationships with customers and throughout the value chain, advancing commercialization, and growing revenues.
“He is the right leader to help us on our journey to lead dairy forward from the very solid foundation Stan has put in place,” Huttema observed.
Danone makes new executive appointments
Earlier, French dairy company Danone SA added a chief operations officer, a chief research, innovation, quality, and food safety officer, and a chief sustainability and strategic business development officer to its leadership team.
Vikram Agarwal, who most recently served as a strategic adviser with Dole Packaged Foods LLC, has been named the company’s new chief operating officer.
Isabelle Esser has been named chief research, innovation, quality, and food safety officer with the company and will be charged with managing Danone’s science, innovation, quality, and product development agenda.
Most recently, she was the chief human resources officer with Barry Callebaut, after a career of over 25 years in research and development at Unilever.
Henri Bruxelles has been promoted from COO of end-to-end design to delivery to chief sustainability and strategic business development officer.
He will be responsible for identifying, assessing, and exploring new and sustainable growth opportunities, from geographic, category, and business model perspectives, according to the company.
“The completion of the Danone’s executive committee team is an important step in bringing Danone back to what made it a unique company: a passion for brands and innovation and excellence in execution,” said Antoine de Saint-Affrique, chief executive officer.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Hayes has been appointed chairperson of the Canadian Dairy Commission for a four-year term, effective December 23, 2021.
Hayes, a dairy and beef farmer on Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula, is the first woman to be appointed to the position.
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