Fonterra’s outgoing chief financial officer Marc Rivers believes the co-operative is starting a new and exciting chapter.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” is what Rivers told Dairy News when asked for his final message to the co-op’s 9,000 farming families.
“This is just the start of a new chapter for Fonterra and one that is really exciting,” says Rivers, who stepped down from September 30. He will attend Fonterra’s annual meeting next month before leaving the co-op.
Rivers joined Fonterra in 2018, the year in which the co-op posted its first financial loss.
With Rivers at his side, then interim chief executive Miles Hurrell announced a major review of overseas assets and partnerships.
The co-op decided to focus on extracting value rather than pursue volume and put the focus back on its New Zealand milk pool. Two years later the co-op was back in the black. Last month the co-op announced a net profit of $583 million for last financial year on the back of revenues totalling $23.4 billion.
Rivers says, after the 2018 results, it was clear that Fonterra had to change and everyone could see that.
“We’ve come a long way since then and credit to Miles and the team, we’ve worked really hard to get the co-op to where it is now.
“It’s not only been about turning the co-op around from a financial point of view but also about creating a positive atmosphere where people feel comfortable to share ideas and communicate openly.”
Fonterra farmer shareholders also wanted changes.
“Nothing is lost on New Zealand dairy farmers, who are some of the most financially literate people on earth,” Rivers says.
“It was obvious that we needed to change.”
The changes required some tough decisions, including realising the co-op’s purpose.
“The biggest challenge was the breakthrough in realising what Fonterra’s purpose was: collecting milk and transforming it and bringing the cash back home,” says Rivers.
“Our previous strategy didn’t reflect what our owners wanted.”
Rivers says plenty of decisions needed to be made and required a lot of thought.
“We’ve been able to pull together as a team and get things sorted.
“We’re on the right track as a result and everyone is highly motivated to keep improving and to never stop learning.”
Rivers has enjoyed his time at Fonterra.
For him it’s been rewarding and also a learning curve.
“The co-op is incredibly resilient. The path we’re on now, of focusing on getting the most out of New Zealand milk through nutrition science and innovation and by continuing to improve our sustainability story, makes total sense and resonates well with our farmer owners.
“It’s great that things are moving in the right direction with the DIRA amendment to enable a flexible shareholding structure.
“It gives farmers more choice about where they put their capital, driving structural tension for the co-op to deliver both a competitive return on invested capital and a sustainable milk price.”
Top Result
Marc Rivers says Fonterra is going from strength to strength.
He says the 2022 financial results mean the co-op has been able to deliver both a strong milk price and robust financial performance in a tough global operating environment.
“The co-op paid a total dividend of 20 cents per share for our farmer owners and unit holders.
“And this year’s Farmgate Milk Price is the strongest it has ever been, which is great news for our farmers.
“New Zealand also benefits from this, with $13.7 billion returned into the economy in milk price payments alone this year.”
New Zealand’s wider agriculture sector is full of smart, diverse leaders who, with more formal governance training, can go toe-to-toe with the independent directors of the country’s major agri businesses.
Following a 10-month trial on its Te Rapa Smart Farm, Fonterra has given a big tick to a new organic, low-cost, safe, sustainable and long-life battery that could deliver greater energy security and distributed electricity generation for New Zealand.
OPINION: The Hound would have thought – with the end of all the Covid regulations earlier this month – it would see public entities no longer using the restrictions to limit media access.
Fonterra Co-operative Council chair James Barron is stepping down after three years in the role.
The first batch of candidates for Fonterra’s board election has been announced.
Visit archives
OPINION: Vegan activists in the UK who recently held sit-ins in supermarket dairy sections across the country have been copping…
OPINION: Producers of ‘fake milk’ now want a slice of the action at the World Coffee Championships (WCC).
RSS FacebookTwitter
Copyright © 2022 RuralNewsGroup. All Rights Reserved.