Richard Allen has been appointed as the new chief executive officer of Fonterra, taking over from Miles Hurrell.
Allen said he has built his entire career within Fonterra and understands the critical role the co-operative plays for New Zealand farmers as well as customers internationally.
“I’m committed to maintaining the momentum in our performance, focused delivery of strategy and financial discipline that have been developed over recent years.”
“Fonterra has a strong platform to build from, and I’m excited by our prospects as we move forward as a New Zealand farmer-owned global B2B dairy provider.”
Richard Allen was most recently president of Global Ingredients, where he led Fonterra’s ingredients business, overseeing sales, optimisation, risk management, trading, and global manufacturing operations.
Chair Peter McBride said Allen joined Fonterra as a graduate in 2008 and has since built a career spanning the global supply chain. He led the farmer-facing Farm Source business for five years, worked in China as Vice President of the Foodservice business, was the founding CEO of MyMilk, and more recently served as President Atlantic based in Chicago, where he managed relationships with key global accounts.
Allen will officially take up the chief executive role on 1 May.
Miles Hurrell stepped down in March, bringing to a close a 25-year career with the dairy company.
Fonterra said Hurrell will remain with the co-operative in an advisory capacity until September 2026 to support the leadership transition.