But he points out that today Fonterra is delivering fantastic results.

“This shows that the focus on value, kicked off in the last five years, is really starting to pay off for our farmers and NZ as a whole – $13.7 billion was put back into the NZ economy in milk price payments alone in FY22,” he says.

“Twenty years ago, I remember being out in world, trying to sell our NZ milk into new markets and find new customers. We had a surplus of milk to sell, and a milk price of around $3.4.

“Now, that hard work put into the foundation is paying off, and the opposite is true.

“We have a milk price of over $9. Markets are more ope and the world wants more of what we’ve got than we can even supply.

“That’s because of our innovation, high quality products and the strong and reliable supply chain we’ve built.”

In his various roles overseas, Wickham has dealt with key global customers and adds that the co-op’s reputation overseas is solid.

“It’s been great to see the co-op build up its global reputation, customer base, and market access, and to be in a position to make the transition from volume to value.

“That means we can put more time into seeking out the most value, fostering mutually beneficial, long-term partnerships with good customers – and building those on a strong foundation of sustainability and innovation.

“That said, our competition has also ramped up, and these days you need to innovate to even stand still.”

Wickham puts the growth in Fonterra’s ingredients business as one of his highlights.

He has worked in many markets across the world, and seen all channels reach new levels of growth.

“And when I think of my roles, they’ve always had an element of change and transformation in them. It’s been a personal highlight to see how our ingredients business in particular has evolved, watching it do its part to take our business to new heights of growth and innovation.”

And there have been a few key milestones behind that, with the launch of Global Dairy Trade (GDT) being one of them.

Wickham recalls that it was a great achievement for Fonterra and the industry as GDT was launched during the global financial crisis.

He also points to Fonterra’s focus on advanced, high value ingredients.

“We established our Active Living and Medical Nutrition business units, which have now come together as one Active Living team, and ultimately led to the creation on Nutiani, our new health and wellness brand under NZMP.”

Biggest Challenge

Kelvin Wickham says one of his biggest personal challenges was when he headed the China and India business.

He was president of Greater China and Inida from 2012 – 2014.

“It was a period of massive growth, when we were expanding in foodservice, launching consumer brands and building farms.

“It was a transformational time, as we were trying to seize the opportunity coming from more people being able to afford dairy, combined with more favourable tariff arrangements.

“That was a fantastic as much as it was a challenging time for me.

“If I have any regrets, it would be forgetting to enjoy the journey at times.”

Keep Promoting Milk

Plant-based drinks have a role to play in the diets of consumers, but let’s be clear that it’s not milk.

Kelvin Wickham believes the discussion needs to be around “milk and…”

He says dairy benefits from a privileged position: milk is nutrient packed and punches above its weight when it comes to providing the nutrition people need for a healthy life.

“In a world where there is a growing number of milk substitutes, we must ensure we continue to promote and raise awareness of the nutritional value of dairy, and how it can play an important role in a healthy diet.

“Our industry must make sure it’s at the table when it comes to deciding and putting the right actions in place to create a sustainable food system.”

He notes that Fonterra wants to be in a position to respond to the world’s increasing need for food and the changing needs of consumers.

His advice is that we must keep an open mind about plant-based options as consumer preferences evolve, and be at the fore-front of innovation in this space.

“A great example of how we’re doing that is our partnership with DSM. Recently we established a new start-up company to accelerate the development and commercialisation of fermentation-derived proteins with dairy-like properties.

“We’re confident that consumers around the world will continue to want natural, grass-fed dairy as a premium source of nutrition.

“At the same time, we recognise consumers have different nutritional needs and preferences, and we believe that there’s potential for alternative proteins to complement our core dairy business.”