Chaos theory helps Fonterra's Oz chief

Fonterra's new managing director Fonterra Australia New Zealand, John Doumani. Photo supplied

John Doumani, managing director of Fonterra Australia New Zealand, is not afraid of chaos.

"I come from a crazy, loud, wonderful Lebanese family and I mention that only because it has shaped, I think, who I am in terms of my life," Doumani says.

"Everybody likes to think [business] is nice and orderly but it never is, there's always some chaos and you want to be able to deal with chaos comfortably."

Dealing with chaos comfortably is a useful skill in a global economy which has seen commodity prices soar and then tumble.

"I don't want to lull myself into a false sense of security so I'm always cautious about it," Doumani says. "But I can tell you so far if you look at the markets that we're in, consumer off-take is actually holding up very well."

Driving strong sustainable profitable growth is the most important thing for the company to focus on, he says.

"In my experience ... ultimately the long-term sustainable performance of your business is going to be dependent on how fast you can grow versus your competitors."

Revenue at Fonterra for the 14 months ended July 31 was $19.51 billion, with the primarily brands-based Australia New Zealand division contributing external sales of $3.3 billion.

Doumani took up his role with Fonterra in 2007 after a 25-year career in international business and consumer brands.

"I would categorise the last two years as what we've been really doing is getting our ducks in a row," he says. "My hope is from here on in we're going to really see the energy of the business."

Fonterra is the market leader in Australia for cheese, a leading player in spreads and after a deal with Nestle the number two for yoghurt and dairy desserts, Doumani says.

Last year Fonterra bought the yoghurt and dairy dessert business of Nestle Australia, including the 28-year right to manufacture, market and sell Nestle brands, including Ski.

"The single biggest opportunity that we saw in our Australian business in terms of gaps in our portfolio was yoghurt and dairy dessert."

Doumani's model for growth involves building leadership before developing new dairy categories.

The growth plan includes the prospect of developing "functional" beverages and snacks, with growth in products like nutritional drinks.