Fonterra celebrates International Women's Day

Photo / File

Content brought to you by Fonterra.

Fonterra has been sharing stories of the amazing women who work for the co-op from every corner of the globe, says CEO for Asia Pacific, Judith Swales.

The idea was to celebrate International Women's day, Swales told The Country Sport Breakfast's Brian Kelly.

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It takes place annually on March 8 and has occurred for well over a century, with the first gathering held in 1911.

This year the campaign theme for International Women's Day was "Choose To Challenge."

Swales was keen to showcase some of the impressive women who work at Fonterra, to illustrate how they've not only helped the co-op, but also embodied this year's theme for International Women's Day.

Sarah Brosnan

A tanker driver from Tasmania Australia, Sarah Brosnan represents three generations of women in the business, Swales said.

Not only was Brosnan following in her mother's footsteps, but now her daughter has started driving trucks as well, Swales said.

"They all share the same passion for the industry and they love the fact that they're thriving in what has, for a very long time, been a very male-dominated job."

Thamari Senanayke

Senanayke lives in Sri Lanka, where she "continuously chooses to challenge the status quo and to create a great environment for women to work in," Swales said.

Senanayke is a mother, a lawyer, and a fierce fighter in establishing a fair playing field in an incredibly competitive market, Swales said.

"She is an inspiring female leader in our Sri Lankan business."

Listen below:

Also in today's interview: Swales talked about a burst of activity in Fonterra's consumer brands business; which included growth in cheese consumption in Indonesia. Sticking with cheese, Swales also gave an update on a new Australian campaign to show why "Perfect Italiano" is the perfect cooking cheese.