Meet Emma Parsons: Fonterra’s new managing director, strategy and optimisation

Fonterra's managing director, strategy and optimisation, Emma Parsons. Photo / Supplied

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Emma Parsons may be Fonterra’s new managing director, strategy and optimisation, but she’s no stranger to the co-op.

Parsons, who grew up on a dairy farm in Whenuakura, South Taranaki, has had a “pretty long career” with Fonterra, she told The Country Sport Breakfast’s, Brian Kelly.

She started out working during her high school summer holidays at the local dairy factory and had been involved in “lots of different parts” of the co-op all over the world since then.

Parsons was chief executive of Agrigate, a joint venture between Fonterra and Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC), before becoming general manager of responsible dairying.

She then took on various roles in Brazil and Argentina, where she developed the co-op’s export relationships and supply chain integration across Latin America.

Not only this, but Parsons was recently the general manager of capital strategy for Fonterra, where she led the development of the co-op’s new capital structure.

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Parsons’ current strategy and optimisation role is a newly created area, she said.

It focused on executing Fonterra’s strategy and allocating resources “very carefully” against the co-op’s strategic initiatives, she explained.

Last year the co-op announced its long-term strategy which is made up of three important parts:

• To focus on New Zealand milk
• To lead in sustainability
• To lead in dairy innovation and science

“So, I’ll have ownership and oversee the implementation of our strategy and our plans to achieve our long-term aspirations,” Parsons said.

There has been a big shift in Fonterra’s context recently and the new strategy and optimisation area will help with this change.

“This new area will bring a new level of focus on demand choices - who we’re choosing to serve and with what products - and what our portfolio and asset management strategies are through the next period of time.”

Parson’s explained what “shift in context” meant for Fonterra.

“I think lots of farmers will be aware … that our New Zealand milk pool is fundamentally changing.

“Whereas in the past … we haven’t been able to build factories fast enough to keep up with milk production growth – we’re now looking at a period of milk production that’s likely to decline.”

This meant that to create more value Fonterra needed to be more selective about where it allocated milk, she said.

“So, we’re really focusing on maximising the value of every drop of milk for our farmers.”

Despite this, there was still a very strong demand for dairy, especially as the global population increased and become wealthier, Parsons said.

“Consumers really do want our New Zealand dairy products but we really do need to simplify and refine our portfolios to make sure that we’re driving efficiency and that we’re serving the highest value demand.”