By PHILIPPA STEVENSON
The chief executive of the newly named Fonterra Co-operative is not about to be beamed in as a Fonterran.
As people around the country yesterday tossed Fonterra around their tonsils, Craig Norgate described the name "as good as any".
He joked that the permament name for the former Global Dairy
Company - along with its international expansion plans - was more likely to see him dubbed a Fonterror.
"It had to be totally different," he said from the company's unnamed offices at Auckland airport.
"It couldn't have New Zealand in it because of what the aspirations are, and the fact that we've already got investments in Australia and the likes. So we wanted a name that would stand the test of time."
Mr Norgate said Fonterra "works as well as anything and at least it does have some meaning that is related to milk. It is very hard to find any name around the world. Anything with lac or lat in it has gone."
Meanwhile, the company yesterday named its fourth senior executive.
Graham Stuart, who has been the GlobalCo project director and before that Kiwi Dairies finance and strategy general manager, will be Fonterra's chief financial officer.
Mr Stuart joined Kiwi last October from NZ Milk, where he was commercial director responsible for mergers and acquisitions.
Before that he held several positions at Lion Nathan, including managing director of Lion Nathan International and corporate strategy director.
Mr Stuart, who is credited with masterminding Kiwi's acquisition of West Australian-based Peters and Browne, also spent 10 years at Mainland, where he was chief executive before moving to Lion.
The appointment leaves just two of six key head office positions to be filled - group directors for corporate strategy, and human resources.
