Under Fonterra’s constitution, its chairman is selected by the board from its pool of seven directors.
The early announcement of McBride as chairman-elect is part of the board’s commitment to planned governance succession, Monaghan said.
“Making this decision now also gives our farmer-owners transparency of leadership prior to this year’s director elections and allows Peter and I a period of handover before I retire,” he said.
McBride and his wife run a family farm milking 950 cows in south Waikato. He joined the board in 2018.
He has a horticulture degree from Massey University and a post-graduate commerce diploma from Lincoln University.
“I’m looking forward to working alongside John for the next few months before leading our co-op into its next phase and creating value for the benefit of our farmer-owners and unit holders,” he said.
Fonterra said McBride’s corporate agricultural experience has given him exposure in a number of international markets, in particular the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Latin America.
He was Zespri chairman in the wake of the Psa crisis, which threatened to devastate the industry. He chaired Zespri from 2013 to 2019, having been a director since 2002. – BusinessDesk
