Love of milk leads to a lifelong career

Producing the highly nutritious food is a challenging business, says Fonterra's CEO

Theo Spierings had deep experience from a range of leadership roles before he landed the job as chief executive officer of New Zealand's Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world's biggest dairy exporter known for its high-end milk products.

A native of the Netherlands, who at university majored in food technology and biology, Spierings had over three decades of retailing experience in the dairy industry in Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.