Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (FCG) has announced that current Farmer Director, Peter McBride has been selected as
the Co-operative’s Chairman-elect by his fellow Directors.
Under Fonterra’s constitution, its Chairman is selected by the Board from within its pool of seven elected Farmer
Directors.
Mr McBride will replace current Fonterra Chairman, John Monaghan when he retires as a Director of the Co-op at its
Annual Meeting this November.
Mr Monaghan says that the early announcement of Mr McBride as Chairman-elect is part of the Board’s commitment to
planned governance succession.
“We have made significant progress over the past two years in our effort to refresh our Co-op’s purpose, strategy and
culture. It is important to the Board that we provide stability while Miles and his team continue to embed the changes
and maintain our momentum.
“Making this decision now also gives our farmer-owners transparency of leadership prior to this years’ Director
elections and allows Peter and I a period of handover before I retire from the Board in November,” says Monaghan.
Mr McBride says he is humbled to be selected by his fellow Directors and is looking forward to leading the Co-op on
behalf of its 10,000 farming families.
“I grew up on a dairy farm near Te Aroha and today my wife Linda and I run the family farm milking 950 cows in the South
Waikato, so dairy has always been part of my life.
“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.
“When John retires from the Board in November it will mark almost two decades of service to our Co-op, the last 12 years
as a Director. He will leave behind a board culture of shared responsibility, which is something I will look to build on
as the new Chairman,” says Mr McBride.