Ross Crittenden - Executive Vice President for Export Markets

Not many food companies can boast a 100-year innovation history that also includes winning a Nobel Prize.  For Valio Ltd, Finland’s largest dairy processor, this impressive innovation heritage drives the culture throughout the company.  It was exactly this spirit that attracted Dr. Ross Crittenden to join Valio 7 years ago to build on a 20 year career in dairy research at CSIRO and Murray Goulburn Co-op. in Australia.  

Dr. Crittenden currently holds the position of Executive Vice President for Export Markets at Valio and is responsible for new market entries for consumer goods, food service products and food ingredients globally.  Throughout his career, he has led dairy innovation teams in universities, research organisations and in industry.  Much of this research has been aimed at developing new dairy technologies and products to expand commercial portfolios to new categories.  

Dr Crittenden holds a Ph.D in Biotechnology from the University of Queensland, Australia.  He subsequently completed Post-doctoral fellowships with VTT Biotechnology in Finland and CSIRO in Australia before embarking on a career in industry and moving from R&D to sales and marketing.