Casey Thomas started his current role as Vice President, Fonterra Greater China, based in Shanghai, in January 2022. In this role, he leads a broad cross functional team, delivers sustainable NZMP business growth with strong sales leadership, marketing and innovation partnering with key external and internal stakeholders.
Mr. Thomas began his career with Fonterra in New Zealand in 2004. He has held leadership roles across innovation, marketing and Sales and Operational planning where he has successfully driven cultural change and implemented large NPD programs. He also had time working internationally, in the United States of America.
Mr. Thomas enjoys operating at the intersection of science and commerce and helping to create and implement new strategy. He has a particular passion for cheese and dairy foods where his accomplishments include leading several large projects in this area to introduce cheese into new markets and implement new manufacturing technologies.
Mr. Thomas holds a master’s degree in Dairy Science and Technology from Massey University and a bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Commerce from the University of Auckland.
4.2H - Hall A1
Only 10% milk in the world comes from grass fed cow in the open prairie, and this 10% market is growing at 22.4% CAGR. Growing at over 30%, grass fed milk is the fastest growing track in the U.S. Maple Hill Creamery is the largest dairy company that offers 100% grass fed milk, selling its products in over 8,000 stores, including Wholefoods, Walmart, and Kroger. Growth rate was above 40% between 2017 and 2022. High-speed growth is a reality on the other side of the world, perhaps it is time for grass fed milk to speed up in China when Chinese consumers are spending more on dairy products and shifting from eating to stop hunger to eating high quality.