1. Let’s start with an introduction. You’re our new General Manager Sales and Marketing for Yili Oceania Business Division (YOBD). Tell us more about your background and what brought you to YOBD.

My work in the dairy and nutrition industry brought me from The Netherlands to China 24 years ago and on to New Zealand in 2016. I started my career with FrieslandCampina (RFC) in business-to-consumer, specialised nutrition and progressed to business-to-business ingredients based in Hong Kong. Over time, I was fortunate to cover a range of businesses from human nutrition, bio-pharma, pharmaceutical to food, beverages and young animal nutrition across the Asia Pacific region. A pivotal moment was the opportunity with RFC to build a new China business and organisation. We lived and worked in China until moving to New Zealand 10 years ago when I said farewell to RFC. Here, I am proud to have contributed significantly to a very successful expansion and diversification of the Synlait business and organisation leading innovation and commercial growth until I stepped away in early 2022. Before joining YOBD I worked two years with a venture capital-owned distribution business in Australia-New Zealand to deliver a major integration programme across multiple businesses in this region. I am excited and proud to join our YOBD team at this important growth phase with a clear and ambitious strategy and amazing support network across the group. Knowing the Yili Group well from my work experience, I quickly recognised the amazing opportunity we all have here to go from strength-to-strength together in the coming years.

2. What is your favourite part of your job?

Having the opportunity to make a lasting contribution to a colleague's, team's or customers' success.

3. What do you see as the biggest shift in customer expectations in recent years?

Expectations have grown higher and broader. For example, response time, quality of insights, scope of service and decision making. Most of all, that all boxes need to be ticked every time to meet a consumer's or customer's expectations. No one-trick pony is going to win the race over time.

4. What trends do you believe will define the future of sales and marketing in dairy-based products?

Sales and marketing will become a more cross-functional, integrated business activity. Successfully connecting all business functions to superbly execute a strategy or plan will define who will be successful in our industry. Amazing new tools are available to us, and we must master how we use these to run our business better (and this does not equal cheaper - the efficiency gains with AI will eventually be universal across surviving peers).

5. What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in leading sales and marketing teams?

You cannot over-estimate the importance of ongoing communication of goals, the plan, the expectations of everyone, and listening, to then focus your efforts supporting all colleagues to be successful in their roles.

6. Aside from revenue growth, what metrics matter most to you in evaluating success?

Deliver to promise with measurable goals and results. Did we do what we committed to from a stakeholder's perspective? This can be an employee, a shareholder, a customer or another important stakeholder such as a supplier and local communities.

7. If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?

If it must be overseas, then to Feanwalden, a small village in the Friesland province of The Netherlands which is surrounded by farms and nature reserves with deep peat lakes. It is quiet and good fishing too.

8. What’s the most memorable concert or event you’ve ever attended?

That's a tough question to answer. There have been a few. On balance, it is probably a concert by Buddy Guy in a small venue in Groningen in the Netherlands sometime late 1990's. It was a celebration of a legendary showman. He really swept everyone away.