Dairy firm top job filled

AUCKLAND: Richard Wyeth, former chief executive of Taupobased Miraka, has been appointed to head Hokitikabased Westland Dairy, which is owned by Chinese dairy giant Yili.

Westland Dairy interim chief executive Shiqing Jian said Mr Wyeth would take up the job in February next year.

Westland said in August that the company’s thenchief executive Toni Brendish would step down after four years in the role.

Mr Jian said Mr Wyeth’s experience in driving growth over more than a decade at executive level for independent New Zealand dairy processors made him the ideal candidate to lead Westland.

Mr Wyeth has spent the past 13 years of his career in the dairy industry, firstly with Open Country Dairy during its formative years, before taking on the role of founding chief executive for Miraka in 2010.

Yili bought Westland — then a cooperative — in August last year for $588 million.

The company is onequarter owned by the Chinese Government. — The New Zealand Herald