UK boss of dairy company steps aside

DAIRY CO-OPERATIVE Arla Foods amba has announced the departure of its UK managing director Tomas Pietrangeli.

Mr Pietrangeli is leaving the company at the end of the month to join Danish retail group Dagrofa A/S. He will be replaced by Ash Amirahmadi, who is currently senior vice-president of sales for Arla Foods in the UK.

Paying tribute to the outgoing MD, Peter Gioertz-Carlsen, Arla Foods’ executive vice-president for Europe, credited Mr Pietrangeli with accelerating the growth of the company’s Lurpak, Anchor, Arla and Castello brands.

He added: “Tomas has also played an important role in helping to represent the UK dairy industry, ensuring that politicians and our many other stakeholders fully understand what is necessary to maintain a strong dairy farming sector in the UK postBrexit. We wish him well in his new role.”

His replacement, Mr Amirahmadi, joined Arla in 2004 from Unilever and has held a number of leadership roles across the business.

He has been senior vice-president of sales since 2016 and is responsible for the company’s 120-strong commercial team, UK customer relationships and is the global lead for Walmart and Tesco.

During his time in the role, he has overseen sales growth of circa £200m and nine per cent growth in the company’s branded portfolio.

“Ash has been at the heart of the transformation of our UK business over the last decade and has a deep understanding of the UK dairy sector,” Mr GioertzCarlsen said.