Embrace change, learn from failure
right”. This is also a value that’s the closest to my heart. This compatibility in both my personal and professional philosophies enables me to lead in a way that naturally works for me, and for Fonterra.
What do you want to accomplish in the next five years? I want to continue to help Fonterra make a difference in the lives of more Malaysians every year, which means ensuring our Anlene, Anmum, Fernleaf and Anchor brands remain the most trusted and loved brands for our consumers.
To deliver on this ambition we need to continue bringing innovations that help improve the health and wellbeing of Malaysia. We need to continue raising awareness of critical issues for our country like the need to reduce added sugars from our diets, improve access to proper lactation facilities, support gender equality, and ensure that we continue to be leaders in promoting sustainable consumption and production of our brands.
Best piece of advice you ever received on your career? The best piece of advice I have ever received is to make a difference to the people around me and in the world that we live in, and this has now become my passion. I see myself as being incredibly lucky because my career allows me to work on something I’m passionate about. I’ve been with Fonterra for more than 13 years now and I still wake up every day with a strong purpose to bring great tasting, affordable and nutritious brands to everyone, every day.
How do you stay abreast of issues affecting your industry? I always keep up-todate with industry news and opinions in the media, and these include social channels where our consumers are. It’s also important to maintain a good network of contacts and I regularly meet with people who work in the industry to exchange knowledge.
But finally the most important source of information comes from speaking constantly to our consumers, the retailers in which consumers shop and our partners across the entire value chain.
Malaysia’s greatest brand? Anmum without a question. Anmum Materna was developed in Malaysia for Malaysian consumers 20 years ago, and ever since has been the leader in maternal and children nutrition. Anmum started helping mothers improve their nutritional intake during pregnancy with clinically proven micro and macro nutrients, which is associated with a reduced risk of bearing a child with NTD.
We also broke ground by being leaders in supporting lactating mothers by offering specialised nutrition for breastfeeding mums and by championing a mission to help other companies across Malaysia to set up lactating rooms and provide the right support to mothers who are returning to work.
Finally, Anmum Essential was the first to introduce a “no added sugar” formulation for children over one year of age. Anmum has also been a strong leader in educating parents on the benefits of delaying sugar in particular when it comes to the growing up milk category as we believe that they need to make informed decisions when it comes to choosing the best for their children.
A must-read for every business owner/ manager is ... Start With Why by Simon Sinek is a book that has a very powerful and simple idea that I believe is relevant not only for businesses but also for individuals.
The premise of the book is that as individuals or businesses we need to find a purpose for our existence. Once this has been clarified and is meaningful to us then daily decisions of what to do and how to do it become clearer.
For those who don’t have the time to read the book, the idea is brilliantly presented by Simon in a TED Talk that can be found on YouTube.