Arla Foods UK has announced that Ash Amirahmadi will succeed Tomas Pietrangeli as the company’s new managing director, effective from 1 July 2018.
Pietrangeli is leaving the company to begin a new role as CEO of Danish retail group Dagrofa A/S, and will officially vacate his position on 30 June 2018.
Amirahmadi currently serves as senior vice-president – sales for Arla Foods UK, a role which he has held since 2016, and he joined the dairy co-operative from Unilever in 2004.
As SVP – sales, Amirahmadi oversaw the sales growth of approximately £200 million and the 9% growth in the company’s branded portfolio, according to Arla.
Prior to this role, Amirahmadi served as vice-president of milk, members and trading for five years, growing the company’s local milk supply from 1.6 billion litres to over 3.5 billion litres.
Arla Foods executive vice-president for Europe Peter Gioertz-Carlsen said: “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 and the consumer and retail trends which are providing its growth opportunities.
“Over recent years he has led the development of our category growth strategies in partnership with our customers fostering the growing impact of our farmer producer groups, who work closely with customers, to engage shoppers and consumers in the provenance and quality of our products and the leading practices they follow on their farms to constantly improve quality and sustainability standards.
“I would like to congratulate Ash on his appointment and am looking forward to working even more closely with him in his new role.
“We would like to thank Tomas for his service to Arla Foods and the great work he has done with his team to build on our strong category positions in the UK and accelerate the growth of our Lurpak, Anchor, Arla and Castello brands.
“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 post-Brexit. We wish him well in his new role.”
Source: FoodBev
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