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Job title: Marketing manager, New Zealand Dairy Foods

Who got it: Sarah Brown

Sarah Brown, 34, left school and Auckland for Waikato University thinking she would become an accountant - but "fell over" marketing on the way.

And food marketing, in particular. "I'm a food and beverage chick," says Brown.

She has worked on margarine brands such as Meadowlea with Aspak, now part of Goodman Fielder; poultry with Tegel; and brands such as Continental and Chicken Tonight with Unilever.

Brown is now in charge of an eight-person team pushing drink brands such as Anchor, Bullet, Ole, Primo and Simply Organics.

A bigger role with an "iconic" New Zealand business was a strong attraction, she says. Dairy Foods has 40 per cent of the local milk products market, and brand marketing is driven from New Zealand, not overseas.

Another factor that enticed her was the chance to be involved in developing new products.

She brings "the discipline of a multinational" to Dairy Foods and looks forward to "building one of New Zealand's top beverages teams ... One of my strengths is people development".

Brown comes to Dairy Foods at a time of change and most members of her team are fairly new.

The formation of dairy giant Fonterra required the sale of its half of Dairy Foods by the end of last September.

After a fractious process that miffed some shareholders the eventual purchaser was millionaire Graeme Hart, who this week secured more than 90 per cent of the company.