Nestle man gets top Fonterra finance job

Fonterra's new chief financial officer, Lukas Paravicini.

Fonterra said it had appointed former Nestle executive Lukas Paravicini as its chief financial officer to take over from Jonathan Mason, who retires at the end of September.

The cooperative also said Jacqueline Chow had been appointed managing director global brands & nutrition, a new role.

Paravicini, a Swiss national, spent 22 years with Nestle, the last two as general manager for Nestle Professional Europe. He had also held a number of senior finance positions in different parts of the Nestle business including running Nestle's global business services and spending 10 years in Latin America, Fonterra said.

The global brands & nutrition position is designed to drive Fonterra's marketing, innovation and research activities.

Chow, an Australian, has a 20-year career in global blue-chip multinationals and joins Fonterra from Arnott's, where she was general manager of Australia and New Zealand.

Fonterra said Chow had held executive marketing and innovation roles in Campbells and the Kellogg Company, and started her career as a strategy consultant in consumer products.

Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings said the appointments reflected well on the cooperative's ability to attract high calibre, internationally experienced people for senior management roles.