Arla Foods Ingredients’ new group executive director and chief financial officer take stock of the challenges ahead
A long-term strategy focused on high quality products, specialised application support and processing efficiency is driving Arla Foods Ingredients forward as a leading supplier on the world market for milk powder and ingredients.
Jais Valeur and Mogens Kaspersen are highly positive about the future as they set out as the newly appointed group executive director and chief financial officer, respectively. Both have a long career history within Arla Foods Ingredients.
Previously sales director responsible for milk powder, Jais Valeur moved from his job as chief executive officer of Arla Foods’ joint venture company in China Arla Mengniu (Inner Mongolia) Dairy Products to take on his new position. Mogens Kaspersen has held a number of managerial positions within the company, most recently business development manager.

The basis for growth
While encouraged by the business’ current direction, they know where the challenges lie. Continuing internationalisation, with more local offices such as that established in Vietnam last year, is imperative to secure further growth within the milk powder business. On the milk protein side, ongoing product development is crucial enabling a fast response to emerging trends and creating new opportunities for food manufacturers to cut their production costs and improve their product quality.
Another highly critical aspect is sourcing additional raw material supplies to provide the basis for production growth and satisfying customer demand. Jais Valeur expects announcements on this front during 2008.
Our long-term strategy focuses on performance management and the results so far show we are doing the right thing. Since 2000, we have reduced our production sites from 13 to six and have invested in those remaining, says Jais Valeur.
In the future customers can look forward to our increased attention on delivering the goods they need. We cannot do anything about milk prices, but we can produce cost-aware solutions that appeal to consumers solutions that are either cheaper without compromising on the quality of our customers’ products or that help customers win new markets.

Proactive sparring
Mogens Kaspersen sees the growing need for cost-cutting formulations as a great chance to strengthen customer relations even further.
Through our broad, international focus, we want to become even better at predicting market developments and serving as a proactive sparring partner for our customers. We are here more to delight our customers than merely to sell them products,” he adds.
In 2007, Arla Foods Ingredients renewed its emphasis on promoting a performance-oriented business culture under the heading Lead, sense, create a timely response to the tightening employment situation, where the need to attract and retain employees is becoming increasingly acute. Through this, Jais Valeur expects the entire organisation to gain a greater understanding of the value they can create even before cus-
tomers demand it.
In our business we create many products for which a market does not yet exist. That’s what we are part of developing. I believe we can become even better, he says.