Darigold, Inc. announced organizational changes designed to accelerate the long-term transformational strategy of the Northwest farmer-owned cooperative’s global ingredients business. In 2018 Darigold finalized a 10-year transformation and growth strategy which included a substantial series of capital investments, including the construction of a new large-scale global ingredients plant. The addition of new leadership talent will drive organizational effectiveness and focus against the execution of this strategy and capital investment. This announcement marks another milestone in the Northwest Dairy Association (NDA) member-owners’ quest to bring sustainable dairy from the Northwest to the rest of the world—at the highest levels of quality and performance.
 
Grant Kadavy will transition from his current role as COO to become Darigold’s chief growth and risk officer. Kadavy will spend the vast majority of his time spearheading a business-wide effort to launch the new plant and seamlessly integrate new products, services and processes into the rest of the company’s network and functions.
 
Effective Nov. 1, Joe Coote will join Darigold as president of global ingredients. Coote is an accomplished leader in the global marketplace with an impressive 28 years of experience that includes over 11 years with Fonterra, a globally recognized leader in the dairy business
 
Coote brings deep know-how in supply chain leadership spanning multiple segments, geographies, and functions from companies like PwC and Coles. Most recently, Coote led large commercial organizations as part of Fonterra’s senior team across international regions. His experience with Fonterra, the world’s largest exporter of dairy products, includes serving as director of global supply chain and director of global optimization in New Zealand, director of supply chain and operations APEMA in Singapore and president of the America’s based in Chicago.
 
The role of president of global ingredients is new to Darigold. Coote will assume all operating responsibilities of the global ingredients business as well as oversee the corporate-wide global supply chain functions which both formerly fell under Kadavy as COO.
 
Duane Naluai has been promoted to president of consumer products. His formal responsibilities remain unchanged. Naluai formerly reported to Grant Kadavy as COO and will now report directly to the CEO.
 
Matthew Sagendorf has joined Darigold to lead the construction and start-up of a new large-scale global ingredients plant. Sagendorf brings over 20 years of experience in engineering and growth projects, with a specific background in greenfield and brownfield investments, as well as expertise in managing the construction and expansion of consumer production facilities. He will oversee and manage all onsite planning and construction at the new plant as well as start-up and commissioning.
 
Sagendorf is a seasoned senior executive and comes to Darigold from Berner Food & Beverage. Over the past 15 years, he has managed sizeable engineering and construction projects at companies like Hearthside Food, Conagra and Kraft Foods.
 
The selection of a location for the plant is ongoing and will be announced in 2021 along with more specifics about the intended final products for commercialization.

www.darigold.com