Veteran Dairy Industry Leader Chris Rowe Named Interim Chief Financial Officer; Dana Kennedy Returns to Darigold as CHRO

SEATTLE, Feb. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Darigold, Inc., one of the nation's largest dairy producers, today announced changes to its senior leadership team. Chris Rowe, President of Darigold's business-to-business division and a long-time dairy industry leader was named Interim Chief Financial Officer and human resources leader Dana Kennedy returns to Darigold as Chief Human Resources Officer.

Rowe initially joined Darigold in August 2023, as President of the company's business-to-business division, overseeing its portfolio of ingredients sold to commercial customers globally. Prior to joining Darigold, Rowe held a variety of leadership positions with Fonterra, one of the world's largest dairy companies, spanning such areas as finance, strategy, and global operations, most recently serving as Group Finance Director. Rowe holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from the University of Auckland, and a Master's degree in Management Studies with a focus on Accounting and Business Management from the University of Waikato in his native New Zealand.

"Chris has demonstrated himself to be a very capable leader since joining Darigold, earning the respect of our full senior team, board of directors, and across the B2B division he leads," said Allan Huttema, President and Chief Executive Officer at Darigold. "His first-hand knowledge of our business and broad experience in the global dairy industry make him ideally suited to step into this role as we wrap up our fiscal year and set our sights on opening our new production facility in Central Washington in the coming months."

In addition to his duties as interim CFO, Rowe will continue to lead Darigold's B2B division.

Kennedy returns to Darigold, where she spent more than eight years, most recently serving as the company's Vice President of Labor Relations. Apart from her time at Darigold, Kennedy has held a variety of management and leadership positions across human resources, primarily in the manufacturing and food sectors. She holds an Executive MBA from the University of Washington.

"We are thrilled to have Dana returning to Darigold," said Huttema. "In her previous time with us, Dana earned the respect of our team, shepherding the company through a number of important contract negotiations, establishing trust and credibility across our leadership, HR and plant teams, and becoming a valuable partner across our organization. Her familiarity with our business and our operations uniquely qualifies her for this role at this time."

About Darigold
Headquartered in Seattle, Darigold, Inc. is the marketing and processing subsidiary of the Northwest Dairy Association (NDA), which is owned and operated by nearly 300 family-owned farms in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Darigold processes approximately 10 billion pounds of milk annually. The company produces a full line of dairy products for retail, foodservice, commodity, and specialty markets, and is one of the largest U.S. dairy producers. Darigold operates 11 production facilities throughout the Northwest, processing high-quality milk produced by NDA farm families. The company maintains a second office in the Boise, ID area, as well as global satellite offices in Mexico and Asia. It is currently building a 12^th production facility in Central Washington that is slated to open in 2025. For more information, visit Darigold.com.

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SOURCE Darigold, Inc.