Graham Wilkinson to leave Arla Foods
Farmer-owned cooperative dairy company Arla Foods has announced the departure of its VP of Agriculture, Graham Wilkinson, who is leaving to become CEO of Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in the UK. The process to identify his replacement is underway.
Graham Wilkinson is set to leave Arla in early 2024, with the exact timing to be agreed between Arla and AHDB in the coming weeks.
Prior to rejoining Arla in 2015, Graham worked within Tesco’s Agriculture team for four years after having spent nine years in various Agri-related roles in Arla UK. Throughout this time, he has become a respected profile in the UK Agri-food industry for his dedication in bringing farmers closer to the business and the business closer to its farmers.
In his current role he has created a leading European Agriculture Function spanning 7 markets, supporting 8500 Arla members during the delivery of Arla’s farm programmes, commercial milk concepts on farm and helping to support members in the delivery of Arla’s Sustainability Strategy.
Commenting on the announcement, Executive Vice President for Agriculture, Sustainability and Communication Hanne Søndergaard, said:
"Graham has been an important senior leader for our business, and his contributions to Arla and our farmer owners during his 17 years with us have been invaluable. We are sad to see him go, but we wish him all the best in his next career challenge. I have personally enjoyed working closely with Graham, and I am very thankful that he leaves behind an incredibly strong agriculture team to carry on the work of supporting our members.”
Commenting on the announcement, Graham Wilkinson said:
“Leaving Arla at a time with so many exciting activities going on has been a difficult decision to make, however I simply could not pass up this opportunity. Throughout my career I have enjoyed working with farmers for farmers and see this as an opportunity to continue this journey at an even higher level. Clearly it’s the people and our farmers whom I will miss the most as I have built many friendships throughout my time. However as both organisations already collaborate strongly and are built on a foundation of delivering for farmers I look forward to strengthen these even further in my new role at AHDB.”
Arla will announce the appointment of Graham Wilkinson’s successor as soon as possible.