Arla Foods announces departure of EVP of International Tim Ørting Jørgensen

Arla Foods amba announces the departure of Tim Ørting Jørgensen, Executive Vice President (EVP) of its International Zone, who will leave the company at the end of the year to join Sysco, the Fortune 500 US leading global Foodservice company, as Executive Vice President and President, Foodservice Operations – International. He will be succeeded by Simon Stevens, Senior Vice President (SVP) of Arla’s MENA region.

Tim Ørting Jørgensen has been with Arla for 30 years and has been a key leader in the development of the company’s global footprint across both the retail and foodservice sectors and the growth of its global brands. Prior to his current position Tim Ørting Jørgensen led the expansion of Arla into Germany, Europe’s largest dairy market. He was appointed as Executive Vice President, International Zone in 2016, taking responsibility for Arla’s highest growth markets, working hand-in-hand with a network of joint venture partners across the Middle East, China, South East Asia and Sub Saharan Africa, to bring safe, high quality dairy products to millions of consumers and develop robust local operations to serve these markets and contribute to their economies.

Tim Ørting Jørgensen has also overseen the rapid growth of the company’s Puck® and Castello® brands, alongside the preservation of the market leading positions of its Lurpak® and Dano® brands and its growing stable of licensed brands including Starbucks® and Kraft®. During this time, Arla has also successfully completed the strategic acquisition and integration of the Kraft cheese manufacturing capability in Bahrain, adding significant capacity to its most important international region.

Commenting on the announcement, Arla Foods CEO Peder Tuborgh said:

“Tim has given extraordinary service to Arla and our owners over his long career with us and has been an important member of my Executive team and a valued adviser to me personally. Dairy is a global market and under Tim’s skillful leadership we have delivered above expectations on the contribution of our International markets to the growth of our business. Whilst I am sorry to see Tim go, I am delighted for him personally that he is going to such a significant global player in the Foodservice market.”

Speaking about the news, Tim Ørting Jørgensen said:

“I am grateful to Arla, our owners and to Peder for the many different opportunities and experiences that I’ve been given over my 30 years with the company and to have worked with so many talented people. Working for a global dairy co-operative enables you to make a positive difference to the lives of many people as we provide high quality, affordable nutrition to millions and are able to cooperate with partners and governments to create jobs and put building blocks in place to grow local dairy production. It has been a truly remarkable and rewarding 30 years.”

Tim Ørting Jørgensen will be replaced by Simon Stevens, Senior Vice President of Arla’s MENA region. Simon Stevens joined Arla in 2002 as UK Sales Director, before becoming Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing. He was part of the UK leadership team that grew and transformed the UK from a £500 million revenue business to a £2 billion plus revenue business, spearheading the development of major customer partnerships and the development of a fast-growing branded portfolio.

In 2016, Simon Stevens moved to the newly set-up Europe Zone as Senior Vice President for Commercial Operations, overseeing the Sales and Marketing functions and working closely with Arla’s Supply Chain organisation. During this time Simon Stevens focus was on creating regional growth engines across the brand portfolio and driving a digitalisation agenda across the sales and marketing functions. In 2020 he moved to Dubai to lead the MENA business, Arla’s largest region within its International Zone. In a short space of time Simon Stevens has applied his considerable leadership capabilities to work with his country heads and Arla’s joint venture partners to navigate the business through COVID-19, delivering exceptionally high levels of growth for Arla’s key brands and customers and maintaining a safe working environment for Arla’s workforce of around 3,000 colleagues.

Commenting on Simon Stevens appointment, Peder Tuborgh said:

“I am delighted to appoint Simon to my Executive Management Team to lead the continued growth of our International Zone markets hand-in-hand with our Joint Venture partners. Throughout his career at Arla, Simon has shown himself to be truly frontline obsessed, championing the consumer and customer in our decision making and actions. He has a high energy approach to leadership and a growth mindset that enable us to build on the strong foundations that Tim has built over recent years.”

Simon Stevens said:

“I am very much looking forward to leading the International Zone and accelerating our growth journey together with the International Leadership Team and our Joint Venture partners and Distributors. We have relevant brands and strong customer relationships that are both ready to be taken to a new level through innovation, partnerships focussed on meeting shoppers needs and by building a deeper understanding of the everyday lives of our consumers.”

Simon Stevens will take-up the new role from 1st January 2021 and Tim Ørting Jørgensen will leave Arla Foods at the end of 2020. An announcement will be made on Simon Stevens’ successor over the coming weeks.