Seattle-based Darigold Inc., the farmer-owned dairy co-op and one of the largest privately held businesses in Washington state, has named Cor van den Berg as its CFO.
In nearly 20 years with MARS Inc., the global confectionary and food products company, van den Berg held several finance roles across divisions and in multiple countries spanning the United States, Europe and the Middle East, including CFO of the company’s health and nutrition division, CFO of its North American food operations and global director of strategic revenue management.
Most recently, he was at City of Hope, a clinical research center, hospital and graduate medical school in California, where he held a variety of senior finance positions, including interim CFO.
His background includes experience and expertise that is relevant to the co-op. He has expertise in the global food sector where he’s implemented margin and working capital optimization programs, designed commodity hedging strategies to minimize margin volatility and developed trade and pricing initiatives aimed at margin and portfolio optimization – not just in his company, but for its customers as well.
Darigold is set to embark on some of the largest capital investment projects in its 104-year history, including construction of a new premium protein and butter production facility in Pasco, Washington, that will elevate the co-op’s production capacity, and restoration of a butter and milk powder facility in Caldwell, Idaho, that suffered fire damage in October.
“I grew up in an agricultural region in Holland and have always had a passion for the food and agriculture sectors,” said van den Berg. “Coming to Darigold in this capacity lets me return to an industry I know and love and where I can add value to the business, but with the opportunity to learn a segment of the industry that is new to me – global dairy – as well as the intricacies of leading the finance function in a member-owned co-op.”
Van den Berg holds an MBA in International Business Administration and a bachelor’s degree in economics from universities in the Netherlands and completed continuing education programs through MIT, Stanford University and the London Business School.
Darigold Inc. is the marketing and processing subsidiary of Northwest Dairy Association, which is owned by nearly 350 dairy farm families in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Darigold handles approximately 10 billion pounds of milk annually.
Darigold produces a full line of dairy-based products for retail, foodservice, commodity and specialty markets, and is one of the largest U.S. dairy processors. Darigold Inc. operates 11 plants throughout the Northwest, processing high-quality milk produced by NDA farm families.
For more information, visit darigold.com.
