John Jordan to take over as Ornua CEO

The board of Ornua, Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, has announced the appointment of John Jordan as chief executive designate.

Jordan, currently currently CEO of Ornua Foods Europe, Middle East Africa and Asia, will assume the role of chief executive on June 30, 2018, taking over from Kevin Lane.

He was previously CEO at DPI Speciality Foods, a division of Ornua, and the third largest specialty food distributor in the US.  Prior to this, he held the position of marketing director of consumer foods at Ornua, responsible for the strategic direction and development of the Ornua brands portfolio; prior to this he held a variety of senior commercial roles within the organization both in the corporate office and within international subsidiaries.

Confidence amid challenges

Aaron Forde, chairman of Ornua, said the appointment followed a comprehensive selection process led by a board subcommittee.

“John has proven leadership skills and brings to his new role a deep knowledge of the organization, the industry it operates in, and proven international executive experience,” Forde said. 

“As chief executive, he will continue to develop and drive Ornua’s strategic agenda as per our five-year strategy ‘Ornua 2021’, to deliver sustainable long-term value for Ornua’s members’ farmer base.”

Jordan said, “As we face into the challenges of ongoing market volatility, significant uncertainty surrounding Brexit and other areas of international trade, I am confident that Ornua is well positioned to manage all of this from a position of strength. 

“With a strong platform of financial performance over the past few years and a clear articulation of strategy to deliver growth of €3bn ($3.7bn) in revenues by 2021, I welcome the opportunity to continue to develop and build on the remarkable performance we have achieved thus far.”