DIRECTORS AND ADVISORS
CHRIS SHELLEY | CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Mataura Valley Milk
Chris is an international businessman and engineer with extensive manufacturing and management experience. He has a degree in mechanical engineering from Sheffield University and an MBA from INSEAD in France.
For the past 25 years he has lived in Africa, Asia and Europe, overseeing projects in the food & beverage process engineering, automotive, power generation and heavy building materials sectors.
He has particular experience in dairy processing projects. Between 2003 and 2007 Chris was the Asia-Pacific president of APV, one of the world's biggest food process and engineering service companies. This gave him overall business responsibility for the planning, design and building of large scale food processing plants.
Three quarters of Chris's work with APV involved dairy – one of the fastest growing market segments in Asia.
Chris was responsible for the execution of many dairy projects across Asia – a whole milk powder plant in Vietnam, a baby food plant in Indonesia and many yoghurt and UHT operations in China. His clients were the top three dairy companies in China, and global dairy companies like Danone, Nestle and Fonterra, his biggest client.
During his time at APV, Chris oversaw investments in China that led to turnover increasing from USD17m to over USD70m.
He is currently based in Singapore and develops projects for private equity funds looking to invest in light/medium scale industrial businesses in the Asia Pacific region.
Chris sees a great future for high quality dairy processing in New Zealand which is why he has personally invested in Mataura Valley Milk and decided to relocate here.
JAMES WILLIAMS | EXECUTIVE Director
Mataura Valley Milk
James is a born and bred South Islander. An entrepreneur with a keen interest in safeguarding the future of primary processing in New Zealand. He was most recently an advisor on a major restructuring initiative in the meat industry.
This insight led to an understanding of the needs and challenges of individual farmers from our region.
James wants to provide direct benefits and choices to the Southland farming community. He believes farmers should be able to choose who they supply their milk to and have the opportunity to see their returns more closely aligned to added value dairy processing.
What do experts say about MATAURA VALLEY?
"An exciting opportunity is offered to farmers to supply their milk to an independently financed, market-led, environmentally conscious company offering sustainable, competitive returns. Plant selection and customer endorsement at the early stages illustrate a breadth of understanding that should give farmers confidence about this venture. They should be proud to be a part of Mataura Valley Milk."
Max Parkin
Dairy Industry Consultant
Former CEO Southland Dairy Cooperative
"Mataura Valley Milk will provide much needed flexibility for global customers. They need to source sophisticated dairy products to supply their businesses in high growth markets, especially in Asia and the Middle East. These customers value close relationships with suppliers who manufacture products for their brands. Mataura Valley Milk has an exciting opportunity to build an enduring relationship with customers who manage global scale brands that will benefit both the customers and the farmers who supply their milk to Mataura Valley Milk. I have no doubt farmers will be better off because of the strength of the relationships Mataura Valley Milk will forge with their customers."
John Shaskey
Director, Global Dairy Network
Former Senior Executive with Fonterra
