Ash Amirahmadi appointed new UK Managing Director of Arla Foods

Ash Amirahmadi was Vice President of Milk, Members and Trading for five years, working closely with the co-operative’s 2,400 UK farmer owners
Ash Amirahmadi was Vice President of Milk, Members and Trading for five years, working closely with the co-operative’s 2,400 UK farmer owners

Dairy co-operative Arla Foods has announced Ash Amirahmadi as the company's new UK Managing Director following the departure of Tomas Pietrangeli.

Mr Amirahmadi, who has moved from his role as SVP - Sales for Arla Foods in the UK, will be the new MD following the departure of Mr Pietrangeli, who is to become the new CEO of Danish retail group Dagrofa.

Mr Amirahmadi joined Arla Foods in 2004 from Unilever. He was appointed SVP – Sales in 2016, responsible for the company’s 120 strong Commercial Team, all UK customer relationships and global lead for Walmart and Tesco.

During this time, he has has overseen sales growth of circa £200 million and 9% growth in the company’s branded portfolio.

Prior to his current role, he was Vice President of Milk, Members and Trading for five years, working closely with the co-operative’s 2,400 UK farmer owners, growing the company’s local milk supply from 1.6 billion litres to over 3.5 billion litres and overseeing the merger of Arla with Milk Link in 2012, which brought 1,300 UK dairy farmers into the co-operative.

Mr Pietrangeli will leave on 30 June 2018. Commenting on the announcement, Arla Foods Executive Vice President for Europe, Peter Gioertz-Carlsen said: “We would like to thank Tomas for his service to Arla Foods and the great work he has done with his team to build on our strong category positions in the UK and accelerate the growth of our Lurpak, Anchor, Arla and Castello brands.

“Tomas has also played an important role in helping to represent the UK Dairy Industry, ensuring that politicians and our many other stakeholders fully understand what is necessary to maintain a strong dairy farming sector in the UK post Brexit. We wish him well in his new role.”