Incumbent Director Alison Watters, along with Mike Fleming and Michelle Pye, have been announced as the Independently Assessed Candidates for the 2025 Fonterra Farmer Director election.
This year, there are two Board positions up for election. Alison Watters is seeking re-election and chose to participate in the Independent Assessment Process. As she is an incumbent Director standing for re-election, she automatically goes through to the ballot.
Mike Fleming and Michelle Pye were recommended by the Independent Assessment Panel following their assessment.
The Panel’s assessment summaries of each of the Independently Assessed Candidates, relative to the skills and attributes sought, will be included in the voting pack.
Watters is currently a farmer-elected Fonterra Director. Her additional Fonterra board roles include being Chair of the Sustainability and Innovation Committee; a member of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee and of the Co-operative Relations Committee.
Mike Fleming is an accomplished agribusiness leader and governance professional with over two decades of experience driving strategic growth across New Zealand's primary industries.
Michelle Pye and her husband Leighton, have owned and operated Pye Group, a large-scale agricultural business based in Canterbury, for over 23 years. They farm over 7,000 hectares with dairy, cropping, processing vegetables, grazing, transport and contracting operations. Pye Group’s dairy business consists of 10 farms producing 4.5 million milk solids, with a further three farms to be added to the group next season.
There are two different ways that Shareholders can stand for the Board – as Independently Assessed Candidates or as Non-Assessed Candidates.
Nominations for Non-Assessed Candidates, who can stand for the Board with the support of 35 different Shareholders, are now open. Nominations close at 12 noon on Friday, the 31st of October 2025.
The full list of candidates for the Fonterra Board of Directors’ Election, being the Independently Assessed Candidates and any Non-Assessed Candidates, will be announced on Monday, the 3rd of November 2025.
The three-member Panel is comprised of Mark Verbiest (Chair of Meridian Energy and Summerset Group Holdings), Patrick Strange (recently retired Chair of Auckland International Airport Limited) and Dame Therese Walsh (Chair of Air New Zealand Limited and ASB Bank).
The Panel has a key role in the Fonterra Farmer Directors’ Election process, as it provides the Co-operative’s Shareholders with an independent assessment of Farmer Director candidates who elect to undergo the Independent Assessment Process.
The Fonterra Director election uses First Past the Post voting.
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