SEATTLE – Joe Coote will take over as chief executive officer of Darigold on March 31. He will replace Stan Ryan, who is retiring.

Mr. Coote, who is currently president of Darigold’s global ingredients division, joined the company in November 2020. Prior to joining Darigold, he was director of global supply chain and director of global optimization for Fonterra, a New Zealand-based dairy company. He also was president of the company’s Americas unit, which is based in Chicago.

“We brought Joe into our company with succession in mind, and as a candidate to replace Stan,” said Allan Huttema, chairman of Darigold’s board of directors. “He brings extensive experience leading international organizations, including 14 years in senior leadership positions in global and domestic dairy.

“In his time at Darigold, Joe has made significant impacts in our global ingredients division, building strong relationships with customers and throughout the value chain, advancing commercialization, and growing revenues. He is the right leader to help us on our journey to lead dairy forward from the very solid foundation Stan has put in place.”

Mr. Ryan has been CEO of the cooperative for six years. 

“Stan has been a game-changing and transformative leader at Darigold,” Mr. Huttema said. “Under his leadership, our co-op significantly improved its performance, advanced its modernization and growth, re-established its brand and customer franchise, initiated the largest capital investments in our history to solidify the co-op, and built and strengthened internal teams to make Darigold a more formidable competitor at home and on the global stage.”