In March of this year, Wools of New Zealand became a fully grower owned company for the first time in its history. More than 700 New Zealand sheep farmers have invested in and are committed to the growth and sustainability of Wools of New Zealand brand and commercial initiatives. To head up and see these initiatives through to fruition, Ross Townshend was appointed and began the role as new CEO on 1st August 2013.
As well as taking this new executive role, Ross is also a shareholder in Wools of NZ, and he is a sheep farmer with 2500 ewes on 1700 acres, in the North Waikato area of New Zealand's North Island.
Ross comes with a very diverse 40 year background in several primary industries including dairy, red meat, and forestry. Ross has held lots of roles from "factory floor" through to FMG marketing roles, in New Zealand, and most parts of the World. Ross has worked in many product themes including fresh and chilled foods, dairy foods of all types, fats and oils, snack foods, red meats, packaging, and timber products. He has operated as a CEO previously at >NZ$1Billion revenues.
