New CEO at Valio
Finnish dairy group Valio has appointed Executive Vice President Annikka Hurme as CEO as of 6th October 2014. Outgoing CEO Pekka Laaksonen was released from his duties on the same day. As a long-time Valio employee, Annikka Hurme has worked in a variety of positions since joining the company in 1989 and been a member of the Valio Group Executive Board from 2004.
Annikka Hurme has a broad range of experience in the management of Valio’s business operations. The responsibilities of the Valio Group Executive Board have changed from time to time, and consequently Annikka Hurme has taken turns in heading up almost all of Valio’s business and group operations from 2007–2014.
“A CEO with a thorough knowledge of Valio and the dairy industry is best placed to lead the company in the current challenging market conditions where Valio is being tested both by the economic slump in Europe and import embargo imposed by Russia,” says Antti Rauhamaa, Chairman of Valio’s Board of Directors.
Annikka Hurme.
The new CEO says that Valio must focus on its strengths – the development, manufacture, sales and marketing of tasty products that attract customers and consumers in Finland and through the company’s subsidiaries, which in the current business environment means especially in Sweden, the United States and China.
“Valio’s strengths are its ownership base of Finnish milk producers, our expert personnel, and responsible methods of operation throughout the supply chain. Although we are undergoing perhaps the toughest times in the company’s history and major structural change in the organisation, I believe Valio will emerge from this as a strong player. I trust that Valio staff and milk producers will do their utmost and that Finns will persist in their desire to eat domestically produced food,” says Annikka Hurme.
She continues: “Now we have to look forward and ensure that Valio makes the tastiest and most innovative products on the market. The profits those create, sound co-operation with our customers and the efficiency and expertise in our own operations help Valio secure the operating prerequisites for Finnish milk production, which is our key task.”
