About GDP

Dairy, it’s nature’s most perfect food and for generations, the consumption of dairy products has been positively associated with the health and wellness of families and communities. However, in recent times it’s shifted into a defensive category.  We are having to respond to competitor products seeking to steal dairy's identity,  a nutrition community that’s become too focused on “what not to eat” instead of emphasizing “what to eat” and well intentioned but under informed environmental groups who are unable to make the necessary connection between the nutritional value and environmental impact. The net result is a reactive industry trying to communicate with customers who are being bombarded by conflicting messages.  

Seeing a need to provide leadership in the diverse worldwide dairy industry, the Global Dairy Platform was created to connect CEOs, executives, and researchers to collaborate on issues affecting the demand for dairy with The Power of One Voice.

Board of Directors

Global Dairy Platform's leadership is provided by the Board of Directors:

Board of Directors
Global Dairy Platform’s Board of Directors provides strategic oversight of GDPs activities:

Peder Tuborgh
Chairman of the GDP Board
Chief Executive Officer, Arla Foods amba

Professor Toon van Hooijdonk
Deputy Chairman of the GDP Board
Corporate Director, Research and Development, Royal FrieslandCampina

Rick Smith
Chief Executive Officer, Dairy Farmers of America, Inc.

Cees t'Hart
Chief Executive Officer, Royal FrieslandCampina

Dr. Henrik Jørgen Andersen
Senior Director Research and Innovation, Arla Foods amba

Richard Doyle
President, International Dairy Federation

Dr. Jeremy Hill
Group Director Technology and Chief Technology Officer, Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited

Thierry Philardeau
Head of Strategic Business Unit, Nestlé S.A.

Jerry Kaminski
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer Industrial Foods, Land O’Lakes, Inc.

Jay Waldvogel
Senior Vice President of Strategy and International Development, Dairy Farmers of America, Inc.

Guiding GDP’s leadership is the CSAB that consists of world renowned nutritional health scientists, regulatory affairs and communication experts: 

Professor Arne Vernon Astrup
Head of Department, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen

Dr. Rob Beudeker
Vice President Innovation, Human Nutrition and Health, DSM Nutritional Products

Jean-Marc Delort
Vice President, Head of R&D, Dairy Strategic Business Unit, Nestlé S.A.

Cary Frye
Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, International Dairy Foods Association

Roger Hall
Regulatory and Food Assurance Manager, Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited

Dr. Joop Kleibeuker
Secretary General, European Dairy Association

Professor Frans J. Kok
Director of the Department of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University

Dr. Gregory Miller
President, Dairy Research Institute

Professor Tom AB Sanders
Head of Nutritional Sciences Research Division, Kings College London

Jörg Seifert
Technical Director, International Dairy Federation

Our Staff

Donald Moore, Executive Director

From the dairy industry to the information technology and business consulting arenas, Donald has held a variety of general management, strategic and marketing roles.

Donald joined the dairy industry 10 years ago and most recently served as Director Ingredients Marketing for Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd. Prior to that, he held various senior executive roles with Fonterra, including Director of Business Development for the global ingredients business and Regional Managing Director for Oceania.

Donald was also a member of the Fonterra Sustainability Leadership Council and the Food and Regulatory Assurance Council.

Born in Northern Ireland, Donald moved to New Zealand in the 1970’s where he finished his schooling before joining the IT industry. Prior to entering the dairy industry, Donald spent 9 years as chief executive of New Zealand’s largest independent business and information management consulting firm where he oversaw its international expansion opening offices across South East Asia.

To contact Donald, send him an e-mail at: Donald.Moore@Globaldairyplatform.com.

 

Cindy Schweitzer, Technical Director

Dr. Cindy Schweitzer, Ph.D., brings more than 20 years of nutrition experience in the non-profit, ingredient and food service industries. At GDP, Dr. Schweitzer works on behalf of the dairy industry towards a coordinated global research plan. In particular, her focus is finding gaps in the research, while avoiding duplication, resulting in the best investment of research resources.

Dr. Schweitzer comes to GDP from McDonald's Corporation, where she served as Manager of Global Nutrition. She made a major contribution to the creation of McDonald's global nutrition strategy, with considerable involvement with governmental and NGO diet/health regulatory guidelines and claims. She also worked at Cognis Corporation (formerly Henkel Corporation), as well as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (formerly the National Live Stock & Meat Board), among other organisations.

Dr. Schweitzer grew up on a small dairy farm in northern Wisconsin and earned a Ph.D. in Human Nutrition at Utah State University.

To contact Dr. Schweitzer, send her an e-mail at: Cindy.Schweitzer@Globaldairyplatform.com.  


Melanie Nimrodi, Director of Communications

Melanie Nimrodi has nearly a decade in communications, specifically in the areas of health, wellness, science and biotechnology. Melanie works across different platforms to help support GDP’s mission - to increase worldwide demand for dairy by providing insight, guidance and networking.

Melanie comes from a public relations agency where she helped develop and maintain communication programs for clients that integrated her knowledge of translating complicated science into layman’s terms. Prior to the agency, she managed media relations for Illinois Institute of Technology and continuously gained national and local media for the university, professors, students and top administration.

Melanie earned her M.A. in Public Relations from Ball State University and her B.S. in Communication’s from Southern Illinois University.

To contact Melanie, send her an e-mail at: Melanie.Nimrodi@Globaldairyplatform.com.

Kathy Laning, Office Manager

Kathy Laning joined GDP in 2009 following a long tenure at Feralloy Corporation, where she provided administrative support to the CEO and executive staff, as well as organizational expertise. 

As GDP Office Manager, Kathy participates in all aspects of operations from administrative support of the GDP staff and finance to website maintenance and membership relations.  Additionally, Kathy supports the Board and Operational Committee by recording the minutes of all meetings and maintaining the corporate files of the organization.

A graduate of the University of Toledo, Kathy has spent time in Germany and Austria and is fluent in German, contributing to GDP’s communications with German-speaking members. To contact Kathy, send her an e-mail at: Kathy.Laning@Globaldairyplatform.com.