Ah Tatua, You've Done It Again!
Waikato milk processor Tatua has again declared a record milk payout to farmer shareholders, leaving other processors in the dust.
Incumbent director Cathy Quinn is joined by three new candidates as the co-operative seeks to fill two board positions.
Two Board Seats Up For Election
Quinn, who has completed two terms on the Fonterra Board, is seeking re-election and chose to go through the Independent Assessment Process again this year.
She is joined on the ballot by three independently assessed candidates put forward by the Independent Assessment Panel: Jessie Chan, Mark Cox, and Peter Moynihan.
Assessment summaries covering each candidate's skills and attributes, along with full candidate statements and biographies will be included in shareholders' voting packs.
Meet the Candidates
Cathy Quinn
Cathy Quinn currently chairs Fonterra's Disclosure Committee and Strategic Review Committee, the latter having overseen the sale of Fonterra's Global Consumer business.
She previously chaired the Long-Term Aspirations Review Committee and the Divestment Review Committee.
Outside Fonterra, Quinn chairs Tourism Holdings and sits on the boards of Fletcher Building, Rangatira Limited and the Auckland University Council.
She spent more than three decades as a corporate lawyer at MinterEllisonRuddWatts, including eight years chairing its board, and was made and Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2016.
Jessie Chan
Jessie Chan brings governance experience across agribusiness and regulatory sectors, with a focus on shareholder engagement and advocacy.
Chan is currently a director of AgriZero, the public-private joint venture investment fund focused on emissions reduction in the primary sector (owned by the government, major agribusinesses and banks). She is also a director of Āmua Innovation (a start-up in the nitrogen fertiliser space, under AgriZero’s portfolio) and the Ngāpuhi Investment Fund (Tupu Tonu), a Crown-owned entity with $166 million in commercial assets.
She is a prior director of RuralCo (a farming retail co-operative), AgResearch (a previous Crown Research Institute), Ngāi Tahu Farming and the New Zealand Pork Industry Board (statutory industry body supporting pig farmers). Prior to her governance career, Jessie held various policy, research, environmental sustainability and advocacy roles across the dairy sector.
Chan was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2022 for services to dairy and agriculture.
Mark Cox
Mark Cox has a career spanning dairy, horticulture, farm systems, export, food processing and institutional investment.
He founded Coxco Group, focused on squash exports to Japan and Korea, and Craigmore Sustainables, which grew to manage more than $1.3 billion in assets across a 39,000-hectare farming and forestry portfolio during his tenure.
Cox currently advises Ngāi Tahu Farming and directs Rakaia Irrigation, and now focuses on his own farming business in Canterbury.
Peter Moynihan
Peter Moynihan operates a large-scale dairy farming business, with ownership of two farms and a shareholding in a third.
He is the outgoing Chair of The Power Company Limited Group, a $1.1 billion Southland electricity network asset manager, where he led a restructure and strategy reset.
Moynihan served 11 years as an elected Ravensdown director and spent more than 30 years as a senior agribusiness banking executive.
How the Independent Assessment Process Works
Candidates who choose the Independent Assessment Process are reviewed by a three-member Independent Assessment Panel: Mark Verbiest (Chair of Meridian Energy and Summerset Group Holdings, and an ASB Bank director), Patrick Strange (a Transgrid director and former Auckland International Airport chair) and Dame Therese Walsh (Chair of Air New Zealand, ASB Bank and T20 2028 World Cup Limited).
The Panel provides shareholders with an independent assessment of each candidate's suitability.
Shareholders can also stand for the Board as Non-Assessed Candidates, provided they have the support of 35 fellow shareholders. Nominations for this route are open now and close at 12 noon on Thursday, 1 October 2026.
The full candidate list — Independently Assessed and any Non-Assessed Candidates — will be announced on Friday, 2 October 2026. Voting packs will be mailed to eligible shareholders from Monday, 19 October 2026, with voting available by internet or post. Voting closes at 10.30am on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, with results announced the same day. The election uses a First Past the Post voting system.
