Wednesday, 01 April 2026 12:55

Blunt CEO

Written by  Milking It

OPINION: Synlait's woes show no sign of ending anytime soon.

Milking It wonders hpw long its Chinese majority owner, Bright Dairy, will tolerate the losses.

The sale of Synlait's North Island assets this month will bring some relief.

Also, Synlait has seasoned industry stalwart Richard Wyeth as its new chief executive.

Wyeth was blunt in his assessment. He's bringing the focus back into the core areas of the business and adds that over the last 12 to 18 months, the business has been incredible reactionary, with very little commercial fixability or optionality. Ouch!

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