Ryan Announces Plans To Leave Darigold

Darigold announced last week that president and CEO Stan Ryan will retire at the end of March, after leading the coop for six years. Current president of Global Ingredients, Joe Coote, has been promoted to CEO of the 104-year-old dairy coop.

“Stan has been a game-changing and transformative leader at Darigold. Under his leadership, our co-op significantly improved its performance, advanced its modernization and growth, re-established its brand and customer franchise, initiated the largest capital investments in our history to solidify the co-op, and built and strengthened internal teams to make Darigold a more formidable competitor at home and on the global stage,” said Allan Huttema, chairman of Darigold’s board of directors. “We are all grateful for Stan’s leadership, character, and personal integrity. He leaves with our deepest respect and gratitude for setting our co-op on a trajectory that is commensurate with the underlying values and aspirations of our more than 300 farmer-owners.”

Ryan came to Darigold in 2016 from Cargill, where he spent 25 years in a variety of senior leadership positions. In his time with Darigold, Ryan has led efforts to modernize the coop, investing in infrastructure as well as pledging to make the company carbon neutral by 2050. He also finalized a deal to build new milk protein and butter processing facility in Pasco, WA.

“Leading Darigold for the last six years has been a tremendous honor, I’m proud to be associated with this enterprise and its enduring commitment to success,” Ryan said. “When I arrived, I found an organization with a rich legacy in the dairy industry and immense potential for competitive leadership in the future. I am confident that I am leaving the co-op with a solid foundation of capabilities and the internal team to deliver that bright future, especially with Joe at the helm.”

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