International Cheese Technology Expo 2018

Ross Christieson
Senior Vice President, Global Cheese Marketing
U.S. Dairy Export Council


Although Ross attended New Zealand's foremost agricultural university, he did manage to pursue an academic and social life that kept him well clear of all matters agrarian until the serious matter of needing a job changed all that. In a country with many times more cows and sheep than people, a career in agriculture is inevitable for many young New Zealanders. In Ross' case, this started out in international marketing with the New Zealand Dairy Board - the forerunner to Fonterra - the world's largest dairy exporter and New Zealand's largest company. After a dozen years of giving his all for the Kiwi dairy farmers, Ross stumbled across the world of dairy research consultancy. Over the last decade or more Ross’ consultancy concentrated on strategic research and market development work in the global dairy sector. These days Ross is the Business Unit Director for North Asia; a region that includes South Korea and Japan, the no. 2 and no. 3 export markets for U.S. cheese respectively, as well as the fast-growing China market and Hong Kong – USDEC’s lead incubator market for specialty cheese.

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