New Group MD from January 1, 2004

Jens Bigum will retire as Group Managing Director of Arla Foods at the end of the year. Arla Foods Supervisory Board has appointed Deputy Managing Director Åke Modig, 57, Managing Director from January 1, 2004.

Jens Bigum
Managing Director Jens Bigum, 64, announced his retirement to Arla Foods’ Board of Representatives in Århus, Denmark, on Tuesday. Jens Bigum will retire with effect from December 31, 2003.
“The move has been planned for the past year and the Supervisory Board is confident that Åke Modig is the right man to head Europe’s largest dairy company at a time of strong growth,” said Knud Erik Jensen, Arla Foods’ Chairman.
At the request of the Supervisory Board, Jens Bigum will continue to be available on a consultancy basis for specific areas, including the position of Deputy Chairman of the future Arla Foods UK plc if the new company is approved by the competition authorities.

Bigum: 33 years with the company
On his retirement, Jens Bigum can look back on a 33 year long career in what started as Mejeriselskabet Danmark in 1970 and has developed into Europe’s largest dairy company, Arla Foods.
He joined Mejeriselskabet Danmark as Organisation Manager and was appointed Finance Director in 1972. Since that time, Jens Bigum was a member of the Group Management of the Mejeriselskabet Danmark which later evolved into MD Foods. In 1989, he was appointed Deputy Managing Director before, in 1991, taking up the position as Managing Director of MD Foods and, from 2000, of Arla Foods.

Åke Modig
Modig: 31 years with Arla
Åke Modig grew up in Stockholm where he graduated with a business degree from the Stockholm Business School. Subsequently, he worked for some years for Lantbrukets Udredniningsinstitut before joining Arla as a market analyst in 1972 before being appointed Finance Director.
In 1984, Åke Modig was appointed Deputy Managing Director and six years later in 1990, he took over as Managing Director. Following the merger between the Danish MD Foods and the Swedish Arla in April 2000, Åke Modig became Deputy Managing Director of the new Arla Foods.

Two new Deputy Managing Directors
The Supervisory Board of Arla Foods has also appointed two new Deputy Managing Directors, Group Director Andreas Lundby and Group Director Povl Krogsgaard.

Andreas Lundby
Andreas Lundby, 53, graduated with a degree in Economics and Business Administration from Århus in 1975 and in 1978 took a post-graduate degree in Sales. In the same year, he joined Mejeriselskabet Danmark as Product Manager for Høng-Buko and in 1981 was appointed International Product Manager. From 1984, as Marketing Manager, he was involved in the development of MD Foods’ subsidiary in Saudi Arabia. In 1987, Andreas Lundby was appointed Export Director and in 1995, he became Executive Director with the Overseas Division. In 1998 he was appointed Group Director, MD Foods.

Povl Krogsgaard
Povl Krogsgaard, 52, who qualified as a dairy engineer in 1979, has a degree in Organisation and Management. He joined Danske Mejeriers Fællesorganisation in 1979 and moved to MD Foods’ Management Secretariat in 1987. In 1988, he was appointed Head of Department in the Home Market Division and in 1991 was promoted to Executive Director, Denmark Division.
Poul Krogsgaard was appointed Group Director of MD Foods in 1998.