With consumers taking a more holistic and long-term approach to their health and wellbeing, the health and wellness powdered milk market is now worth $8.7bn globally.¹ Worldwide, consumers are seeking products that offer more benefits for their overall health like immunity or cognition.

Meet one of our experts who is focused on creating consumer milk powder propositions to meet the demands of health-conscious consumers globally, and help our customers get the best out of their milk powder products.

Academic Expertise

Gerard is one of the leading experts in Consumer Powders with 30 years of dairy industry experience. With a Masters in Food Technology from Massey University, Gerard’s career has included roles in Technical Team Management, Ingredients Marketing and Sales, Business Development, Capital Project Management, Applied Research, FMCG, Dairy Ingredient Product and Application Development. 

Since 2015, Gerard has held leading roles in the category, firstly as Technical Engagement Manager and now as Category Marketing Manager, which has given him global knowledge of marketing and sales for NZMP Consumer Powders.

Gerard's Current Focus

Gerard is currently focused on using his expertise to create consumer milk powder propositions that meet the demands of health-conscious consumers and drive value for our customers by providing them with new opportunities to build their consumer powder brands.

Gerard is driven to help customers get the best out of powder solutions, so that the goodness of dairy can reach more consumers worldwide. 

What makes Gerard tick?

We sat down with Gerard to find out more about what makes him tick and what he brings to the Consumer Powders team and to our NZMP customers.

Q&A with Gerard O’Sullivan

Q. What is your favourite thing about working in the Consumer Powders team?

“I have two things I like about working in Consumer Powders, the first is the depth and experience within our technical and manufacturing teams. There is just so much experience and knowledge, sometimes it really blows me away, it's great to have that resource at our fingertips.

The second is simply milk. It is such a great source of nutrition, designed to meet our needs. I love the versatility of instant powders; they can be used in so many ways and consumers can add more or less to get the taste and texture they prefer. They are also a great base for fortifying which allows us to create different products to suit consumer needs.”

Q: What is your favourite thing about working with our customers?

“I really enjoy connecting with people and working with our customers to add value to their business and provide them with support. Our customers are really engaging and interesting people to work with and every conversation is different.”

Q: What is your proudest moment in your current role?

“I think probably being at the factory when the first NZMP NutriWhite^TM 25kg bags rolled off the line, that’s what I think of immediately. It signified a new beginning for how we can use our resources, factories, and expertise to make products that go beyond traditional dairy products.”

Q: How would you describe yourself in one word?

“Cross functional – I help to bring all sorts of experts together across manufacturing and technical. It's partly about bringing the right people together, but it's mainly about understanding what the right people are saying, where they are coming from and being able to challenge and probe to get the right result.”

Q: How would your friends describe you?

“Oh, that’s a tough one. Probably loyal, patient but persistent.”

Q: What did you want to be when you were younger?

“Nothing like what I’m doing today… a novelist, when I was much younger, a pilot. Now maybe just younger.”

Q: What gets you up in the morning?

“It might sound cheesy, but I want to make a valuable contribution to the world where I can.”

Q: What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

“Spending time with family, water sports, snow skiing, and native bush restoration. I have a deep passion for caring for our environment and when I moved into my home in the Waikato, there was a lot to do. It became a passion of mine to try and restore the bush and riverbank. Trees and the environment last so much longer than we do, and when I see trees that I planted 10 years ago, I know they won't even be at their full height in 100 years, so I'll never get to see them like that, but somebody else will."

Q: Why do you think a customer should choose our Consumer Powders over a competitor? Why NZMP?