KINDERHOOK, NY – Grass-fed organic dairy producer Maple Hill Creamery announced it elevated chief financial officer Jim Hau to the role of president. Hau will continue to serve as CFO.

Hau, whose career also includes time as the CFO at Arizona Nutritional Supplements and PanTheryx, possesses more than 30 years of experience in consumer packaged goods. For 18 of those years, he worked for businesses that deal with dairy.

CFO at Maple Hill since 2021, Hau’s career experience includes building corporate financial infrastructures, integrating business acquisitions, preparing for IPO, strategic financial planning and organizational restructuring, his employer shared.

“I’m proud and excited to be taking this leadership role with such a trusted brand at such an exciting time in the market, when the consumer is looking for healthy premium products derived from regenerative agriculture,” Hau said.

The company’s new president said his first goal is to strengthen Maple Hill’s economic position and continue building its brand. Maple Hill produces milk, kefir and yogurt, with the help of small family farms in upstate New York. Its products are sold at retail stores throughout the US.

“We have a tremendous consumer proposition because we allow families to enjoy the highest nutritional value in the dairy space, while supporting small family farms, who provide the most humane treatment to their cows, all in a way that improves the land and the planet through regenerative farming,” he said.

“At Maple Hill, we get the milk the way it was intended by nature, with cows grazing on natural organic grass, which provides the best nutrients, so they produce the most nutritious milk for the consumer. Maple Hill does not claim indirect climate improvements through the purchase of carbon offsets. We do it directly, through regenerative farming practices, in a way that actually sequesters carbon and improves the earth’s degrading soil.”

Earlier in his career, Hau worked for WhiteWave Foods for 12 years, helping the integration of Horizon, International Delight and the legacy WhiteWave businesses. He also assisted in the IPO process and became chief accounting officer. Prior to that, he held a number of jobs at Unilever over the course of 15 years. Part of that experience included serving as controller for North American ice cream business, involving brands such as Breyers, Popsicle, Ben & Jerry’s, Klondike and Good Humor.

Hau earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Marquette University, as well as an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.