Komal Mistry-Mehta
Haven’t got much time on your hands? Click here to read the key points.
In this Pinnacle Post interview, Komal Mistry-Mehta - Chief Innovation & Brand Office at Fonterra - shares insights on leadership, innovation, and building purposeful careers. Through candid reflections and practical advice, she explores how to navigate complex challenges, grow impact, and lead with clarity across Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond - offering actionable takeaways for emerging and experienced leaders alike.
Q: What did you want to be when you were growing up?
A: I was born in Fiji and grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. Both sides of my families owned businesses, so my summer holidays and childhood centred around being in and amongst those businesses. Entrepreneurship was essentially all I knew because it was all I had seen. Every morning, my brother and I would start our day at the family business and end our day there after school.
I love the dynamic nature of business, the commerciality, and seeing the whole value chain connect end to end. When my parents migrated to New Zealand, they bought a business in the fashion industry. I remember seeing them pivot their clothing business model when manufacturing shifted from New Zealand to China, moving first into import trade and then pivoting again into property development as the market shifted.
I always knew I wanted to do something in business, but I wasn't sure what. That led me to Waikato University to study law and commerce, without knowing exactly where it would lead.
Entrepreneurship was essentially all I knew because it was all I had seen. Every morning, my brother and I would start our day at the family business and end our day there after school.
Q: You finished university with the option of pursuing law or business. What was your mindset upon finishing, particularly regarding your next move?
A: I knew I wanted to be a global citizen. I loved New Zealand, but I was very curious about the world, and I knew I wanted to move overseas. Like many Kiwis, I looked at Europe as the gold standard place to explore, so I was actively seeking the opportunity to travel and pursue something within business. The opportunity with Deloitte in London came up straight out of university, and I thought it was perfect. I finished university in November, and on December 31st, I was on a flight to London. Moving from the Waikato to London was a big shock to the system, as it was my first full-time role, first time in Europe and first time living away from family.
Q: You spent just over two years in London, learning a lot professionally with clients across Europe and traveling extensively (close to 30 different places). What advice would you give to someone contemplating their overseas experience (OE)?
A: Just do it. You can spend a lot of time contemplating the leap, but my advice is to take it because professionally, personally, and life wise, it is the best gift you can give yourself. You will be outside your comfort zone, you will grow, and you will be immersed in new cultures. There is no downside. The worst that can happen is you don't like it and you come home, placing you back where you started anyway. I’ve looked back at all my overseas experiences, including four years in Singapore with Fonterra, and they were some of my best years where I grew and learned the most.
You can spend a lot of time contemplating the leap [OE], but my advice is to take it because professionally, personally, and life wise, it is the best gift you can give yourself. You will be outside your comfort zone, you will grow, and you will be immersed in new cultures
Q: What catalysed the move back home and the transition into Fonterra?
A: The key driver for coming home was to sit my chartered accountancy exam as the plan was for me to spend time with Deloitte in London and return to Deloitte in New Zealand to finish my qualifications. I was grateful for my time at Deloitte because it provided visibility across many different sectors and companies. However, I realised what I truly loved about business was seeing the end to end. In consulting, advisory, or assurance, you are in and you're out of a client, not seeing the whole value chain. My one criteria was wanting to work for a global business, driven by my experience in Europe. The opportunity at Fonterra came up, and I thought it was perfect as you can't get more global than Fonterra when based in New Zealand. I initially joined the consumer business in finance.
I realised what I truly loved about business was seeing the end to end. In consulting, advisory, or assurance, you are in and you're out of a client, not seeing the whole value chain.
Komal and the Fonterra Management Team at the Innovation Awards.
Q: You climbed the ladder remarkably fast. When did you get your first taste in the innovation and venture space?
A: From my childhood, I always felt there was something creative and entrepreneurial inside me. I always approached roles by thinking, "If I owned this business, what would I do?". I reached a point about eight years into my finance career where I felt I had invested so much time that I couldn't see beyond finance. It wasn't until a boss challenged my thinking that I realised I was blocking my own trajectory. I needed to explore a different path and take what I perceived as a risk, stepping away from progressing within finance. I took a technical assistant position, which involved sitting on an executive team, absorbing information, and doing special projects for a senior leader. This gave me a helicopter view of how a business at that scale (the consumer business in New Zealand) was run, and it opened my mind to another pathway. I then naturally moved into venturing. I didn't have the CV to back it up, but I had a legal and commercial background and was curious to learn.
My first role in venturing was as the General Manager of Fonterra Ventures. It was a newly created role and interestingly, the last three roles that I’ve had were newly created roles. It shows that you can’t predict the future, and you never know what new opportunities might pop up today that didn’t exist yesterday. You must have the flexibility and agility to take a chance and go for something that isn’t prescribed on a map and make it your own.
The last three roles that I’ve had were newly created roles. It shows that you can’t predict the future, and you never know what new opportunities might pop up today that didn’t exist yesterday. You must have the flexibility and agility to take a chance and go for something that isn’t prescribed on a map and make it your own.
Q: You’ve since held roles focused on venture capital, active living, and growth. Would you agree that the common theme is the commercialisation of innovation?
A: I characterise them as growth roles - finding new avenues for growth for Fonterra, with innovation being a key driver. Looking back at my roles, I have learnt that I am a growth leader - I like coming in, taking a business to the next level, assembling a team with a growth DNA, and galvanising them around a clear path. My role in Active Living focused on the health, wellness, and medical market, which is clearly a growth business due to changing global demographics and the need for high-quality nutrition. Every time I’ve moved roles, it's been solving almost the same problem, but at a much larger scale. Innovation is key, specifically looking at opportunity spaces and problems to solve where Fonterra has a fundamental right to win.
Innovation is key, specifically looking at opportunity spaces and problems to solve where Fonterra has a fundamental right to win.
Q: How do you find the right businesses and products to partner with and invest in?
A: You must take a balanced approach. It is critical to grow your core, which usually accounts for 70-80% of growth. Growth in the core could be through product differentiation, geographic expansion, or new segments to enter. It is also vital not to stop there, asking how might you build a new core, expand your core, or even disrupt your business if you were an outsider. For growing the core, you know your business and markets well, but for extending or building a new core, you just don't know what you don't know, so you must use different levers.
It is critical to grow your core, which usually accounts for 70-80% of growth.
We established the Ki Tua Fund, a venture capital fund, when I came into this role. This allows us to look at the whole startup VC (venture capital) industry and focus on technologies highly relevant to Fonterra's future, such as biotechnology, AI (artificial intelligence), crop engineering, and precision fermentation. We gain access to insights by doing due diligence on hundreds of companies every month. This provides a window into the frontier of new technology development. The most important factor is being choiceful about connecting market interest back to where Fonterra fundamentally has a right to win.
For growing the core, you know your business and markets well, but for extending or building a new core, you just don't know what you don't know, so you must use different levers.
Komal with the Ki Tua Fund Board with one of their portfolio companies in San Francisco – Prolific Machines.
Q: What innovation areas currently excite you the most?
A: Two areas excite me most:
1. Nutrition and Bio-manufacturing: I work at Fonterra because we provide nutrition to the world. The role Fonterra plays in the global food system is fundamental, as 49% of the world's calcium and 24% of its B12 and other B nutrients come from dairy. We face challenges such as malnutrition - hidden hunger is a major global issue, even in developed countries (e.g. one in four women in the UK have a micronutrient deficiency). Dairy will continue to play a vital role in the global food system due to all the micro and macro nutrients naturally within milk. Technologies such as bio-manufacturing will also play a role and are highly complementary to natural sources of protein.
Dairy will continue to play a vital role in the global food system due to all the micro and macro nutrients naturally within milk.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI has the ability to fundamentally change how we work and increase productivity across every profession. Every organisation and individual needs to lean into this technology. I am particularly excited about what AI enables to create unique advantages. This includes advancing the health system through diagnostic tools and allowing us to operate in a much more informed way globally by interpreting vast climate and environmental data to forecast issues like drought or extreme weather events. Every organisation has proprietary data and structuring that data to be useful for AI must be an organisation's superpower.
Every organisation has proprietary data and structuring that data to be useful for AI must be an organisation's superpower.
Q: What markets have you seen that demand the most for innovation from Fonterra's perspective?
A: Every market is very different. Innovating in China requires an extremely different approach compared to how you would innovate in the United States, Europe, Japan, or Korea, for example. Therefore, the approach needs to be tailored. Everything must be based on insights. For instance, the insights you get from a Chinese consumer consuming French pastry and leveraging Fonterra's butter are very different from a consumer in the US consuming a high-protein beverage. Being insight-led is critical, and you cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach.
Every market is very different. Innovating in China requires an extremely different approach compared to how you would innovate in the United States, Europe, Japan, or Korea, for example.
Q: Looking back, what are the biggest learnings you’ve had in the business innovation space?
A: To innovate well, you must create the right culture - one that fosters creativity, psychological safety, and growth. Culture is everything.
To innovate well, you must create the right culture - one that fosters creativity, psychological safety, and growth. Culture is everything.
Q: For readers interested in joining the dynamic startup or venture capital world, what advice would you offer?
A:
• For the Startup Space: New Zealand and the world need more startups. A good startup has a nimble, agile DNA and is obsessed with solving a problem. If you have an idea or a problem you want to pursue, just do it. The venture capital environment, especially in New Zealand, has advanced significantly to foster entrepreneurs and ideas. Joining an early-stage company is also an incredible experience.
• For the Venture Capital Side: In VC, you get to see the world in a very different way, seeing hundreds of companies and sectors at the forefront. You watch technologies spectacularly fail and unicorns rise. This allows you to analyse, invest, and understand risk through a new lens. It’s a very dynamic and exhilarating place to be, and many people who enter the VC world don't leave.
Q: What are the career defining moments or lessons that have set you up for success?
A:
1. Following your passion: Not being afraid to follow what I enjoy, rather than getting clouded by the analytics of what I should do.
2. Knowing when you're blocking yourself: Having the self-awareness to know when you've hit a point where you need to change and being brave enough to act on it. For me, this was realising that a long career in finance would not have been my dream.
3. Cultivating mental resilience: There are always ups and downs, and you need a way to balance and re-centre yourself when times are tough.
Q: What are your career highlights and lowlights?
A: I've been fortunate to have so many highlights, and they always centre around people. I'd say working with incredible people such as within Fonterra, partners we work with, and companies we've invested into – it’s always just the privilege of working with good people and achieving amazing results. As I've developed from a leadership perspective, my highlight is always seeing people grow. Seeing people grow and reach their potential is honestly one of the best parts of this role. While they achieve great results, seeing their growth trajectory to get there is often more rewarding than the result itself. That joy, as you evolve in your leadership, is being able to see people learn and grow and help them on that journey.
As for lowlights, I would say when you are in the thick of a difficult situation, you feel it is a lowlight, however when I look back, they are often the most pivotal moments of either learning, growth, or changing direction. They needed to happen.
I would say when you are in the thick of a difficult situation, you feel it is a lowlight, however when I look back, they are often the most pivotal moments of either learning, growth, or changing direction. They needed to happen.
Komal with Minister Shane Reti and others at the Fonterra Research & Development Centre in Palmerston North.
Q: How do you manage the significant responsibility and pressure of your role and manage life outside of work especially with a young family?
A: I have a two year old daughter and I was actually the first person on the Fonterra executive team to have a child while in the role. In hindsight, it has made me that much stronger and more effective as a leader as it forced me to understand my boundaries and the most critical element: time. I want to be a hands-on mother - that’s the most important role in my life - and I also want to be a good leader, so navigating that balance is key. I manage stress by knowing my inner self, knowing when I am triggered, stressed and what brings me balance. For me, this includes spending time with my family, meditation, and going for walks. I also try to get perspective by zooming out and asking myself whether the problem I'm dealing with is going to matter in five days, five months, or five years.
I was actually the first person on the Fonterra executive team to have a child while in the role. In hindsight, it has made me that much stronger and more effective as a leader as it forced me to understand my boundaries and the most critical element: time.
Q: You’ve also recently entered the governance space, serving on the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council. Was this an intentional move to enter into governance and what advice would you give to young professionals seeking governance roles?
A: My governance work is aligned to my mission. Being in the innovation ecosystem, I see the immense potential that innovation, science, and technology have on a business and on New Zealand’s future. Serving on the Prime Minister’s Council aligns with what I do every day. My advice for anyone wanting to get into governance is that it must be aligned to your mission. If it genuinely aligns, you’ll find a way to make it work; otherwise, it will quickly become a task.
My advice for anyone wanting to get into governance is that it must be aligned to your mission. If it genuinely aligns, you’ll find a way to make it work; otherwise, it will quickly become a task.
Q: For those early in their careers aiming to climb the corporate ladder, what’s your best advice?
A: Follow what you enjoy, stay curious and keep learning. The braver you are, the luckier you will get.
The braver you are, the luckier you will get.
Q: What's next for yourself?
A: I am having a lot of fun, and I really enjoy what I do. The key thing for me has always been to keep learning and growing. I usually know I need to change when that learning and growth plateaus. Right now, I am learning a lot.
Q: What does Komal stand for?
A: If I think about myself at 10 years old, 20 years old, and through my career, my values haven't changed. I may be doing different things or have lived in different places, but what I stand for and believe in hasn't changed and probably won't change. For me, that is about having integrity, being honest, doing the right thing, treating people well, and having a consistent set of values in how you operate. It's about treating others how you would want to be treated, and I've always carried that with me, no matter what I do or where I am.
I may be doing different things or have lived in different places, but what I stand for and believe in hasn't changed and probably won't change.
Q: Many of our audience members are starting to think about their financial futures. Do you have any wisdom or advice that you could offer them?
A: I’ve always believed in good financial planning. Fundamentally, everything in life is a choice - your career direction, different things you do - but it is incredibly important to understand the economic implications of your choice. Regardless of what you do, baseline financial acumen is critical and will really serve you.
Regardless of what you do, baseline financial acumen is critical and will really serve you.
Q: What advice would you give your younger self?
A: Keep being brave. The only limitation to what is possible is your mindset.
The only limitation to what is possible is your mindset.
Q: Finally, if neither time nor resources were a constraint, what ultimate goal or dream would you pursue or have pursued?
A: Honestly, I would keep pursuing what I am doing because I have no regrets. I would be happy with exactly where I am because my journey got me to where I am and I've learned a lot. Ultimately, I believe I need to continue giving myself the same advice - to keep being brave, keep learning and don't limit yourself on what’s possible.
Komal at Fonterra.
About Fonterra
Owned by thousands of Kiwi farming families, Fonterra is New Zealand’s largest company and a global dairy leader - responsible for around 30% of the world’s dairy exports. From milk powders and cheese to yoghurts and specialised nutritionals, Fonterra delivers quality products to 100+ markets, underpinned by innovation, food safety and strong community roots.
Visit the website here: https://www.fonterra.com
About Ki Tua Fund
Ki Tua Fund is Fonterra’s venture capital arm, partnering with founders and start‑ups to scale disruptive solutions in agriculture, science, nutrition, and sustainability. With a global team, Ki Tua accelerates innovations shaping the future of food.
Visit the website here: https://www.kituafund.com/global/en.html
About Prime Minister’s Science, Innovation and Technology Advisory Council
The Waikato Chamber of Commerce is the region’s independent business network, founded in 1906, connecting and advocating for businesses across the Waikato. Through events, advocacy, and capability-building, the Chamber helps members connect, grow, and succeed by leveraging its links into the New Zealand and International Chambers of Commerce networks to amplify the region’s voice.
Visit the website here: https://www.mbie.govt.nz/science-and-technology/science-and-innovation/refocusing-the-science-innovation-and-technology-system/advisory-council
About Deloitte
Deloitte is a global professional services network working with organisations across Aotearoa to deliver audit & assurance, consulting, risk, financial advisory, tax, and technology services. Combining industry expertise with data‑driven insights, Deloitte helps clients navigate change, strengthen governance, and accelerate sustainable growth.
Visit the website here: https://www.deloitte.com
