Richard Stammer To Be Honored With 2016 ADPI Award Of Merit

From Country Boy to the Big Cheese 

Rich Stammer, a New Jersey native spent his summers working on a dairy farm in New York and growing his passion for the dairy industry. Upon graduation from Lyndhurst High School, Rich went on to receive his BS and MS degrees from Rutgers University followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. 

An educator at heart and an executive by trade, Rich was a tenured professor of Agricultural Economics at Rutgers University for more than a decade before leaving academia for the farmers of Agri-Mark in 1982. 

With his Ph.D. in Economics, he first served as Senior Vice President of Economics, Communications and Government Relations for Agri-Mark before being promoted to become the company's COO in 1990. 

In the early 90's, Rich's gift of understanding dairy economics and his knowledge of the industry led to one of the most significant developments in the dairy industry in the northeast for many years, with the merger of two legacy New England cooperatives – Agri-Mark and Cabot Creamery. 

In 1995, Stammer accepted the role of CEO of Cabot Creamery Cooperative while also maintaining his current role with Agri-Mark as COO, a move that was part "reward" and part "challenge." In 2011, Rich was named President and CEO of Agri-Mark, making him the "big cheese" of both the parent farmer cooperative and the branded side of the business. 

Under his leadership, Cabot branded cheese sales grew by over 600% as Cabot cheeses put their small town of Vermont on the map and their brand in households from coast to coast as they won top honors at all major cheese contests including "World's Best Cheddar," growing from a small regional brand to a nationally renowned brand. 

Stammer and his team were credited as being one of the pioneers in using future's markets to hedge price risks, they were early entrants into WPC production having been in the market for over 20 years. 

They implemented unique, cutting edge consumer marketing programs that were later adopted by other companies and were one of the first dairy companies to institute a "farm to consumer" sustainability program. In 2013, Agri-Mark was also selected as "Dairy Exporter of the Year" by Dairy Foods Magazine.

Both ADPI and the American Butter Institute (ABI) had the great fortunate of having Rich serve as both board member and president of their organizations. In addition, Rich has served on numerous boards and councils within the dairy industry as well as with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. 

Rich currently serves as the Executive Senior Vice President of Agri-Mark where he continues to serve in a strategic part-time position that takes full advantage of his 35 years of service to Agri-Mark and his 47 years of highly detailed knowledge of the dairy industry. 

Rich and his wife Arlene have enjoyed 47 years of marriage. They have two daughters, Melissa and Jill and three grandchildren, twin 11-year-old grandsons, Logan and Jack and a granddaughter, Ava, who is 7. They enjoy spending time at their cabin nested in the Adirondack Park in upstate New York, reading, skiing, sailing, biking, hiking and flying. 

The dairy industry has provided them with a great adventure filled with good times, great friends and amazing memories and they look forward to creating many more.

The members of ADPI and the entire dairy industry congratulate Richard Stammer, the 2016 recipient of ADPI's Award of Merit. 

For more information on the upcoming ADPI/ABI Annual Conference, you can visit www.adpi.org.

ADPI – The American Dairy Products Institute is the leading national trade association representing manufacturers and marketers of dairy-based ingredients. ADPI's sole mission is to increase the worldwide use of dairy ingredients by marshaling the technical, manufacturing, and marketing resources of its members and others. For more information, visit our website at www.adpi.org