INTHEBLACK August 2025 - Magazine - Page 15
Laura Wedmaier FCPA is CFO
of Norco Co-operative, a
100 per cent farmer-owned
dairy co-op in Australia.
Taking the leap from the
corporate to non-profit space
was a “big game changer”
for Wedmaier.
She manages a team of over
30 staff located in the Gold
Coast and Lismore. Norco’s
annual revenue is over
A$750 million.
MEET THE CFO
One step ahead
Laura Wedmaier FCPA, CFO at farmer-owned Australian dairy co-operative
Norco, plays a critical role in the company’s growth trajectory. With duties
that include flood mitigation risk and a declining milk pool to supporting
farmers at ground level and the implementation of artificial intelligence,
it is no wonder Wedmaier says that “number crunching is the easiest part”.
Words Adam Courtenay
Photography Anthony Geernaert
MY ROLE
Careful balance
THIS IS MY SECOND CFO ROLE,
and the size and scope of it is much larger
than my prior senior executive experience.
Norco operates two business units. The first
is dairy foods, a fast-moving consumer goods
business processing milk and ice cream.
The second encompasses agricultural
retailing, milling and commodities trading.
The pace, challenges and capital needs of
the two units are very different. Both need
to be balanced carefully to ensure the right
decisions are being made to propel the
organisation forward in a sustainable way.
We have over 800 staff and five production
facilities based in regional and rural locations.
There are over 190 member farms that
supply milk from northern New South Wales
(NSW ) and Queensland to our rural stores
from as far north as Bundaberg all the way
down to the Hunter region of NSW.
I manage over 30 people in Norco’s IT
and finance teams, who are equally
distributed across our two main corporate
locations on the Gold Coast and in Lismore.
The team works in each business unit
and across the group. I’m lucky to have
a large number of team members who have
worked at Norco for almost their entire
careers, but I have also brought in new staff
who offer fresh perspectives.
Because we’re a co-operative, we exist for
our member farmers. Our staff are passionate
about our brand and the fact that they are
working for the last remaining 100 per cent
farmer-owned dairy co-op in Australia.
intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 15
