IDFA Appoints Matt Herrick as Its Next President and CEO
The International Dairy Foods Association announced Herrick’s appointment on October 21, 2026. He will return to the association after leading the International Bottled Water Association and will succeed Dykes, who has served as IDFA’s president and chief executive for ten years.
Herrick previously spent more than seven years on IDFA’s executive team. He ultimately became executive vice-president and chief impact officer, with responsibility for work involving policy, advocacy, communications and organisational strategy. During that period, he helped develop grassroots advocacy networks, expand engagement with state governments and support campaigns related to dairy processors and the inclusion of milk, cheese and yoghurt in federal nutrition programmes.
His earlier public-sector experience includes senior roles at the US Department of Agriculture and the US Agency for International Development. He was appointed under several administrations and worked on agricultural trade, exports, international development, food and nutrition policy, crisis communications and public affairs. At the bottled-water association, he oversaw advocacy, membership, financial and organisational strategy, as well as public-affairs and revenue-generating initiatives.
IDFA’s Executive Council chose Herrick after a leadership search. Daragh Maccabee, the council’s chair and chief executive of Idaho Milk Products, pointed to Herrick’s knowledge of IDFA, its members and the wider food and agriculture sector. Maccabee also credited Dykes with strengthening the association’s finances, membership and influence in Washington during his tenure.
IDFA represents businesses across the US dairy manufacturing and marketing supply chain, including processors, co-operatives, retailers and suppliers. Its members range from multinational companies to operators of single plants. The association says the broader US dairy industry supports more than three million jobs, produces $198bn in wages and has an overall economic impact of $779bn.
The group’s policy work covers dairy labelling, nutrition programmes, school meals, international trade and market access. Its membership includes companies producing milk, cheese, ice-cream, yoghurt, cultured dairy products and dairy ingredients. Herrick also established the IDFA Foundation and served as its first executive director; the foundation created an independent board, ran fundraising campaigns and helped provide more than one million meals through grants and dairy-food donations.
Dykes is scheduled to leave IDFA at the end of January 2027 after assisting with the handover. In announcing his return, Herrick referred to the appointment as a homecoming and said he would work on advocacy, growth and organisational effectiveness while supporting demand for nutritious dairy products. The association said the transition would maintain work on policy, market access and demand for dairy products.
