Visalia,Calif.-based California Dairies Inc. said Eric Erba has been appointed senior vice president and chief strategy officer, reporting to Andrei Mikhalevsky, president and chief executive officer.

Erba is the former senior vice president of administrative affairs for CDI. He has been with CDI since 2006. Before joining CDI, Erba was the assistant director for the Division of Animal Health and Food Safety Services at the California Department of Food and Agriculture. He holds a doctorate degree from Cornell University in agricultural economics (dairy markets and policy specialty).

California Dairies, Inc. is the largest member-owned milk marketing and processing cooperative in California producing 43% of California’s milk. It is co-owned by more than 420 dairy producers who ship more than 17 billion pounds of milk annually,