AUGUST 2025
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Marc Werner COSTA GROUP M arc Werner took the helm at Costa Group in March
FROM PAGE 13 Coles Group, Leah Weckert has steered the supermarket giant through intense political and regulatory scrutiny. Appointed in May 2023, the first woman
head of Fletcher International Exports, he built one of the nation’s most integrated lamb and sheep meat processing businesses. The company operates
David Bortolussi A2 MILK R enewed growth and global
2024 during its transition from ASX listing to private ownership by Paine Schwartz Partners,
two state-of-the-art plants in Dubbo NSW and near Albany WA, with a combined capacity to process more than 90,000 sheep and lambs a week. The Fletcher Group also controls more than 110,000 hectares across NSW and Western Australia. Barry Irvin BEGA GROUP B arry Irvin, executive
expansion have been the central themes of David Bortolussi’s tenure as chief executive of The a2 Milk Company since February 2021. In the first half of
to lead a major Australian supermarket chain has drawn on more than a decade in senior roles at Coles to defend its place in a “very vigorous” retail market, while signalling a willingness to improve supplier relationships. She has backed greater transparency for fresh produce growers, including clearer contract terms on price and volume, earlier certainty on orders, and limits on unilateral changes to agreements. Operationally, Weckert has overseen three automated distribution and fulfilment centres and maintained sales growth despite cost-of- living pressures, positioning Coles for a competitive retail landscape.
Driscoll’s Inc. and the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation. Costa is Australia’s largest horticultural company and a leading global grower, packer and marketer of fresh produce. Its operations span more than 7000 planted hectares, 40 hectares of glasshouse facilities and three mushroom production sites in Australia, as well as farms in China and Morocco. Costa’s core categories include berries, citrus, grapes, avocados, tomatoes and mushrooms, with premium brands exported to more than 20 countries.
last financial year, the company posted a 10.1 per cent lift in revenue to NZ$893.8 million, beating market expectations and buoyed by strong demand in China and the US. Under Bortolussi’s leadership, a2 Milk declared its maiden dividend and upgraded full-year revenue guidance to low- to mid-double-digit growth. China remains the centrepiece of its strategy, with a 7.7 per cent market share in the world’s largest infant formula category, but expansion is accelerating in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
chairman of Bega Group, has led the company since 2000, transforming it from a small regional dairy into one of Australia’s largest dairy and food businesses.
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And he’s not done yet. In 2025, Irvin has overseen some of Bega’s most strategic decisions in years. In May, Bega announced the phased closure of its northern Victorian Strathmerton site, consolidating processing and packaging operations into the Bega Valley by mid-2026. Two months later, the company confirmed it was seeking informal ACCC clearance to acquire Fonterra’s Australian assets, citing national interest considerations under foreign investment rules. Robert Spurway GRAINCORP R obert Spurway has guided the ASX-listed Graincorp in March 2020. GrainCorp is the largest grain storage and handling business on Australia’s east coast and the leading edible oil processor and oilseed crusher in Australia and New Zealand, with operations spanning domestic and international markets. Spurway was in the headlines recently when he presented to the federal government on how agriculture can underpin national economic resilience. He highlighted key priorities including establishing a domestic renewable fuels industry using local feedstocks and upgrading regional freight infrastructure. business through a period of growth, diversification and heightened global market volatility since taking the reins
Vicki Brady Telstra CEO Adrian Capogreco Nutrien Ag Solutions Australia managing director Joe Chiczewski McDonald’s Australia CEO Sherry Duhe Newcrest Mining CEO Nicola Forrest Harvest Road Twiggy Forrest Fortescue Metals executive chairman Kevin Gallagher Santos CEO Andrew Harding Aurizon CEO Mike Henry BHP Billiton CEO Neville Howell Regional Express CEO Vanessa Hudson Qantas CEO Greg Hunt Nufarm managing director Thomas Knudsen Toll Group executive chairman Dino Otranto Fortescue CEO Vikas Rambal Perdaman chairman Stephen Rue Optus CEO Rob Scott Wesfarmers managing director Paul Scurrah Pacific National CEO Jakob Stausholm Rio Tinto CEO David Williams Kidder Williams chairman
Edward Alexander Inghams Australia CEO Will Barton Gundagai Meat Processors CEO David Blackmore Blackmore Wagyu Tom Bull Kinross Lamb John Camilleri Baiada Poultry/Steggles CEO Wayne Crofts V&V Walsh/Craig Moyston Group CEO Darren DeBortoli De Bortoli Wines managing director Scott de Bruin De Bruin Group/Mayura Wagyu managing director Sam Fischer Treasury Wine Estates incoming CEO Peter Gago Penfolds chief winemaker Peter Greenham Greenham Australia managing director Dick Honan Manildra Group chairman Miles Hurrell Fonterra Oceania CEO Anthony Lee Australian Country Choice CE O David Mattiske Viterra CEO Ben Macnamara CBH Group CEO Midfield Group general manager Mark Ryan Tassal Holdings CEO Raquel Said Nutri-V chief executive Lino Saputo Jr. Saputo executive chairman Paul Serra SunRice Group CEO David Surveyor Select Harvests CEO Darren Thomas Thomas Foods CEO Andrew McDonald Bindaree Beef CEO Rob McGavin Cobram Estate chairman Dean McKenna
Brent Eastwood JBS FOODS AUSTRALIA CEO P lates don’t come much
fuller than Brent Eastwood’s, who is at the helm of Australia’s largest meat and food processing company, with operations spanning beef,
lamb, pork and aquaculture. Under his leadership, JBS runs one of the country’s most extensive processing and feedlot networks, supported by advanced production facilities and a major value- added business supplying retail-ready products across domestic and export markets. The company’s operations extend from Queensland to Tasmania, employing thousands. JBS Pork, expanded through the 2021 acquisition of Rivalea, is a leading pork producer and processor, while Huon Aquaculture is Australia’s second-largest producer of Atlantic Salmon. Roger Fletcher FLETCHER INTERNATIONAL R oger Fletcher, with an estimated net worth of $1.09 billion, is a towering figure in Australian agriculture, having transformed his family’s Dubbo NSW- based operation into a global meat export powerhouse. As founder and
Charles von der Heyde Huon Aquaculture CEO
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