TWO nominees with strong nutrition, consumer and strategic marketing skills backgrounds have been put forward by an industry selection committee to fill vacancies on the board of Meat & Livestock Australia.

MLA members will be asked to elect, or reject the two directors at the service company’s upcoming Annual General Meeting in Canberra on 21 November.

The two new nominees, Professor Manny Noakes and Ms Jo Pye (profiles below), were nominated from a pool of 97 skilled applicants through a rigorous selection process run by the red meat industry’s nine-person selection committee. The selection committee is made up of four independent producer representatives, three industry peak council representatives and two MLA directors (with no voting rights).

MLA has a skills-based board and in line with specific identified requirements this year, candidates with extensive skills and experience in two key areas were encouraged to apply:

• Nutrition, food science and value adding
• Strategic marketing, consumer and brand development and product management experience, at a domestic and international level.

In addition to the specific skills sought, all candidates were assessed based on their understanding of the Australian red meat and livestock industry, business acumen, financial literacy and understanding of corporate governance. The selection committee also considered applicants’ ability to collaboratively contribute to strategic and board discussion.

Acting MLA chair Alan Beckett said that being skills-based, the MLA board’s role was to challenge the company’s management and ensure appropriate performance goals for the company are set and achieved, while acting in the best interests of the industry and other stakeholders.

“This includes setting strategic objectives and overseeing MLA management’s implementation of these, review of governance, financial performance and risk management,” Mr Beckett said.

About the director nominees:

Manny Noakes

Prof Manny Noakes: Nutrition scientist Professor Manny Noakes is perhaps best known as the co-author of the best-selling dietary book, the CSIRO Wellbeing Diet. Prof Noakes is a key opinion leader and trusted advisor in nutrition and health both nationally and internationally.

With more than 25 years’ experience she has extensive knowledge in many fields of nutrition and health including the food regulatory system and functional food substantiation, and an in depth knowledge of the role of red meat in human nutrition.

Prof Noakes is the recipient of three CSIRO Medals, holds a research excellence award from the University of Adelaide. In 2014, In 2017 she was nominated for Australian of the Year.

She is currently an adjunct research professor with the University of South Australia and a member of the Nutrition Society of Australia. In addition she is also a member of the National Committee for Nutrition for the Australian Academy of Sciences as well as being on its Expert Working Group Special Project: Nourishing Australia: A decadal plan for nutrition science. Professor Noakes was formerly a Senior Principal Research Scientist and Director for the Nutrition and Health Program at CSIRO, and among numerous other advisory roles for industry and government an executive member of the Federal Government Food and Health Dialogue, the National Heart Foundation Food and Nutrition Advisory Committee and an Executive Member of the Lion Nutrition Advisory Panel.

Jo Pye

Ms Jo Pye: Jo Pye has 20 years’ experience in large-scale customer engagement, marketing and strategy within the fast-moving consumer goods industry, with a focus on food and beverage. She has worked across numerous roles covering food science, product and strategic marketing management, consumer insights and strategic planning. She has held senior positions across local, regional (APAC) and global (US, UK, APAC) markets including a three-year assignment in China where she was responsible for strategic planning and implementation to drive regional business growth.

Ms Pye has excelled in both global corporate and lean start-up environments and in designing and delivering high quality strategic market advisory and implementation projects. She is currently food service director for the consumer and retail advisor, NPD Group. Previously she was global head of insights & customer experience at Watch Me Think, global director of insights & client service, Mintel International and was marketing director Australia & NZ for DuPont.

On behalf of the MLA Board, acting chairman Alan Beckett thanked outgoing director Steven Chaur for his service to the board over the past three years. Mr Chaur’s term will end in November.

MLA members are reminded to complete and return their levies notice to secure their full voting entitlement for the Board elections and any ballots by 21 September. Click here to access. Members with questions about their levies notice can call (02) 9463 9333.

Registrations open for Red Meat 2018

MLA’s AGM will be held in conjunction with the red meat industry’s flagship event, Red Meat 2018, which runs from 20-22 November in Canberra.

The program has been further expanded following last year’s successful event in Alice Springs and includes producer tours, a Global Markets Forum, trade show and technology demonstrations, business breakfast, a digital technology field day and industry forum, and networking opportunities. The event is open to all producers and industry stakeholders and there is no charge to attend, however registration is essential via www.redmeat.mla.com.au

Source: MLA