Shows
Bite Sides by Ausfine#14 John Williams: From Mitsui to ADPF — Value-Add, Milk Markets & The Future of Australian DairyJohn Williams is President of the Australian Dairy Products Federation (ADPF). His career spans Japanese trading house Mitsui, sales leadership at Warrnambool Cheese & Butter, and senior roles through the Saputo and Murray Goulburn transitions. From early whey protein (WPC) commercialisation to branded FMCG and industry advocacy, John has been at the centre of Australia’s biggest dairy shifts—championing value-add, productivity and a stronger, more competitive sector.LinkedIn🚨 New Ausfine Bite Sides Episode 🚨From Mitsui’s trading floors to leading Australia’s processor peak body, John Williams has had a front-row seat to dairy’s bigges...
2025-10-0644 minBite Sides by Ausfine#13 Jules Tahan: From Photography to Urban Angles — Creativity, Leadership & ResilienceEPISODE 13 - Jules Tahan: From Photography to Urban Angles — Creativity, Leadership & ResilienceJules Tahan is the Managing Director of Urban Angles, a Melbourne-based creative agency specialising in real estate and architectural photography. With more than two decades in the industry, Jules has steered Urban Angles from its early days shooting property for local agents into a nationally recognised business producing high-end content for builders, architects, and designers.Starting out in portrait and commercial photography after studying at RMIT, Jules deliberately pushed himself outside his comfort zone to accelerate his growth as a creative. That same ap...
2025-09-2230 min
Bite Sides by Ausfine#12 David Bongiorno: From Hospitality to Handmade Heritage — Scaling Alba Cheese the Right WayDavid Bongiorno is the General Manager of Alba Cheese, a family-owned Melbourne business founded by his parents in 1981. After years in hospitality, including time in the US, he returned to learn the trade from the ground up — factory floor to trucks — before stepping into leadership.Today, David drives Alba’s growth by balancing tradition and innovation: keeping handmade Sicilian cheeses alive, automating where it adds value, and building long-term farmer and customer partnerships.LinkedIn🚨 New Ausfine Bite Sides Episode 🚨From restaurants in the US to running Alba Cheese, David Bongiorno has lived the family b...
2025-09-0844 minBite Sides by Ausfine#11 Eliza Redfern: From Vet Dreams to Dairy Data — Shaping the Future at Dairy AustraliaEliza Redfern is an Analysis and Insights Manager at Dairy Australia, helping shape the industry’s understanding of milk production, supply, and market trends.Originally set on a career in veterinary science, Eliza’s path took a turn when she discovered a passion for agriculture during her degree at the University of Melbourne. A hands-on stint on a dairy farm cemented her love for the industry, and her analytical skills quickly found a home in market insights and industry strategy.Since joining Dairy Australia in 2020, Eliza has become a trusted voice in interpreting data and trends...
2025-08-2537 minBite Sides by Ausfine#10 Pete Findlay: Leading Bega, Lifting Productivity & Competing GloballyPete Findlay is the CEO of Bega Group — one of Australia’s most iconic food companies and home to brands like Vegemite, Bega Cheese, and Dairy Farmers.With a career spanning finance, strategy, and executive leadership, Pete has steered Bega through industry change, market volatility, and the ongoing challenge of staying competitive in a global food market.In this episode, Pete unpacks how productivity drives affordability, the realities of competing on the world stage, and what it takes to keep an Australian food giant innovative, resilient, and growing.--Bi...
2025-08-1145 minBite Sides by Ausfine#9 David Williams: Inside the Big Deals That Shaped Australian Food & AgDavid Williams is the founder and Managing Director of Kidder Williams — and one of the most influential dealmakers in Australian agrifood. With a background in finance and a deep instinct for value, David has led major transactions in dairy, seafood, wine, meat, and beyond, including landmark deals for Tassal, Bellamy’s, Huon, and Bega.Over four decades, David has helped family businesses scale, co-ops privatize, and iconic brands find new life. Known for his brutal honesty, sharp eye for strategy, and deep sector expertise, he’s built a reputation as the go-to advisor when a food or ag bus...
2025-07-2848 minBite Sides by Ausfine#8 Barry Irvin: Dairy Farmer to Chairman — The Bega StoryBarry Irvin is the Chairman of Bega Cheese and one of Australia’s most respected agrifood leaders, best known for transforming Bega from a small regional dairy co-op into a nationally recognised, branded food company.Barry grew up a fifth-generation dairy farmer in the Bega Valley, learning resilience and hard work from an early age. After an early banking career, he returned home to help save the family farm, soon getting involved with Bega Co-operative Society just as it faced its own turning point.Over more than three decades of leadership, Barry steered Bega through de...
2025-07-1446 minBite Sides by Ausfine#7 Jon Spainhour: Trading Floors, Dairy Futures & Why the World’s Watching EuropeJon Spainhour is a Senior Broker and Partner at Ever.ag, one of the most influential firms in global dairy risk management. Jon’s career began in the open-outcry pits of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where he transitioned from cattle and hogs to becoming one of the early pioneers of dairy futures.After starting the dairy desk at Cargill in the early 2000s, Jon helped lead the rise of dairy risk tools in the US, educating producers and traders on how to de-risk in a volatile market. He later joined Rice Dairy, where he worked closely with ma...
2025-06-3047 minBite Sides by Ausfine#6 Steve Spencer & Jo Bills: Mapping the Future of Dairy – Freshagenda’s Global Impact & the Next Chapter with Ever.agSteve Spencer and Jo Bills are the co-founders of Freshagenda, now part of Ever.ag — a leading provider of global dairy market intelligence and strategy. Together, they’ve transformed how the industry thinks about supply, value, and risk.Steve started his career in consulting, working through major agricultural deregulation and strategy projects across Australia. Jo’s background spans ag science, government, and strategic insight roles, including a long tenure at Dairy Australia. They teamed up in 2012 to launch Freshagenda with one goal: make sense of global dairy through real data, sharp analysis, and tools that actually work.T...
2025-06-1634 minBite Sides by Ausfine#5 Tim Kidman: Building Brands with Purpose, B2B vs B2C, and the Relentless Drive Behind The Fuel AgencyTim Kidman is the Founder and Managing Director of The Fuel Agency, a Melbourne-based brand and marketing agency focused on helping businesses uncover their purpose and communicate it with clarity and impact.Tim’s career began in hospitality and sales before moving into marketing, studying both business strategy and psychology. He’s worked across FMCG, logistics, and design, ultimately launching Fuel over 25 years ago with a mission to create a more accountable and commercially focused agency model.Known for his clear thinking and deep questioning, Tim and his team have helped companies—from franchise networks to fam...
2025-06-0230 minBite Sides by Ausfine#4 Kylie Prout: From Chemical Engineering to Culture, Building HR from the Ground Up & Leading with PEAKKylie Prout is Head of People and Culture at Ausfine Foods. Starting her career as a chemical engineer, Kylie has held diverse roles across automotive, toy manufacturing, pharmaceutical operations, and aged care before making the leap into HR leadership.Kylie’s career began at Ford Motor Company and later included roles at Mattel and Lockwood Security, where a pivotal moment led her from engineering into human resources. Since joining Ausfine in 2023, Kylie has brought a structured, people-first approach to scaling Ausfine’s global team and culture. Her trademark leadership philosophy — “PEAK” (Performance, Enthusiasm, Accountability, Kindness) — now underpins Ausfine’s pe...
2025-05-1934 minBite Sides by Ausfine#3 Paula O'Toole: From Ireland to Ausfine, Logistics Mastery, AI Ambitions & Her Vision for Scalable GrowthPaula O’Toole is Chief Operations Officer at Ausfine Foods. Originally from Ireland, Paula moved to Australia in 2003 and has built a career spanning logistics, IT, and executive leadership across multiple industries.She began her Australian career in telecommunications with roles at Virgin Mobile and Brightstar, where she led major supply chain and IT initiatives, including service innovation programs for Telstra. Paula later held senior roles at Orora Packaging and as CIO of Timberlink Australia before joining Ausfine in 2023.Paula brings a rare blend of operational expertise and technological insight, driving Ausfine’s systems transformation, glob...
2025-05-0535 minBite Sides by Ausfine#2 Tom Wigan: Japanese Trading Roots, Ausfine USA’s Denver Launch, What the tariffs mean for Aussie beefTom Wigan is Vice President of Sales at Ausfine USA, the newest addition to the Ausfine Foods group. Tom joined Ausfine in 2020 with a background in international trade—having started his career at a Japanese steel trading house—where he gained hands-on experience in logistics, operations, and global commodity markets.Transitioning from steel to meat, Tom quickly established himself as a standout trader, building strong relationships with Australian processors and international customers. In 2023, his entrepreneurial drive and proven track record led to his appointment in Denver, where he now heads Ausfine’s US expansion and continues to forge...
2025-04-2137 minBite Sides by Ausfine#1 Chris Scarlett: Ausfine's Founding Story, Trump's Tariffs, US Expansion and his next big move!Chris Scarlett is Executive Chairman of Ausfine Foods and Co-Founder of Altrufood. Chris started at Ausfine foods in 1999, coming to work with his father Don Scarlett who was a founder of the business. Chris joined Ausfine with a qualification in Food Science / Dairy Technology from University of Melbourne and several years hands on experience in dairy processing and cheese sales. Over Chris’s 22 years at Ausfine he became the largest single shareholder and has lead the business as Managing Director and Executive Chairman through a significant scaling up journey. ...
2025-04-0743 min
Tales from Tech TitansFlexibility Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All & Unpacking RTO Mandates | Paula O'Toole | PART 2Paula O'Toole, Chief Operating Officer at Ausfine Foods, is known as an energetic and visionary Transformation Leader.
From the pivotal role of data in AI. It explores transitions during COVID-19 to insights on the controversial debate on flexibility, to real advice for future leaders…
PART 2 OF EPISODE 35 IS NOW LIVE!
2024-11-2838 min
Tales from Tech TitansHow to Explain Tech to Non-Tech Stakeholders | Paula O'Toole | PART 1Paula O'Toole, Chief Operating Officer at Ausfine Foods, is known as an energetic and visionary Transformation Leader.
As a seasoned CIO, Paula’s expertise lies in operational and IT strategy, with standout skills in strategic planning, digital strategy, and technology leadership, making her a key figure in modern business transformation.
PART 1 OF EPISODE 35 IS NOW LIVE!
2024-11-2143 min
DairyPodPodcast 39: Situation & Outlook - Indonesian Trade EpisodeWith the release of the December Situation and Outlook Report we look at how Australian dairy is tracking in Indonesia.In this episode, Ausfine Foods’ Garry Embleton talks to Dairy Australia's John Droppert about the trade opportunities and challenges for dairy in the world's fourth most populous country.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2020-12-0822 min