Annual General Meeting
Our Annual General Meeting was held on Wednesday 2nd November 2022 in Sydney.
At this meeting, the Board of Directors were elected for 2023.
The 2023 Board is:
- Ken Hartley – Chairperson
- Andrew Low – Vice Chairperson
- Lindsay Yeomans – Treasurer
- Jeff Dhu - Director
- Yezdi Daruwalla - Director
- Kristina Czepl – Director
- Barton Beverly-Smith - Director
- Donna Cox – Director
- Wayne Viles - Director
- Eugene Visione - Director
- David White - Director
- Anthony Nay – Director
Board of Directors
Our Board comprises senior leaders in the foodservice industry who have committed to the improvement of services for members.
Eugene Visione
Eugene is the Head of Sales, Marketing and NPD at Birch & Waite. Birch & Waite is well known for it’s multi-award winning fresh chilled mayonnaise, dressings and sauces and is renowned as one of Australia’s most innovative food companies, with a core capability in fast to market new product development and a strong track record of investment in industry leading technology.
Prior to Birch & Waite, Eugene gained his significant senior level FMCG experience and developed his passion for the Foodservice industry from leading the Coffee and Foodservice divisions at Cerebos Australia for 6 years. Eugene also has the unique perspective of having spent time on the buying side before his years in sales and marketing, with roles leading the procurement functions at both Steggles and Cerebos.
Eugene has an MBA from AGSM and his interests include spending time with his young family, playing golf and staying fit.
Vince Crawley
Chief Executive Officer
Vince has been in the industry for +40 years, starting as an apprentice cook at QANTAS. He has owned a restaurant, taught at TAFE and held senior positions in general management, sales, marketing and strategic development with major companies such as Chefs Pride, Goodman Fielder and Uncle Tobys.
Vince's interets include baseball, most other sports, cooking, meeting people and music.
Lindsay Yeomans
Director
After completing formal qualifications in 1973 and subsequent interesting vocational positions, Lindsay launched The Armory in 1980 as a Foodservice specialist communications agency.
Over the next 30 years plus The Armory has developed with the industry it is passionate about! With his partner, Lorraine Lovelock, the company is seen as being at the forefront of Foodservice communications, and with its integrated marketing approach, has assisted many organisations in launching new Foodservice companies, brands and products.
"Foodservice is an exciting business to be in - if you're not, you don't know what you are missing!"
Ken Hartley
Ken Hartley is the Chief Executive Officer of Priestley’s Gourmet Holdings. A leading and multi award winning dessert company, Priestley’s Gourmet Holdings operates in Australia and New Zealand and encompasses Priestley’s Gourmet Delights, Melba Foods and the Elite Food Group.
With 27 years of food industry experience, Ken brings a well-rounded cross-functional awareness developed through senior roles in Sales, Operations, Commercial Management, Product Development and Quality Assurance within significant food organisations including JBS Swift, Frito-Lay, Vesco Foods and Woolworths. This is supported by both domestic and international business experience across the Middle East, Asia, Australia and NZ.
Formal qualifications include a Ba. App. Sc. Food Technology (honours) from UQ and an MBA from QUT.
Interests include rugby, athletics and anything that the whole family can enjoy together.
Yezdi Daruwalla
Yezdi is Managing Director of Unilever Food Solutions where he has led the business in Australia and New Zealand as one Purpose driven team.
Yezdi is a Foodservice specialist with ten years experience as a chef in India, Switzerland and Australia and was Executive Chef at the Old Sydney Parkroyal Hotel prior to joining Unilever Food Solutions in 1992. With Unilever Food Solutions, Yezdi has spanned roles in Sales, Chef and Marketing and has been Managing Director Australia and New Zealand since 2004 during which time the business has transformed from a commodity driven business to one which consistently delivers strong turnover and profitability growth. The business has won a number of internal and external accolades including Global UFS Best Business Results Award in 2012 and Global UFS Compass Award in 2013 and 2014.
Yezdi did the AGSM Graduate Management Qualification in 1996 and is a highly motivated individual with effective communication skills, business understanding and a passion for business and people development.
Wayne Viles
Wayne is the Managing Director of Unox Australia, a market leader for commercial ovens and globally recognised as the fastest growing oven manufacturer in the world.
Wayne began his career as a trained Pâtissier, ran a pizza business for 10 years before selling up and securing a position at Robot Coupe as the Sales Manager for Victoria and Tasmania which was his introduction to UNOX.
Now, Wayne is the coalface of a company that is known for invention and innovation.
Given its growth as a global company, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that UNOX is still a family operated business, which hold these family values close to its hearts.
Tony Nay
Tony established Incremental in 1996 from his home in the Blue Mountains of NSW. 22 years on Incremental has a fulltime team of 35 and conducts sales and marketing programs in 17 countries throughout the world. Based in Sydney, Incremental also operates satellite offices in both Auckland in New Zealand and Houston in the USA. Tony is passionate about delivering profitable and sustainable sales growth for his blue-chip partners and is in awe of the role and the speed of change that digital strategies are driving in the Food Service industry today.
Andrew Low
Andrew is the co-founder and co-CEO of Ordermentum, an ordering payment and insights software product custom built for the Food Service Industry. Ordermentum has been running for 5yrs and currently supports over 400 F&B suppliers collect orders and payment from over 23,000 bars, restaurants and cafes around Australia.
Prior to Ordermentum, Andrew cemented a unique mix of experience spanning all functions and channels of the FMCG industry. A qualified accountant and CPA, Andrew embarked on a 10 year career as a finance professional with Unilever, spanning several roles in both Australia and the UK. With a passion for general management, an FMCG sales role in a Suntory food business then led Andrew in 2010 to securing the Managing Director position at Toby’s Estate Coffee, a market leader in the specialty coffee industry.
Andrew has a passion for the Foodservice industry and is driven to extend innovation, insight and financial success to everyone who makes and shares the food and drink we all love. In his spare time, Andrew loves hanging out with his 3 children, being at the beach and squeezing in a round of golf
Barton Beverley-Smith
Barton leads both the Foodservice and Independent Retail divisions as the Customer Director at Primo Foods. A leading multi award winning foods company, Primo Foods operates in Australia and throughout the Pacific Region.
With more than 30 years experience across Asia Pacific within the food industry, Barton brings a unique perspective developed through senior roles within Foodservice and Retail in Sales, Marketing, Product Development and Commercial Management with companies including Sara Lee/Douwe Egberts, IRI, Birch & Waite and Asian Pulp and Paper.
With a real passion for Foodservice, Barton is looking forward to working with the FSAA and it’s members to make a real and lasting difference.
Interests include cycling, golf, tennis and surfing.
Donna Cox
Donna is National Business Manager – Foodservice for noumi Limited and is extremely passionate about the foodservice industry.
Donna has over 30 years in the foodservice industry starting out in hospitality and joining Goodman Fielder in Perth as a part-time telemarketer and advancing her career with various promotions, inclusive of a growth opportunity to her moving to Sydney where she held various state and then national roles. Further career advancement saw her take up other roles as National Business Manager for CCA/SPC and most recently with noumi Limited.
Outside of work, Donna is passionate about keeping fit and healthy. Being highly motivated and a competitive sportsperson, her sporting interests include gym, HIIT training, soft sand/sandhill running, and competing in Surf Lifesaving.
Donna has a genuine passion for the Foodservice industry and loves working with customers and networking within the industry. She would like to encourage more females and motivate the younger generation to step inside our exciting Foodservice industry.
David White
David White is the General Manager at DKSH Australia, a global market expansion services company, representing market leading brands like Little Bellies, Oatly, Nandos, Fever Tree, Perrier and La Zuppa just to name a few.
David started his career and Tertiary Education in the Hospitality Industry, being part of the first intake of the Intercontinental Sydney Hotel School. He then moved into the FMCG industry holding various senior Sales positions at Mars, Arnott’s, Diageo and most recently in the Dairy Industry at Lactalis (formally Parmalat). With his experience in sales and marketing and working across many large FMCG companies, David has a passion for the Foodservice Industry and brings a wealth of knowledge, relationships and leadership to the FSAA team.
Jeff Dhu
Jeff Dhu, Fonterra Australia’s Director of Anchor™ Food Professionals, boasts a rich pedigree in the food industry forged over many years with blue chip organisations both in Australia and overseas.
Jeff joined Fonterra in 2009 and has headed the company’s Foodservice division for the past 9 years. During that time, his passion for food and innovation has driven the division toward a commitment to the growth and excellence in the Australian market.
Jeff’s commitment to Foodservice is grounded in his desire to make a difference. Unlike other, corporate dominated sectors of the food industry, Jeff maintains that Foodservice offers excellent opportunity for genuine change at every level.
Jeff has a passion for developing people to ensure the future of the foodservice industry is in safe hands. His association with Fonterra, the FSAA and the broader Foodservice industry has given him the ideal opportunity to pass on his knowledge and experience through mentoring tomorrow’s leaders of the industry.
Jeff’s commitment to the industry and passion for people spans all areas. During his time at Fonterra, Jeff has proudly overseen the transformation of the Proud to be a Chef from being merely an annual competition, to becoming the prestigious national apprenticeship mentoring program it is today.
Kristina Czepl
Kristina Czepl, General Manager of Nestlé Professional Oceania, representing a strong portfolio of winning brands like Nescafé, Kitkat, Maggi & Harvest Gourmet in Foodservice. Throughout her career Kristina has gained experience in Marketing, Sales & Innovation within FMCG and recently joined Foodservice. “I love the entrepreneurial spirit within Foodservice, the strong impact we can create and the difference we can make!”.
Kristina is a passionate people leader, a keen interest for all things plant based and she is accelerating the sustainability journey across her portfolio, strongly believing that every little act contributes to the bigger picture.
Her personal passion is travelling and eating out, balanced by keeping fit and caring for her horses aiming to live a life full of adventure at work and outside the office.
