Speakers 2025

The modern meat factory: a snapshot for how Tech is unlocking data

The Australian Red Meat and Livestock industry is valued at nearly $23B with significant opportunities for growth and innovation. Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) partners in R&D and marketing investment initiatives along the supply chain to create and capture greater value. Central to this is working with industry to leverage technologies and systems that enable two-way flow of information between producers, processors and brand owners to make more informed decisions. This talk will highlight examples of technologies driving production savings, increasing quality and in some cases, support brand specification and credentials for Australian red meat.

About Michael:

Michael comes from a food and packaging technology background with over 25 years’ experience across the meat supply chain in retail, operations and research. Prior to Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) he has worked for Woolworths Supermarkets, Hans Smallgoods, and JBS Australia in various commercial and technical roles. Michael holds Post-graduate and Bachelors degree in Applied Science, Masters in Business Administration and was formally an adjunct Senior Research Fellow at University of Melbourne in their School of Agriculture and Food. Since 2020, Michael has been the Group Manager - Science & Innovation within MLA’s Research, Development & Adoption unit, leading a team which works across programs such as Productivity and Automation, Objective Measurements, AgTech, Market Access Science & Food Safety, Building Innovation Capability, and Food Tech solutions in New Products and Packaging.