Michael O’Keeffe is a company director and advisor to fresh food firms globally. Clients from the UK, USA, Canada, Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia include all sectors of the fresh food chain from retailers to genetic suppliers. He is a board member of Australian beef producers: Stockyard Beef and Polkinghorne’s.

Mr. O’Keeffe’s work globally has provided first-hand insights into the business models of a range of national and regional retailers such as Tesco, Morrisons and Waitrose in the UK, Wal-Mart, Wegmans and Schnucks in the USA, Sobeys and Overwaitea in Canada, and Samsung Tesco in South Korea.

Meat-related projects include working with an Australian premium beef supplier and their Japanese regional supermarket customer in developing new strategies for their beef category. He has conducted a similar project in South Korea with a national retailer and two major Australian beef suppliers; and in Canada with a regional retailer and their case ready meat supplier. Australian projects include reviewing the meat strategy for Metcash/IGA and work with a free-range pork supplier and a national supermarket chain.

Mr. O’Keeffe is founding coordinator of the Global Fresh Food Innovation Network, a group of fresh food companies from the UK, USA, Canada, and Australia who share best practice and innovation ideas. The group met in California in 2007 and the UK in 2008. Senior retailers from Save-Mart (California) and Morrisons (UK) joined the workshops to provide a retailer perspective.

Mr. O’Keeffe is senior visiting research fellow with the University of Kent in the UK and visiting agribusiness fellow with the Victorian Department of Primary Industries. He is also the fresh food columnist for Retail World magazine and associate course director of the Produce and Meat Industry Executive Development Programs conducted by Monash University at the Mount Eliza Business School.

He was formerly with head of Corporate Advisory Services, Rabobank Australia and National Business Manager, Produce with the Franklins (Dairy Farm) retail chain.

Leadership,