COSTA GROUP - Key Persons
Carl Phillips joined Costa in June 2014 in the position of Group Manager, Human Resources. In November 2016 he took on the role of Group Manager Human Resources and Business Services. Carl is responsible for leading the organisation's HR function and business services, including OHS, quality control and environment.
With an extensive background and experience in both human resources and industrial relations, Carl has held senior roles with the Australian Workers Union, Alcoa, Skilled Group and Coles Myer.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer, Domestic Produce
Christian Parsons started his career with Costa in July 2010, as Avocado Business Manager and progressed to General Manager Sales and Marketing Mushroom category.
He joined the Berry domestic team in early 2014, performing various roles including Growth Projects Manager, National Harvest Manager and Regional Manager - Corindi.
In 2019 he was promoted to National Operations Manager and in July 2022 to the position of General Manager. In March 2024, he was promoted to the role of Chief Operating Officer, Domestic Produce.
David Thomas - Chief Legal Officer, Secretary
Job Titles:
- Company Secretary
- General Counsel
David joined Costa as General Counsel in July 2012, bringing 19 years of legal experience, and was appointed as Company Secretary in October 2012.
Prior to joining Costa, David was a partner at Middletons (now K&L Gates) practising in commercial law and mergers and acquisitions.
Job Titles:
- Chief Transformation Officer
Kirsty joined Costa in July 2022 as Chief Strategy Officer and in March 2024 took on the newly created role of Chief Transformation Officer.
Kirsty has extensive experience in strategy and sustainability consulting in retail and consumer goods. Prior to joining Kirsty held strategy positions at KPMG, Coles, Unilever, and Bain & Company. Her experience, particularly from Unilever, spans across Europe, Asia, South Africa, and Australia.
Kirsty has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne.
Job Titles:
- General Manager
- General Manager Berry International Category
- General Manager, Berry International
Leon Van Biljon was appointed General Manager Berry International in June 2023.
Leon brings to Costa 20 years' experience in the fresh fruit industry, including as CEO of Capespan, South Africa's biggest fruit company and Commercial Director of Fresh Produce Group in Australia.
Leon was part of the start-up team for fresh fruit export company Dole, one of South African's largest fresh fruit exporters. Leon has worked in a wide range of roles including procurement, sales and product management, packaging, marketing, new variety development, and general and senior management and has particular strengths in the development of new markets and building customer relationships, as well as extensive global networks.
Job Titles:
- General Manager Vertical Farming ( Mushrooms and Tomatoes )
Manpreet joined Costa in 2014 and has performed a number of senior roles in the Mushroom and Vertical Farming categories, including Financial Controller (Mushroom Category), Head of Finance & Strategy (Mushroom Category) and National Sales & Marketing Manager (Vertical Farming).
In December 2022 Manpreet was appointed General Manager Vertical Farming responsible for the Mushroom and Tomato categories.
Manpreet holds a Bachelor in Biomedical Science, a Masters of Commerce (Accounting/Commercial Law) and is a CPA.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- COO
- Group Chief Operating Officer
Marc Werner was appointed CEO on March 1, 2024. Marc joined Costa as Group Chief Operating Officer (COO) in September 2022 and became Deputy CEO in July 2023, where he had responsiblity for leading all sales and operational activities across Costa's farming, marketing and supply chain operations and for managing relationships with key alliance partners across all categories.
Prior to joining Costa, Marc held senior executive positions at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in Melbourne and BMW Group, which included managing the Asia-Pacific region and leading BMW Group Australia/NZ as CEO & Managing Director.
Marc holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota, USA, and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the European Business School, Germany.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
- Leader
Mark Brown joined Costa in July 2020 after many years in various technology leadership roles mainly within global logistics and supply chain organisations.
Mark is a highly experienced IT executive with a demonstrated history of working in the logistics and supply chain industry. He is skilled in global logistics, domestic logistics, warehousing, customs, new product development, global team management, architecture, strategy and senior stakeholder management.
Mark is a leader in application consolidation, integration, application migration strategy and delivery, centres of excellence and continuous improvement.
Job Titles:
- General Manager Citrus / Grape Category
- General Manager Citrus and Grape Category
- Head of Agriculture at Trade Winds Citrus
- Rensburg Joined Costa As the General Manager for the Costa Citrus and Grape Category in January 2024
Pierre van Rensburg joined Costa as the General Manager for the Costa Citrus and Grape Category in January 2024.
He was born in Southern Africa and attended the Potchefstroom College of Agriculture where he studied Agronomy and Crop Science. Since moving from South Africa, Pierre has had a diverse range of roles in agriculture in Australia and globally. From 2006 to 2010, Pierre worked as Citrus Production Manager for the Twynam Agricultural Group in Forbes, NSW. In 2011 he managed the farming, growing, harvesting and packing functions at Spencer Ranch (Carter & Spencer Group - Gin Gin, Qld).
Following this role, Pierre became the Head of Agriculture at Trade Winds Citrus (West Indies) with a strong focus on R&D to ensure compliance to global standards and trends. In 2013, Pierre moved to California as Director of Farming for Wonderful Agricultural Management before joining Olam as Manager of Orchard Operations, back in Australia, in 2014. In 2018 he took up the position of General Manager Orchard Operations, tasked with managing Olam Orchard's Australian almond orchards.
Job Titles:
- General Manager Berry Category
- General Manager Berry Category / General Manager, Berry Category
Rob's passion for the industry started at a young age, working in his family's fresh produce wholesale business supplying a major retailer along the east coast of NSW. He then spent time working in the Brisbane central market managing the distribution of fresh vegetables to major retailers and wholesalers.
In 2013 Rob joined Costa and developed the FNQ blueberry operation as Regional Manager. In 2018 Rob was awarded the Frank Costa award, which recognises business excellence. A year later Rob then moved to Corindi, NSW to lead the category's largest site, through multiple successful years. He then held the National Operations Manager role before moving into the General Manager position in March 2024.
Job Titles:
- General Manager
- General Manager Costa Farms and Logistics
Ryan O'Keeffe is the General Manager Costa Farms and Logistics.
Ryan has been with Costa Group since 1992 and has held a number of management positions during this time. His current role focuses on leading and supporting the company's wholesale market, providoring and logistics operations across Australia.
With a career spanning almost 30 years within the fresh produce industry, Ryan has gained significant exposure across operations, supply, sales, infrastructure and senior management.
Tony Di Paolo - Chief Procurement Officer
Job Titles:
- Chief Procurement Officer
- New Partners
In his role as Chief Procurement Officer, Tony is responsible for all areas of procurement, capital projects and property.
Prior to joining Costa, Tony spent 17 years with Visy Industries. In his role as Chief Procurement Officer, he had overall responsibility for the Visy group's multi-billion dollar procurement budget, major capital projects and property portfolio.
He has extensive experience in leading teams, change management, innovation and strategy development as well as all aspects of the procurement function.
Tony Di Paolo joined Costa in November 2012, bringing more than 20 years of experience in senior procurement, commercial and major capital projects to the group.
Wayne Johnston has been appointed Chief Financial Officer - commencing 29 th June 2020.
Wayne comes to the role of CFO with many years' experience in performing senior accounting and finance roles for large companies having worked for other ASX listed companies, including Spicers Limited and Symbion/Mayne Group.
As a proven CFO, Wayne has extensive experience in complex operating environments across multiple geographies, including managing transformational and complex organisational change in both corporate and operational environments.