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Executives

WAYNE CROFTS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Wayne Crofts commenced as Chief Executive Officer in October 2022. Western Australia born and educated he holds a Bachelor of Horticultural Science and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Western Australia.


Having a sustainable beef and lamb farming operation in Lower Chittering, Wayne understands the cycle of paddock to plate and the challenges and opportunities within.

 

With over 25 years of extensive commercial and industry experience, spanning Retail, Convenience, Agribusiness and Industrial Sectors both domestically and internationally, Wayne’s expertise is in developing high-performing teams, commercial management, strategic planning & execution, and delivering results.

 

Wayne’s career includes the Wesfarmers Group in leadership roles across industrial and fertilisers through to retail (including Coles turnaround), CEO of Heritage Seeds (now Barenbrug Australia) where he led strategic growth across one of the largest seed companies in Australia and he most recently is CEO of Brindle Group, which own and operate The Good Grocer Supermarkets and Rottnest retail businesses in WA. Wayne has significant experience in delivering sustainable growth in differing market conditions from mature high-share businesses, transitional change and turnaround. He is a value-based leader who is agile and quick to understand business drivers and key decision points.

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JASON MARKWART

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Jason was appointed Chief Financial Officer in February 2023 and is responsible for finance, legal, risk and insurance, as well as assisting in the development and execution of CMG’s strategy and business plans.

 

He is an experienced Chartered Accountant and Chief Financial Officer with more than 20 years experience leading the financial, strategic and commercial functions for several well-known Australian Agribusiness and FMCG companies, including Kimberley Meat Company, Mrs Mac’s and Little Creatures Brewery. Throughout his career, he has led businesses to implement best-of-breed operating systems, which provide critical analytics and information to accelerate growth and facilitate better decision-making.

 

Jason holds an MBA from the University of Western Australia and is highly skilled and experienced in operational and strategic leadership, governance and risk management with strong technical, financial, commercial and M&A transactional capabilities.

BEN BARON

GENERAL MANAGER, RENDERING & PROTEIN

In July 2020, Ben was appointed General Manager, Rendering & Protein. In this capacity, he oversees the Talloman site in WA, as well as the Protein Trading operations in Victoria.


Ben joined CMG in 2014, and prior to his new position, spent 6 years managing safety, quality and environmental compliance at Talloman.

 

He brings over 20 years’ experience in manufacturing, operations and systems management to the Executive Team, having previously worked in a number of management positions within the poultry industry.

Prior to joining CMG, Ben was responsible for managing operations at the Baiada WA site.

BRENT DANCER

GENERAL MANAGER, V&V WALSH

Brent is a Chartered Account with 20 years of experience in corporate taxation, accounting and finance services. Having joined V&V Walsh as Chief Financial Officer in 2017 he progressed through the company to be appointed Chief Operations Officer in 2020 before being appointed General Manager in January 2022.


Brent has been an integral part of the expansion of V&V Walsh through this time, overseeing several large CAPEX expansion projects, as well as the transaction to bring V&V Walsh into the Craig Mostyn Group. Brent is a values-based leader with a demonstrated history of building high-performing teams, an ability to engage team members to achieve outstanding outcomes and a unique ability to build relationships internally and externally to facilitate change processes and ensure commitment and acceptance of change.

 

Before joining the Craig Mostyn Group, Brent spent 13 years working for KPMG dealing with a wide variety of entities from not-for-profit organisations, family run businesses through to the largest private companies while achieving a professional sporting career with the Australian Men’s Hockey team the Kookaburras.

KELLY MCKENZIE

GENERAL MANAGER – PEOPLE, CULTURE AND CAPABILITY

Kelly was appointed as General Manager – People, Culture and Capability in May 2023 and is responsible for ensuring CMG is able to attract, retain and develop the people we need to deliver our group strategy and vision. This includes supporting leaders and teams in creating a safe and inclusive culture.

 

She has more than 20 years’ experience across a broad spectrum of human resources, organisational development and change leadership disciplines within the Australian Agribusiness and global Hospitality and Tourism sectors, including CBH Group and Elders Limited and Accor Hotels.

 

She holds a Master of Business Leadership and a Master of Business Administration from Curtin University and is passionate about creating a meaningful and engaging employee experience, developing talent and leadership capability and building a values-driven culture that drives safety, performance and inclusion.