New specialist agriculture analysts for Rabobank

Feb 14, 2011

Rabobank Australia & New Zealand has appointed two new specialist analysts – Rebecca Redmond and Michael Harvey – to join its Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) division.

Dedicated to analysing developments in food and agricultural markets for Rabobank and its clients, the local New Zealand and Australian FAR team is part of a global network of approximately 80 food and agriculture research analysts spread across every major production and consumption region of the world.

Based in Christchurch, Rebecca Redmond will cover the animal proteins sector in New Zealand, including sheep, beef and venison, as well as contributing to the global research agenda in the sector. Ms Redmond has a strong technical and commercial background in the meat and processing industry and bachelor and masters degrees in Biological Sciences from the University of Canterbury.

Also joining the Rabobank FAR team, based in Rabobank’s Melbourne office in Australia, Michael Harvey will cover the Australian dairy sector and the value-added food processing sector across both Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Harvey joins Rabobank with a high level of experience in the dairy sector including eight years working with Dairy Australia Limited, the peak industry body. As part of the organisation’s trade and strategy team, Mr Harvey was involved in Dairy Australia’s strategic knowledge and analysis programs. Raised on a dairy farming and irrigation property in northern Victoria, he holds a bachelor degree in International Trade from the Victorian University and is currently undertaking a postgraduate degree in Diplomacy and Trade at Monash University.

Welcoming the new appointments, Rabobank general manager – FAR Justin Sherrard said Rabobank’s food and agri research division was a central component of the bank’s capacity for sharing knowledge and expertise with clients, as well as informed credit decision-making, product development and advisory services.

“The FAR team has a global focus on in-depth coverage of major food and agriculture sectors from upstream inputs and production to downstream processing,” he said. “And this is a job that can only be done effectively by a network of experienced analysts on the ground.”

Mr Sherrard says that given the increasing dependence on global markets – particularly in emerging economies – the food and agribusiness sectors in Australia and New Zealand need access to good information and knowledge that can only come from a network of analyst in every major production and consumption region in the world.

Ms Redmond said she was keen to build on her technical knowledge and commercial skills in meat processing and products. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to be more engaged with Asia where demand continues to grow for exports of meat and co-products, so I can share that perspective with our clients in the red meat sector,” she said.

Michael Harvey said he was pleased to have the opportunity to be part of a global network with such a strong brand and an extensive knowledge base. “I’m looking forward to continuing to build on my knowledge of the dairy sector and using this as a foundation to increase a strong value-add food processing portfolio,” he said.

The world’s leading food and agribusiness bank, Rabobank started life as a cooperative formed by Dutch farmers more than 110 years ago to finance other farming enterprises. Still structured as a cooperative, it now operates in 48 countries.

ENDS

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