SA | Food Waste Reduction: What are the opportunities?

Dr Steve Lapidge is the creator and CEO of End Food Waste Australia, which incorporates the End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre. The organisation is the lead agency in Australia’s fight to halve food waste by 2030, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Target 12.3. His career has focused on industry-based science and commercialisation across the wildlife, agri-food and sustainability fields. Steve’s qualifications include a PhD and an MBA. He is a Champions 12.3 member, Fulbright Professional Business/Industry Fellow, Governors Leadership Foundation Fellow, and an Australian Institute of Company Directors graduate.

Susan Close is the State Member for Port Adelaide and was elected on the 11th of February 2012.
Susan has lived on the LeFevre Peninsula for twenty years with Declan and their two children and is passionate about representing the people in her community.
Before entering Parliament, Susan was an executive in the SA Environment Department. She previously worked at the University of Adelaide running student services and holds a PhD from Flinders University.
Susan held several portfolios during the Weatherill Labor Government, including being Minister for Education and Minister for Innovation and Automotive Transformation.

With over three decades of entrepreneurial and leadership experience across diverse sectors including tourism, education, and manufacturing, Tori Dixon-Whittle, the newly appointed CEO of Food South Australia, brings a wealth of expertise to the landscape of the South Australian food and beverage industry. She is passionate about helping people and places to flourish.

Dr Torok has over 25 years of experience working as a microbiologist both nationally and internationally. She is currently the Food Microbiology Program Leader within the Food Sciences Division at the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) in Adelaide. She works closely with various primary industries, regulatory bodies, R&D funding agencies and multidisciplinary research teams in addressing food safety issues to better public health and industry outcomes. She has a keen interest in improving the microbiological safety and mitigating the risk of foodborne pathogens along the food supply chain from production to retail. She is also interested in the safe transformation of surplus food and food waste back into the human food chain, including into animal feed. Dr. Torok is also the Food Safety and Integrity Theme Leader with the End Food Waste CRC. She has around 80 publications in peer reviewed scientific journals, book contributions and industry reports.

Dr Tracey Dodd is an academic and non-executive director with over two decades of cross-sectoral experience. Tracey currently oversees research development within the Adelaide Business School, University of Adelaide and holds the position of Honorary Senior Research Fellow, University of Exeter (UK). She is also the Academic Lead for Governance and Adjunct Associate Professor with the Governance Institute of Australia and is the inaugural facilitator of the Climate Governance course for the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

She earned her PhD with UniSA in 2017 and a Masters of Public Policy and Management with Carnegie Mellon University in 2009. Her research in the area of innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability has been published and presented internationally. In addition to her academic contribution, Dr Dodd has two decades of project management experience, including intergovernmental reforms valued at $400M and oversight of project teams who have won over $16M in funding.

Tracey is also founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Innovation, an advisory firm providing project management and strategic planning advice to national clients. Current and past clients include: the Australian Government, the Victorian Government, the South Australian Government, Housing Choices Australia, Centacare, AnglicareSA, the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People (SA), the Australian Centre For Social Innovation, and the Jodi Lee Foundation.

Mr Ivan Kaukov is a well-known community leader and business luminary known to his peers as Xiao Dong. Ivan’s transformative journey commenced when he moved from Shanghai to Australia at the age of twelve. He pursued Visual Arts Communication at the University of South Australia, providing a solid foundation for his diverse and successful career.

Today, Ivan Kaukov is the President of the Australian Asian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (AACCI), where his leadership has significantly impacted the South Australian business community. His professional portfolio spans real estate, construction, international trade, e-commerce, media production, and business consultancy. His approach combines a solid commitment to innovation with a deep dedication to philanthropy and community development.

Mr Kaukov’s strategic expertise has strengthened ties between South Australia and Asia, particularly China. He has spearheaded numerous initiatives that bridge business and cultural gaps, fostering international cooperation and dialogue. Through these efforts, Ivan has not only supported the growth of local Australian businesses but has also enhanced international relationships, establishing himself as a formidable leader committed to advancing global economic and cultural exchanges.

With a background on engineering, Vincent HEBRAIL has worked for 12 years for the French Ministry of agriculture, on a diverse range of matters and at the local, national, European and international levels. These include plant health, pesticide use, export, Brexit, international trade, agricultural economics, agroecology, environmental performance of farms, sanitary and phytosanitary inspections. This career path has allowed him to gather a large network on these matters.

In January 2022, he was appointed as a Counsellor at the Embassy of France to Australia, covering agriculture, agrifood, forestry and fisheries matters, for both Australia and New Zealand. His main lines of work focus on cooperation, market access, and globally on enhancing the relationship between France and Australia on agriculture in a mutually profitable way.

Manon began her career journey in Corporate Finance working in Brussels and Paris for the advertising and public relations company Havas. After spending 6 months working for Pernod Ricard at the Headquarters, she moved to Australia and started a V.I.E in Pernod Ricard Winemakers in Adelaide. Initially starting with the Finance department, she transitioned through various operational roles in Export, Supply Chain and Sales Forecasting and currently works in Sustainability and Responsibility (S&R) as an analyst for the Group. Key environmental project topics include energy and water management, waste reduction, carbon inventory, risk management and compliance with local and international standards.

Dr. Stacey Tabert joined the Adelaide Business School in August 2023 as a PhD student working on this End Food Waste Australia PhD project under the supervision of Dr Tracey Dodd (Adelaide Business School) and Dr Duygu Yengin (School of Economics & Public Policy). Stacey is passionate about sustainability and completed a Doctor of Education (2004-2010) that assessed the uptake of energy efficiency practices and energy saving behaviours in schools. As a Research & Policy Manager for the Brotherhood of St Laurence as well as a Research Officer with the Centre for Environmental Management at CQUniversity, Stacey contributed to several interdisciplinary research projects related to equity, energy, land-use change, and climate change.