Ask any chef, restaurateur, or food connoisseur what the best beef in the world is and you’ll get one answer: Wagyu. The Japanese breed is world renowned for its marbled beef, which is believed to make it taste superior, and its high levels of omega-3 and omega-6.
Outside of Japan, where the breed originated, Australia has the largest number of Wagyu beef cattle, and the Australian Wagyu Association is looking to continue to grow that number.
Australian Wagyu is a member-based organisation, made up of the growing number of Wagyu farmers across Australia. It aims to promote the Wagyu industry, support farmers, and work with partners to ensure further research and development into Wagyu genetics and breeding. CEO of Australian Wagyu Association, Graham Truscott, spoke to The CEO Magazine about why the Wagyu genetics are so unique, what he’s doing to promote Wagyu domestically, and the push for Australia to become the world’s leader in exportation of Wagyu beef and genetics.
The CEO Magazine: What was your professional background leading up to your current role with the Australian Wagyu Association, and how do you think your past experience helped you as CEO?
Graham: My professional background involves a large amount of information technology executive management within federal and state governments. For quite a number of years, I worked with the Australian Customs Service, and then in the Queensland Department of Primary Industries in its senior executive service. Within those roles, I learned a lot about strategic planning and the value of establishing a very clean, clear, strategic focus involving standard areas of vision, mission, corporate goals, and strategies.
Real value is obtained in taking those and applying them to an organisation to make sure that it is extremely well focused, with everybody essentially rowing in the same direction and applying the resources of a company effectively in that direction. That approach has been very successful in both my government roles and in the Australian livestock industry. Prior to my current role, I was CEO for the Angus Society of Australia. We took that beef breed from a minor player to now being the dominant breed in southern Australia and highly influential in northern Australia.