Sam Schachna, Managing Director of Menora Foods, had a diverse career prior to joining the business, and his achievements as a progressive business figure have been recognised. Sam was named a finalist for the Young Executive of the Year Award at The CEO Magazines 2013 Executive Awards as well as a finalist for The Financial Review BOSS Magazine 2013 Young Executive of the Year awards. My professional career began at KPMG, where I worked for more than six years, Sam says. I led projects and provided strategic, regulatory, and financial advice to many blue-chip clients that were among Australias leading companies across the retail, mining, government, and IT sectors.
I deliberately chose to leave the corporate world and join the family business. I grew up around our business; it is older than me, after all. My father used to talk about Menora at the kitchen table, and Id take it all in. I hear myself talking the same way at our own kitchen table. The senior executives and longstanding employees knew me as a child. Then, in my late twenties, I joined the company, seeking to modernise and make progressive changes that would make us leaders in food marketing and distribution. I was the personal embodiment of our succession plan. Now, as managing director of Menora, I proudly lead a dedicated team of more than 300 people with full strategic, P&L sales, marketing, and operational responsibility across our business.
Menora Foods is one of Australias leading national food marketing and distribution businesses. Our business now markets more than 1,500 products, handles more than 2,000 TEU containers per annum, processes more than 2,500 invoices per week, and services more than 5,000 customers on a direct basis covering Australia from the north-west of the Kimb
erley to the south-east of Bega, Sam explains.