The Weekly Grill

Episode 27: Red meat industry identity, Richard Rains

In this week’s episode of The Weekly Grill podcast series, host Kerry Lonergan turns up the heat on veteran red meat industry identity Richard Rains.

Prior to his retirement Richard was the head of Sanger Australia, one of the nation’s largest non-packer exporters.

Bede McAlpin gets to know his partnering mentor, Richard Rains, during a Graeme Acton Connections Program gathering in Brisbane earlier.

He is widely credited for convincing global burger giant McDonald’s US to shift its grinding beef policy from domestic only, to also including imported product from Australia. McDonald’s global has since become Australia’s single largest beef customer.

A passionate crusader for the red meat industry, Richard has strong views on wide ranging topics including fake meat, the greater need for branding to lift Australian beef out of the commodity space, and how the industry should respond to attacks from animal activists and environmentalists over its sustainability performance.

Another of his passions is developing and mentoring young people coming through the industry. A number of senior meat traders currently working across the beef industry can attest to that, having learned the trade under Richard’s tutelage as greenhorn young traders at Sanger. One of his current passions is the Platinum Primary Producers’ Zanda McDonald award for young industry personnel, and the Graeme Acton Beef Connections mentoring program, connected with Beef Australia.

 

 

 

Check out our previous Weekly Grill podcasts here, including interviews with carbon trading expert, Toby Grogan, from Impact Agriculture; Red Meat Advisory Council chair, John McKillop; stud cattle showing identities Gary Noller and Rob Sinnamon; veteran Victorian cattle buyer David Ronalds; beef processing legend, ACC’s David Foote;  Live export class action facilitator, Tracey Hayes; Signature Beef’s Blair Angus; Consolidated Pastoral Co chief and Livecorp chairman, Troy Setter, nutrition scientist and MLA special skills board member, Manny Noakes; CCA independent northern and southern directors, Alice Greenup and Olivia Lawson; Australian Agricultural Co head Hugh Killen; Sydney independent red meat retailer Stephen Kelly; lotfeeder, Charlie Mort; processor and supply chain manager, Terry Nolan; livestock transport operator Ross Fraser; Organic supply chain manager Alister Ferguson; and  our first cattle market outlook, with TEM’s Matt Dalgleish and Stockco’s Chris Howie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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