Vale Ian Ross
MLA’s Regional Manager, Middle East and North Africa, Ian Ross sadly passed away on Sunday 17 May after a period of declining health.
Ian will be greatly missed by all those that had the pleasure to work with him, as well as the many others throughout the red meat industry that had the chance to share in his knowledge and wealth of experience.
Such was the extent of Ian’s contribution to the industry that it cannot be easily covered in one statement however his most recent time in the industry focused on delivering information and tools to sheepmeat producers to improve their returns and since 2005, for market development in the Middle East and North Africa to improve demand for Australian sheepmeat and beef in the region.
Following enrolment in a Diploma of Meat Management at the Meat Research and Training Centre, Werribee, Ian participated in the Meat Research Corporation’s (MRC) Prime Lamb Key Program, in the role of Market Development Officer for Victoria. In this role he worked tirelessly with processors and retailers across Victoria, helping them trial large lean lambs, and to develop new ways of using lamb in their businesses. These working relationships were so productive in part because of Ian’s deep knowledge of the whole meat industry value chain, and his ability to see the challenges from each different perspective – the breeder, the producer, the processor, the retailer and the consumer, and help particularly the producers and processors find ways to work together.
This work lead to a full-time role with MLA, starting in 1999, as Coordinator of the Lamb Supply Chain Program. This extended Ian’s role across other States, and increased the engagement with industry through a number of trials of new approaches to improving supply chain effectiveness. As part of that role, Ian was a key player in the initial roll-out of VIAScan with Castricum Brothers, Tatiara Meats and Fletchers International, including the delivery of the extremely popular Lean Meat Yield EDGE workshops.
Ian also assisted in the development of a web-based feedback system so that producers could access the slaughter data themselves on the evening of the same day the stock were slaughtered. This was a first in Australia. Ian was also closely involved in the Sheepmeat Eating Quality (SMEQ) projects that developed the principles of voltage requirements for the electrical stimulation system that was researched by Murdoch University and Dr David Pethick.
The steady but significant growth of the lamb industry during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s lead to the realisation that a campaign to increase producer awareness of the opportunities in lamb would have real value. This lead to the Prime Time and Making More from Merinos campaigns which ran through period 2004-2008, and touched over 15,000 producers. Ian played a massive role in these campaigns to ensure focused messages and strong involvement by all attendees. Ian took very deep personal pride in ensuring that the workshops were outstanding value for all industry participants.
Ian was appointed Regional Manager for the Middle East and Africa region in July 2005. Throughout his time in the region he worked vigorously with all sectors of the market looking at every opportunity to promote the reputation of the industry he loved. Many importers throughout the region considered Ian to be their “habibi”, an expression used by Arabs when describing a very close friend. The economic growth in the region, driven by increased oil revenues and development, was also capitalised on for the red meat industry in part due to Ian’s deep knowledge of our product and respect and understanding of the culture and marketplace requirements.
His passion to deliver long lasting benefits for the Australian meat industry was exemplified through his vision that lead to the development of the new halal logo for Australian meat. The halal logo is now recognised as the international marketing halal logo and through his drive has now been endorsed by the AQIS and the halal consultative committee for use as the official stamp for exported halal product. Ian’s respect for the Arabic culture also led to the Arabic translation and customisation of the Handbook of Australian Meat which was officially launched this year at Gulfood.
Ian had a commanding presence when he entered a room, whether it be with producers, processors, exporters or Arab diplomats. Most of all he was generous with his colleagues and shared his knowledge freely to benefit the industry and those fortunate to work alongside him.
He will be greatly missed.
