Russel Rankin

• Centre Advisory Board Member
• LinkedIn Profile
• Food Innovation Partners Pty Ltd
• 2015 - 2020

Russel has more than thirty years’ experience in the food and beverage industry in various senior commercial and research positions. He has an inherent ability to identify and drive innovation opportunities that deliver a competitive advantage. Russel has extensive experience in commercialisation of innovation from within commercial businesses and research organisations. Currently Russel is Director and Founder of Food Innovation Partners Pty Ltd, a company that makes the connections between commercial companies, research organisations, governments, finance providers, marketing and industry bodies. Food Innovation Partners provides business, innovation and commercialisation services to the food and beverage industry, along with business development services for companies and research organisations. Through his ability to translate research outcomes into a commercial competitive advantage and back translate commercial opportunities into a research strategy, he is able to match food companies with research providers.  By doing this he facilitates the development of pre-competitive, syndicate projects with multiple commercial partners to assist companies to access Government support programs and to assess equity and make acquisitions.  This also  helps food businesses innovate and commercialise new ideas.

Russel is entrepreneurial in his thinking, having recently established with his partners a number of new businesses to take a range of new innovative food and beverage products to market.

Prior to starting Food Innovation Partners, Russel was General Manager of Innovation with the National Food Industry Strategy – a Federal Government initiative established to provide leadership to Australia’s food industry. He has also worked for CSIRO for more than 25 years in the area of food research before venturing into the commercial arena.

Russel is currently a member of the Queensland Department of Agriculture Committee to assist with the development of Queensland’s Agriculture and food strategy, Board Member of Australian Research Councils Robotic Vision Centre of Excellence, Mentor & Advisor Mars Food Accelerator Program, Seeds of Change, Special Advisor to Board of OzHarvest & ForPurpose Co, Member of the Advisory Board to KFSU Pty Ltd, a company making dietary fibre from sugar cane, Director of Freshly & Co and Director of Beauty Drink Pty Ltd. Previously Russel has been Chair of Queensland Department of Agriculture and QUT’s Agricultural Robotics Program Advisory Board, Member of SA Government’s Advisory and Assessment Board for their Advanced Food Manufacturing program, Board member of the Clean Technology Food & Foundries Investment Program, an initiative of AusIndustry in the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education. He has also been an Advisory Board Member for Oski Drinks Pty Ltd.

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