Bite Sides by Ausfine

🚨 New Ausfine Bite Sides Episode 🚨From changing fluorescent light globes at BHP while studying at Deakin to leading HSBC’s corporate banking business across Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania — Stephen O’Connor has spent nearly two decades learning what strong leadership and long-term business relationships actually look like.With HSBC and Ausfine now into the 13th year of their banking relationship, Stephen joins Matt for a wide-ranging conversation about trust, global business, AI, economic uncertainty and why the real test of leadership comes when things don’t go to plan.We dig into:🏦 Stephen’s journey from BHP and chartered accounting into nearly 20 years with HSBC🤝 Why transparency and trust are at the heart of successful long-term banking partnerships🌏 How HSBC’s international network supports businesses expanding into markets like the US, Indonesia and beyond🤖 How AI is already being used inside banking — and how Stephen is seeing clients adapt to it in real time📈 What businesses are facing right now: rising costs, geopolitical uncertainty, currency movements and changing investment opportunities🇺🇸 Why the US continues to stand out as one of the most attractive markets for international growth👥 Stephen’s approach to leadership — taking the best from different managers, knowing when to get into the detail and finding the balance between support and micromanagement💬 Why leadership isn’t really tested when everything is going well — it’s when the chips are down that it matters most.Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.#AusfineBiteSides #Podcast #HSBC #CorporateBanking #Leadership #GlobalTrade #BusinessGrowth #AI #InternationalBusiness #Banking #AustralianBusiness

🚨 New Ausfine Bite Sides Episode 🚨

From first make on the Domino’s pizza line to leading ANZ procurement partnerships — Bec Unicomb’s journey is packed with hustle, leadership, and relationship-building.

In this episode, Matt sits down with Domino’s ANZ Procurement Manager Bec Unicomb to unpack what modern procurement actually looks like inside one of the world’s biggest pizza brands. From supplier partnerships and innovation to delivery culture and leadership, this is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the business of food service.

We dig into:

🍕 Bec’s journey from making pizzas in-store to leading procurement across ANZ

📦 Why Domino’s calls suppliers “business partners” — and why that mindset matters

🤝 Building long-term partnerships that survive pricing pressure and supply chain chaos

🚚 The changing world of pizza delivery and competing in the aggregator era

💡 Innovation, viral food trends, and the race to find the “next big thing”

📈 Leadership, culture, and managing relationships in every direction

🌏 AI, global uncertainty, and what the future of food procurement could look like

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

#AusfineBiteSides #Podcast #Dominos #Procurement #FoodService #SupplyChain #Leadership #Innovation #Pizza #BusinessPartnerships #QSR

🚨 New Ausfine Bite Sides Episode 🚨

From County Cork to London banking, ASX-listed leadership, global media expansion, and strategic advisory work across Australia — Colm O’Brien has spent his career helping businesses navigate growth, change, and complexity.  

Now a Partner at Carringtons and one of Ausfine’s most trusted advisors, Colm joins Matt for a candid conversation about leadership, business growth, investment readiness, and the lessons learned from decades spent in boardrooms around the world.  

We dig into:

📈 Colm’s journey from Ireland to Australia through banking, consulting, and corporate leadership

🏦 Lessons from Barclays Bank, Andersen Consulting, and leading an ASX-listed company

🌍 Building a global media business across Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Americas

🧠 Why great leaders focus on the long game and avoid getting stuck in the weeds

🤝 The importance of surrounding yourself with the right people and building strong teams

💼 What private equity, private capital, and investors are really looking for

📊 How businesses can become investment-ready and maximise long-term value

💬 Leadership, decision-making, resilience, and learning from failure

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

#AusfineBiteSides #Podcast #Leadership #Strategy #BusinessGrowth #PrivateEquity #Investment #CorporateLeadership #Consulting #AustraliaBusiness #Carringtons #BusinessStrategy

🚨 New Ausfine Bite Sides Episode 🚨

From handwritten trade books and telex machines to global risk management and international expansion — Garry Embleton has been part of the Ausfine journey almost from the very beginning.

Now Ausfine’s Head of Risk & Compliance and President of the Australia Indonesia Business Council (AIBC), Garry joins Matt for a raw and insightful conversation about global trade, leadership, and what it really takes to build a resilient business.

We dig into:

📈 Garry’s journey from accounts clerk to dairy trader and risk leader

🧀 The old days of Australian dairy exports to the US — and how the entire industry changed

🌏 Setting up Ausfine offices in Indonesia, the Philippines, and the US

⚠️ The real risks behind global trading: credit, currency, compliance, insurance, and geopolitics

🤝 Why strong banking, insurance, and industry relationships matter more than ever

🇮🇩 Garry’s role as President of AIBC and what doing business in Indonesia actually looks like

📚 The evolution of Ausfine from a 7-person operation to a global business

💬 Leadership, resilience, values, and showing up when things get hard

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

#AusfineBiteSides #Podcast #AustralianDairy #RiskManagement #GlobalTrade #Indonesia #AIBC #Leadership #Compliance #BusinessGrowth #Agriculture #SupplyChain

🚨 New Ausfine Bite Sides Episode 🚨

From first make on the Domino’s pizza line to leading ANZ procurement partnerships — Bec Unicomb’s journey is packed with hustle, leadership, and relationship-building.

In this episode, Matt sits down with Domino’s ANZ Procurement Manager Bec Unicomb to unpack what modern procurement actually looks like inside one of the world’s biggest pizza brands. From supplier partnerships and innovation to delivery culture and leadership, this is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the business of food service.

We dig into:

🍕 Bec’s journey from making pizzas in-store to leading procurement across ANZ

📦 Why Domino’s calls suppliers “business partners” — and why that mindset matters

🤝 Building long-term partnerships that survive pricing pressure and supply chain chaos

🚚 The changing world of pizza delivery and competing in the aggregator era

💡 Innovation, viral food trends, and the race to find the “next big thing”

📈 Leadership, culture, and managing relationships in every direction

🌏 AI, global uncertainty, and what the future of food procurement could look like

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

#AusfineBiteSides #Podcast #Dominos #Procurement #FoodService #SupplyChain #Leadership #Innovation #Pizza #BusinessPartnerships #QSR

🚨 New Ausfine Bite Sides Episode 🚨

From Waikato dairy farms to the trading floors of Chicago — Stu Davison brings a rare, full-circle view of the global dairy industry.

Growing up on large-scale farms in New Zealand before moving into financial markets, Stu now helps producers and processors navigate one of the most volatile parts of dairy: pricing risk.

In this episode, we unpack how the industry really works behind the scenes — from milk price exposure to global market forces — and why tools like hedging are becoming more critical than ever.

We dig into:

The journey from dairy farming to global dairy broker

What hedging actually is (in simple terms) and why it matters

How New Zealand farmers manage milk price risk

Why Australia lags behind — and what needs to change

The reality of global dairy markets (US, NZ, and beyond)

How volatility impacts farmers, processors, and the entire supply chain

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

#AusfineBiteSides #Podcast #AustralianDairy #NewZealandDairy #MilkPrice #Hedging #DairyMarkets #Agriculture #GlobalTrade #RiskManagement

🚨 New Ausfine Bite Sides Episode 🚨

From a wheat farm north of Bendigo to the front row of Domino’s Pizza’s global expansion, John Harney has seen what rapid growth, leadership, and operational scale really look like.

John joins Matt to unpack a career that started in the mines, moved through Unilever and Malaysia, and eventually led to two decades inside one of the biggest foodservice growth stories in the region.

We dig into:

• John’s journey from engineering and mining into procurement, leadership, and supply chain
• What Domino’s looked like in 2004 — before the massive growth across Australia, Europe, and Asia
• The lessons behind rapid expansion, scaling too fast, and why culture is the hardest thing to export
• Why the best partnerships are built on trust, consistency, and long-term commitment — not transactions
• How Domino’s thinks about delivery, competition, and staying relevant in a world of aggregators and endless convenience
• John’s take on leadership: empathy, collaboration, reading the room, and building teams people want to follow

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

#AusfineBiteSides #Podcast #JohnHarney #Dominos #Leadership #SupplyChain #Procurement #QSR #Foodservice #BusinessGrowth #Partnerships

🚨 New Ausfine Bite Sides Episode 🚨

From an over-ordered batch of cream to one of Australia’s most recognisable premium butter brands — Pepe Issa, founder of Pepe Saya, joins the pod to share the story behind the brand, the product, and the personality that made it stand out.

What started as a dessert business turned into a deep obsession with making better-tasting butter — and eventually into a premium cultured butter brand that challenged imported European products and carved out its own space in the Australian market.

We dig into:

• How Pepe Saya was born from a simple problem: too much cream and nowhere for it to go
• The difference between regular butter and cultured butter — and why flavour starts with fermentation
• How the Pepe Saya brand and iconic character were created
• Why building a premium food brand takes time, patience, and serious conviction
• Growing from artisan beginnings into a broader business with rework lines, online retail, and new milk bottling plans
• Taking the brand into the US market and why Pepe’s philosophy is: “Where there’s cows, export the brand. Where there’s no cows, export the butter.”

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

#AusfineBiteSides #Podcast #PepeSaya #PepeIssa #CulturedButter #AustralianDairy #BrandBuilding #FoodInnovation #PremiumFood #Entrepreneurship

🚨 New Ausfine Bite Sides Episode 🚨

From Macquarie’s Lawson Grains to med school to milking 2,000 cows in Tasmania — James Greenacre is one of the most refreshing voices in Australian dairy right now.

Matt first heard James speak at a Dairy Australia breakfast and knew he had to get him on the pod. What followed is a sharp, grounded chat about how modern dairy actually works — the business systems, the people leadership, and the uncomfortable truths behind pricing and transparency.

We dig into:

• The wild career path: commerce/law → ag finance → medicine → dairy farming
• Growing from 750 cows to 2,000 across two farms (and what scale really changes)
• Why dairy’s biggest challenge isn’t cows — it’s people, systems, and culture
• Economies vs diseconomies of scale (and why “duplicate a good system” beats chasing size)
• The tension between farmers and processors — and why transparency is the real missing piece
• Milk pricing, the Code, and whether the current system is actually working for anyone

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

#AusfineBiteSides #Podcast #AustralianDairy #DairyFarming #Tasmania #MilkPrice #DairyCode #Agriculture #Leadership #PeopleAndSystems

 New Ausfine Bite Sides Episode 

From knocking on doors selling German jams to leading global commercial teams across wine, spirits and FMCG — Peter Nielsen, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Aus Fine Foods, has built a career on adaptability, influence and sharp commercial thinking.

Peter joins Matt Cooper for the first episode of Series Two (2026) to share the real lessons behind big moves, big teams, and what it takes to grow in fast-changing categories.

We dig into:

• Early career curveballs (fired at 21, moving cities with no role lined up) and what they teach you

• The difference between corporate manufacturing and Aus Fine’s trading-led model (speed, flexibility, sourcing, partners)

• Leadership at scale: why strategy only lands after you’ve said it 10–15 times

• What makes branding cut through (wine examples like Squealing Pig and 19 Crimes) — and why most products fall into “me too”

• AI in commercial teams: why it’ll enable better decisions, not replace the humans doing the buying and selling

• Where Peter sees Aus Fine heading in the next 12–24 months: US + Asia growth, meat opportunity, and alternate channels (QSR/foodservice/retail)

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

#AusfineBiteSides #Podcast #AusFineFoods #FoodTrading #CommercialLeadership #Sales #FMCG #BrandStrategy #AI #Dairy #Meat #QSR #Foodservice #SupplyChain #Australia