Final months in top job for potato industry leader

OUTGOING: Potatoes South Australia chief executive Robbie Davis.

ROBBIE Davis will stand down from her role as Potatoes South Australia chief executive at the end of 2020 after eight years at the helm.

Ms Davis – a Limestone Coast Landscape Board member – will step away from the industry body as it enters new territory with a greater emphasis on Brand Australia and growing national significance of the world’s third largest food crop to the Australian horticulture industry.

The agricultural leader said it was the right time to farewell the representative body she had built with the help of a band of dedicated stakeholders from all sectors (fresh, processing and seed), all who desired a strong industry representative body for what is the

nation’s largest potato production region.

“It’s been a genuine privilege to support the development of Potatoes South Australia during the past eight years,“ Ms Davis said.

“In particular, I take pride in the strength of the association in delivering value-adding, relevant research and development outcomes through a strong partnership approach between government, industry and research providers both domestically and internationally,“ she said.

“I entered the industry with little appreciation of the importance of horticulture to the national economy and depart it with a great respect for its enormous contribution to GDP and especially the pivotal role that potatoes provide.”

Ms Davis will now pursue other interests in agribusiness, including continuing in her current positions on the Limestone Coast Landscape Board, Fight Food Waste CRC Board and Rural Bank’s Agribusiness Advisory Board.