Providing operational, frontline, project and advisory services in the food industry, stemming from 25 years of frontline experience. A career embedded in a range of products, and enterprises ranging from family-owned to multinational scale, Ben is a Food Technologist with an entrepreneurial mindset. With a true passion for food, people and process, whether it is a concept, growing business, or leading to a restructure or M&A event, BE Food Consulting can add value to the process.
Get in touchBen Evans Food Consultant
Services
New Business
The execution of the huge tasklist in the process of launching a new business is critical to ensuring success… more
Existing Businesses
I offer systems designed specifically for scalability, ensuring businesses can adapt and grow efficiently… more
Mergers & Acquisitions
First hand experience of the M&A process from planning, structure and execution, gives an acute awareness to the needs in selling,.. more
Projects
Highly experienced in project management and assistance from concept through to commissioning – grant application assistance… more
About
An accomplished Food Consultant with an entrepreneurial mindset and a genuine passion for food manufacture, Ben has over 20 years of experience within the food industry. This experience has encompassed a range of products and enterprises, ranging from family-owned including personal start-ups, to multinational scale such as Bega Cheese and Nestle.
Ben has a true passion for bringing concepts to life with a hands on approach, particularly in ground-up dynamic settings and high quality products with unique value-propositions. Having worked many years on the factory floor, he has ground up compassion and relatability to every level within the business.
Ben hails from Western Victoria from a family deeply imbedded in the dairy industry. Commencing a Cadetship in Dairy Technology at 17, Ben studied Dairy Technology at Melbourne University, achieving Dux of each year. Further training includes Frontline Management, cheese production and judging, and the Australian Company Directors Course with AICD, of which he is a member.
Experience
A Broad amount of operational and frontline Management experience has included roles across Production, Technical and Quality management, along with procurement and farm supply, including on-farm auditing.
This experience has focussed on a range of both FMCG and small scale highly technical products, including:
- Spray dryers producing milk/protein powder
- Butter & Spreads
- Functional Protein – Resin based protein extraction
- Protein fraction freeze drying
- Cheese – Technical Manager, Production Manager and Quality Manager
- Cheesemaking experience in Australia, Europe and USA.
- Confectionary and Chocolate
- Distillation and manufacture of spirits
In 2013, Ben was the sole founder and MD of St David Dairy in Fitzroy, an urban dairy processing plant encompassing raw milk collection, manufacture and delivery. Success came with a combination of premium branding, a customer base receptive of the quality, service, and elevated value proposition. Equipment, people and process was scaled in the short space of 5 years while accumulating multiple awards and accolades, including Champion Butter, Champion Milk and multiple Gold medals across the product range. Ben lived the experience of executing a successful sale process to ASX listed Maggie Beer Holdings in 2018 while managing the growing business through the process.
Ben has since been a joint founder of Darling Distillery, a manufacturer of spirits in Melbourne in 2020, putting the Food Technology experience into craft spirits. The brand was awarded Gold in the Australian Gin Awards in 2021 and Best Bottle Design in 2022 at the same awards, and earn its place in the discussions of Australia’s exceptional craft spirits.
Get in touch
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New Business
A range of services for new businesses include:
- Business plan formulation and analysis, value proposition, market analysis
- Ongoing mentoring, advisory and goal-setting
- Support navigating regulatory requirements and facilitating the acquisition and setup of the necessary plant and equipment
- Project management, plant commissioning & trials. Placement between suppliers, customers and engineers eliminates common gaps between design, equipment providers and key operating staff, of whom buy-in is critical
- R&D of new products, packaging and processing - scaling and commercialisation from concept to factory
- Set-up of supporting procedures and systems for new plant & equipment, processes, packaging and people
The execution of any new business is critical to ensuring its success. What is often years of planning and preparation up to the launch causes the start of the business to feel like the finish line in many aspects. Often the noise of peripheral needs of the new business can distract from the actual business purpose, and where assistance can be vital.
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Existing Businesses
Change is a constant within any business, and whether it is managing growth, transitional, personnel or role changes, assistance from an objective 3rd party has many benefits.
Services include:
- Interim frontline & operational management services
- Leadership transition assistance
- Restructuring for growth, incorporating new process or plant
- Task matrix & role definition to scale and/or streamline
- Family business restructuring
The flexibility of interim role placement can give business the time/space to find the right replacement or structure. There is a significant cost-benefit of avoiding band-aid solutions or losing team morale in covering lost personnel, or feeling forced to retain the wrong people for your business. Likewise short term support of internal promotions to ensure success in role transitions can be a worthy investment in a sink-or-swim environment.
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Mergers & Acquisitions
M&A activity can be an exciting, daunting and invasive process that requires momentum, timing and high energy. Having first hand experience of the M&A process from planning, structure and execution, gives an acute awareness to the needs in both selling and purchasing a business.
The intense and invasive process can be assisted at ground level from both a buy or sell perspective, maximising the opportunity to achieve the best outcome.
-Vendor relief and assistance includes consolidating information, hit list & information request assistance, presentation of the physical operation, and maintaining the day-to-day of the business, which often occurs without staff & stakeholder knowledge.
-Likewise, Buy-side Due Diligence at an operational level can often be an oversight, where true assessment of plant and people is crucial against the favourable presentation on paper. Services include operational reports, market analysis and buy side hit-list actioning.
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Projects
Highly experienced in project management and assistance from concept through to commissioning - grant application assistance, equipment selection, packaging systems and integration of new process into the workplace and work team. The combination of production experience and technical knowledge provides a critical link between the engineering and operational aspects of integrating new plant & equipment into new and existing projects. A key solution between handover from suppliers and the smooth transitioning of new processes and team buy-in.
Other experience includes packaging concepts, cost-saving initiatives, raw material supply reviews, waste management, distribution and logistics.
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