JBS Australia has made an internal appoint to fill the vacant role of Northern Division chief operating officer, announcing that Brendan Tatt will take up the position.

His appointment, effective immediately, follows the departure in late 2022 of former northern division chief operating officer Anthony Pratt. Current JBS chief executive officer Brent Eastwood has been acting northern division COO for the past 18 months.

Brendan Tatt

Mr Tatt’s appointment continues a strong company tradition of executives from the meat sales side of the JBS Australia business being appointed to senior operational management and general management roles. He is a straight-talking, no-frills character, equally at home talking with grassroots beef producers as he was with high-end meat trade customers at the Shanghai SIAL food trade show a fortnight ago.

He joined the JBS Group (then known as Australia Meat Holdings, under ConAgra’s ownership) in 2002 as an international trader at Swift Trade Group – then under the direction of Brent Eastwood. Prior to that he traded sheepmeat, skins and by-products with sheepmeat processor Fletcher International, where he worked for five years from 1998.

Over the past 22 years with JBS, Mr Tatt has demonstrated strong leadership and expertise in senior export, sales, marketing, livestock, feedlot and commercial roles.

Up to this week, he operated as general manager commercial for JBS Northern, where he led a sales team of 33, managing both domestic and export sales of beef, hides and by-products.

JBS’s Northern division operations include beef processing facilities at Dinmore, Beef City, Rockhampton and Townsville in Queensland, plus the Riverina grainfed plant in Central NSW; as well as beef feedlot operations at Beef City in Queensland, and Prime City, Riverina, Mungindi and  Caroona in NSW. Yambinya feedlot and JBS Scone beef processing are run by the parallel JBS Southern Division.

In a statement, JBS Australia chief executive Brent Eastwood said Mr Tatt’s appointment would allow the business to continue to build on the strong collaboration developed over the last two years.

“Brendan’s extensive experience and successful track record make him ideally suited to drive our strategic initiatives and enhance operational efficiency across the organisation,” Mr Eastwood said.

Mr Tatt said he looked forward to working with JBS’s talented team to build on its current achievements and set new benchmarks for success.

“I look forward to engaging with our suppliers, customers and stakeholders to continue the significant legacy that’s been laid before me,” he said.

About JBS Australia

JBS Australia is the largest meat and food processor in Australia with more than 15,000 team members and a strong portfolio of leading beef, lamb, pork, salmon, and value-added branded products. JBS globally is the largest animal protein business and the largest food company in the world, with operations in North America, South America, Australia, Europe and New Zealand.

The company’s Northern Division operates five strategically placed processing facilities as well as five feedlots across Queensland and New South Wales with access to an extensive network of quality cattle. The Northern Division Services both domestic and international markets, exporting its finished goods or commodity products to more than 50 countries around the world.