Former Visy Industries CEO Harry Debney has taken the helm at Australian fresh produce giant the Costa Group following Simon Costa’s exit last week.
Simon Costa, a driving force in the Costa Group’s development over recent years, decided to step down as CEO amid the pressures of balancing work and family life commitments, according to Costa Group’s finance director Robert Costa.
“The `CEO` role has expanded enormously over the past few years, and essentially Simon felt what he needed to do compromised his family life too much,” Mr R Costa told Fruitnet.com. “He was away `from home` a lot and he just felt the need to take a step back.”
In his role as CEO of Costa Group, Simon Costa oversaw all the various fresh produce business units that come under the CostaExchange umbrella as well as the Costa Logistics division. He was appointed CEO in May 2004, having served in various other key positions since joining the company in 1993.
Stepping into the breach is Harry Debney, the former CEO of Visy Industries, which is one of the world’s largest privately-owned paper recycling and packaging companies.
“Harry’s a very experienced man and he’s been with us in a board and advisory capacity for the past 18 months,” explained Mr R Costa. “He will bring his own style to the role.”
Asked whether Mr Debney’s appointment was likely to be a long-term solution, Mr R Costa said it was undefined at this stage. “Harry was not seeking the position,” he explained. “He took it on because we asked him to – we asked him to fill the role for at least a couple of years and he’s agreed.”
Mr Debney’s takeover will not result in any strategic changes for CostaExchange, which has already undergone significant restructuring over the past two years, he noted.
“We’ve concentrated our business on six core categories and sold off the smaller ancillary businesses that were not part of our core focus,” said Mr R Costa. “We’ve had a lot of restructuring and now we’re looking at a couple of other acquisitions.'
Costa’s fresh produce business has been narrowed down to six core units, namely citrus, table grapes, bananas, truss tomatoes, mushrooms and berries. “We’ve sold off our vegetable businesses in Werribee and Gatton, our Arndell Park packing operation in Sydney, our potato operations, our smaller mushroom plants and some of our farms,” Mr R Costa explained.
While Simon Costa is currently taking a break with his family in the US, Mr R Costa said he could well rejoin the group in some capacity in the future. “Simon remains a shareholder and he’s just taking a month away,” he noted. “When he comes back, we’ll say 'quo vadis?'”
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