Activate Group Australia held 300 industry guests at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium last week to present the annual Joe Berry Award and winner of the Australian Food & Grocery Council (AFGC) Scholarship.
On Thursday 13 June, the Joe Berry Award judging kicked off at 8am at the Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) North Sydney head office. Judging was led by Bernie Brookes AM, who was joined by 25 industry leaders on the panel to assess the work of six young executives – Pavlos Tsathas (Kellanova), Olivia Grey (SunRice), Erica Gillis (Simplot), Steven Hunt (Coles), Maria Tremoulas (Coles) and Gabby Dunn (Ferrero).
Meanwhile, at Allianz Stadium, the AFGC conducted a similar judging panel with four finalists presenting their essay and views on leadership, for the Future Leaders Scholarship.
During the evening’s event, AFGC CEO, Tanya Barden OAM, spoke about the values of the award, the panel of former winners and what future leadership means to the industry, before announcing Shannon Metcalfe of CCEP (above) as the 2024 Scholarship winner.
Joe Berry Award alumni chair, Esra Ozege (above) was the master of ceremonies for the event, sharing insights into ongoing efforts to support both the AFGC Scholarship and Joe Berry Awards and the value of every winner.
To conclude the evening, Bernie Brooks AM announced Olivia Grey of Sunrice (above) as the winner of the 38th Joe Berry Award. Accepting her award, she shared her experience of participating in the award program.
Activate Group Australia is now calling on young executives who believe they have something special to offer the retail industry, as well as companies that want to give back and support future leaders in the 2025 Joe Berry Award.
For more information, reach out to enquiries@joeberryaward.com.au
Feature image: Bernie Brooks AM (far left) and Activate CEO and chairman, Keith Quigg (far right) with the 2024 Joe Berry Award finalists.