Michael Russo Email & Phone Number

Gembrook, Vic, Au

Officer, Victoria, Australia

Gembrook, Victoria, Australia

We planted our small orchard (truffiere) of truffle trees (French oak, quercus ilex) inoculated with black truffles (Tuber Melanosporum) in April 2021. We have now harvested our first truffles in July 2024. Looking forward to the adventure of our yield increasing and working through the marketing and tourism involved.

Narre Warren North, Victoria, Australia

With the rapid growth of the business Montague built a new state of the art production facility with traceability integration as well as the latest technology available in fruit grading software. I was chosen to manage the machine commissioning, UAT, and production commencement. My ongoing role has been to use and master the systems and technology that identifies, categorises and grades the fruit and its defects using optical and infrared recognition software. I also manage the automated machines that sorts, seperates and transport the product to its next destination in the process. This includes coordinating preventative maintenance, repair, cleaning schedules, scheduling, Food Safety, OHS, and team management.

Narre Warren North, Victoria Australia

Montague has grown to be one of the best produce growers, marketers and traders in Australia, and is now a global brand that is recognized for quality and innovation. When I was informed that the business was diversifying further into various aspects of processed product (initially juice and Cider), I was eager to get involved. After a successful career at Montague in the produce trading department, I was given the opportunity to move into this new position with a change in focus and direction. My main purpose was to develop, maintain, and grow profitable new sales opportunities within the Value Add category while increasing orchard returns for non premium product.

I began with Montague at age 22 working in the Wholesale Produce Market in Melbourne Australia. When Montague made the business decision to close the market stand and focus on direct relationships with major retailers, they asked me to work at Head Office as a category coordinator of Apples and Pears. In my time at Montague i have advanced to Category Manager and taken on the National Account Management for Woolworths. Here my skills and experience developed in all facets of produce trade including strategy planning, negotiation, leadership and goal setting/achieving.