Deborah Pitter
At twenty-nine years of age, Deborah Pitter is running her own marketing and communication consultancy, leading a campaign to increase lamb exports to South East Asia and studying a Master of Agribusiness at the University of Melbourne.
Far from being a mixed bag, these activities are all carefully coordinated, have complimentary objectives and in Deborah’s mind, improves her chance of success on all fronts.
Following the deregulation of the lamb industry in Western Australia, lamb producers and processors have increasingly looked to international markets for export opportunities. With a background in human nutrition and studying a Master of Agribusiness, Deborah Pitter’s consultancy, Business Today, was well placed to assist WAQ Lamb in its push to Asia.
“Research showed that Asian consumers have a poor view of lamb. They do not know how to prepare it, what nutritional value it has or even the facilities to cook it,” Deborah said.
“Consequently, lamb and other red meat are not a large part of their diet. The average annual consumption is only 7 grams in some countries.
“But with such a huge population the potential for lamb in South East Asia is enormous, even if only a small percentage acquire a taste for it.”
She said developing strategies for lamb exports to Asia involves looking at the entire supply chain, ranging from growing the product to meet consumer specifications to branding and marketing the product for foreign cultures.
“The Master of Agribusiness at Melbourne University was not only decisive in tendering for this and other consultancy projects, it has given me additional skills and knowledge vital for the project’s success.
The Master of Agribusiness is designed to be completed part time over two years and comprises ten subjects; Leadership, Agribusiness Management Economics, Financial Management for Agribusiness, Human Resource Management, Managing Markets, Business Strategy, Agribusiness Management Project, Information Management, Managing Risk, Operations and Decision Making.
“While the online delivery of the Masters compliments my busy life and living in Western Australia, it hasn’t prevented me from building up a rapport and a support network with the other students. The course format is fairly flexible,which is important when you are running your own business,” Deborah said.
“The units on management have also helped me as my business has expanded to a point where I now employ six people.”
With the Masters almost complete, Deborah doesn’t intend to slow down.
“I now feel I have the confidence and the edge to seek positions on company boards,” she said. “Life’s pretty exciting at the moment.”