Joining our program on this episode to share what is undoubtedly one of Australia’s most remarkable self-made business success stories is Trevor Lee, Founder & Principal of Australian Country Choice Group- the largest & most successful, privately-owned, vertically integrated beef processing company in Australia.
Now in its third generation of family ownership, ACC Group’s foundations were initially seeded by Trevor’s father Norman Lee in the 1960’s, himself a self-made businessman whom despite overcoming a number of personal & professional challenges, grew the family’s single-truck backyard business HJ Lee & Son Pty Ltd, into Queensland’s largest trucking operation incorporating in excess of 100 Caterpillar earthmoving machines & some 500 personnel within just 15 years.
Following the sale of HJ Lee & Son, Norm acquired Brindley Park in 1969, a 13,000-acre parcel of undeveloped land in the rural Queensland town of Roma that became the launching pad for his son Trevor Lee, who aged just twenty, painstakingly re-developed the property over a number of years.
Through extraordinary vision & tenacity, Trevor studied the dynamics of cattle production & processing both domestically and in the US throughout the 1970’s, analysing the inefficiencies that existed in conventional supply chains as well as the recurring economic & environmental challenges that had dictated the framework & methodology through which Australian beef producers had long operated under the assumptions of.
Utilising a combination of hard-work coupled with a willingness to challenge the status-quo, Trevor embarked on an ambitious pursuit to transform Australia’s beef industry, implementing a number of innovative measures including pioneering the use of large-scale feedlots for production consistency, reducing supply chain constraints through breeding, feeding & fattening livestock within the one facility (whole-of-chain) and establishing direct-to-consumer, contractual partnerships with National supermarket retailers including Coles & Woolworths.
From its inception in 1974, Australian Country Choice Group has evolved markedly over the past five decades to now hold the title of the largest family-owned, vertically integrated beef supply chain company in the World, comprising some thirty-four properties across Australia totalling in excess of four million acres through which more than 350,000 head of cattle are processed each year by 1,500 plus staff - ACC is also the third largest cattle owner and the third largest landholder in Australia.
In this rare & exclusive profile of one of Australia’s most successful yet private businessman, Trevor charts his incredibly journey, from being told his academic future was limited whilst a student at Brisbane’s Anglican Church Grammar School, to working the harsh lands of Queensland’s rugged, remote environments, ultimately culminating in the decision to follow his instincts & launch his own a business - a business which has changed not just an industry, but a Nation too, all the while cementing his legacy & the legacy of future generations of the Lee Family for decades to come.
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Host - Rob Langton
