Francesco Taranto is a dynamic senior executive with 20+ years of expertise in management across sales, brand & marketing, supply chain, manufacturing and retail. Known for driving brand growth, operational excellence, and building high-performance teams, he excels at delivering strategic, costeffective results through strong leadership and communication.
In an exclusive interview with Food Business Review APAC, he shared invaluable insights on revitalizing its brand, strengthening supply chains, and aligning cross-functional teams positioning the company for scalable growth and renewed consumer trust in the FMCG sector.
1. Can you share the key experiences and milestones in your career that led you to your current role at Catalano's Seafood and how they have shaped your leadership philosophy?
Over the past 20+ years, I’ve held senior roles leading commercial and operational teams across FMCG, retail, and manufacturing businesses.
My experience with Harvest Road Group, D’Orsogna Smallgoods, and IGA Brindle Group has been pivotal in sharpening my ability to drive growth delivering national and international sales, launching private label ranges, and building vertically integrated supply chains.
Joining Avior Capital Partners on the Catalano’s Seafood Acquisition marked a defining milestone in my career, leading the transformation of a distressed regional brand into a viable national contender.
I’ve always been drawn to complex operational challenges, particularly where brand potential is stalled by structural inefficiencies.
I lead with energy and purpose, aiming to inspire teams and foster long-term relationships with customers and stakeholders. This approach has enabled me to build a high-performing, cross-functional team and deliver strong commercial outcomes in a fast-paced, customer-driven environment while staying true to Catalano’s brand values and legacy.
2. You've overseen the integration of distressed assets into cohesive national platforms, how do you determine which operational inefficiencies to tackle first without disrupting daily business continuity?
The key is to stabilise the core while building the roadmap. When integrating distressed assets, we begin with a mission-critical audit identifying which issues directly impact revenue, safety, and service levels. We prioritise fixes that provide immediate stability without creating cultural or logistical friction.
Often, this means focusing first on the supply chain rhythm forecasting, ordering, and fulfilment which is typically under strain. At the same time, we deliberately defer non-essential transformations until the team is confident and properly resourced.
Transparency is crucial: bringing people into the why of each change helps secure buy-in and ensures continuity isn’t sacrificed for the sake of urgency. It’s about being surgical identifying quick wins that build momentum while laying the groundwork for larger structural change, always keeping customers and delivery front of mind.
3. When scaling seafood operations nationally, what operational constraint surprised you the most and how did you overcome it without compromising product quality or speed to shelf?
When scaling seafood operations, the biggest constraint that stood out was maintaining consistent supply availability while navigating cold chain logistics and meeting the fast-paced demands of FMCG retail.
Reviving a brand isn’t just about changing the product it’s about rethinking the strategy, reigniting purpose, and earning trust all over again
Seafood supply is inherently volatile affected by seasonality, weather, and sustainability limits. This unpredictability made it difficult to ensure the consistent volumes, quality, and specifications expected by national retailers. Additionally, expanding across regions exposed gaps in cold chain logistics, particularly in remote areas where infrastructure and temperature control were below standard. This posed real risks to product integrity and delivery timelines.
To address these challenges, we first focused on strengthening supplier partnerships shifting from transactional procurement to more strategic, collaborative relationships. We introduced forward contracts and contingency planning to bring greater stability to raw material supply.
At the same time, we focused on improving cold chain reliability investing in temperature-controlled production rooms, implementing real-time logistics monitoring, and standardising QA protocols across the supply chain. On the retail side, we collaborated with partners to streamline product ranges and build flexibility into range planning, ensuring that supply fluctuations didn’t compromise shelf presence or in-store performance.
This integrated approach linking supply chain, logistics, and retail planning was key to scaling nationally without compromising product quality, delivery speed, or consumer trust.
4.What's your playbook for differentiating a newly acquired brand to attain shelf space in a competitive retail category environment?
Differentiation starts with clarity of purpose. Too often, brands try to be everything to everyone post-acquisition. Our approach was to identify the brand’s authentic points of difference whether it’s origin, quality, sustainability, or culinary experience and amplify those.
We asked: What does this brand solve on the shelf that others don’t? For us, the answer was a focus on “Premium Australian Seafood”, and we built the strategy around that core message.
From there, we supported it with executional excellence: strong data analysis, in-store activations, and tailored promotions. Retailers don’t need more SKUs they want fewer problems. A clearly positioned brand with strong backing and clean operations makes the buyer’s decision easy.
5. Consumer tastes and sustainability expectations are shifting rapidly in the food and FMCG space. What's one emerging trend you think most companies are underestimating right now?
I believe many are underestimating how quickly provenance and traceability are becoming key purchase drivers not just compliance checkboxes.
Consumers, especially younger ones, want more than just confirmation that seafood is sustainable they want to know where it came from, how it was caught, and by whom. This is moving beyond packaging claims into a growing demand for transparency.
Brands that can tell that story in an accessible, engaging way via Social Media, QR codes, apps, or retailer Wplatforms will have a clear edge. At Catalano’s, we’re actively investing in this space, making provenance a core part of the brand experience, not just a footnote.
6. What's one piece of advice you'd offer to senior leaders stepping into complex turnaround roles within the FMCG sector for the first time, especially when brand equity and operational chaos collide?
Earn trust before you seek transformation. In high-stakes turnarounds especially when legacy brands are involved there’s often deep institutional fatigue. Leaders need to take the time to truly listen and avoid making make symbolic changes just to show momentum. Spend time on the ground, across functions, and with customers. Understand what’s working and what’s breaking.
Start by stabilising the basics: people, process, and product. Then build certainty incrementally, one win at a time. And always protect the core of what made the brand loved in the first place. Operational chaos can be fixed. Lost brand trust is much harder to recover.
