Mark started work at Ferndale on the 11 December 2006, officially retiring from Ferndale Foods on Friday 18th November 2022.
Ferndale had just celebrated our 10-year anniversary, and Bruce was managing director. Mark worked directly under Bruce for 4 years, before Bruce handed over the reins to Jarrod, who Mark worked for 6 years, and Mark has spent the last 6 years working for Leigh Edward. Mark is only one of 7 current employees who have worked for all 3 Edwards.
Mark has seen some incredible changes over the last 16 years and played a massive part in the business’s growth. When Mark joined the company, he was thrown straight in the deep end, as Bruce had only recently begun the journey in Pressed Mints, so Mark became the key lead in perfecting the presses, ensuring that we became experts in the field. Many years later, Mark led the commissioning and installation of the second press, both of which are still operational 16 hours a day now!
Mark also led the installation and commissioning of the Blister Packing line, which was a “punt” we took into a new category, designing and building many of the systems himself.
In 2017 we had a crazy idea to build a marshmallow factory. So off we went and started building.
Since that decision consumers have spent over $50M on marshmallows all across Australia and New Zealand. The past 3 years have been full of ups and downs, but we can confidently say that SoSoft is something we all should be proud of and Mark has played a massive hand in its success.
Marks impact on others has been immense. Mark took Damian under his wing from an early age (having started at similar times), took Scott through his apprenticeship, trained Jason H as well as many others over the journey. Many of the operators spoke to me this week, saying “we are not letting Mark leave, we love him and will be lost without him.”
Mark, we all wish you all the very best in your retirement- we hope it is full fulfilling, long and rewarding- you have earnt it, and on behalf of the entire Ferndale Foods Australia Team- Thank you.
