Dr. Martin Gooch is an award-winning international agri-sector value chain innovation expert with over 30 years of management experience in the global food industry. He specializes in developing value-chain alliances and forging innovative solutions. Martin has worked with businesses operating in almost all food industry sectors and has extensively analyzed food systems to identify and address inefficiencies, resulting in improved operational performance.
As an expert for the Technical Assistance Partnership (TAP) initiative, Martin, with two other Canadian experts, Brian McKay and Yvon Bertrand, are working collaboratively with the Government of Guyana and the Ministry of Agriculture. Their work supports the development of the fruit agro-processing sector in Guyana, focusing on providing technical assistance in supply chain management, market research and product development.
Martin’s passion for agriculture began while working on friends’ farms as a young man and subsequently attending agricultural college. He dedicates time to assisting people to improve their livelihoods and economic circumstances, reduce businesses’ and communities’ environmental emissions, and strengthen food security, in addition to achieving wider social outcomes.
Based in Ontario, Canada, Martin has authored and co-authored numerous publications on topics such as food waste and market-driven innovation, as well as online and printed process improvement tools designed specifically for the food industry. He holds a Ph.D. in Agribusiness and a Master of Agribusiness from the University of Queensland, a Bachelor of Arts in International Business from Southern Cross University (both in Australia), and he studied Crop and Animal Production and Agricultural and Horticultural Business Management at the Warwickshire College of Agriculture in England. In 2013, Martin received Bayer Inc.’s “Outstanding Canadian” award for contributing to “Food Chain Partnerships.” In 2017, he was named the Ontario Produce Marketing Association’s “Produce Industry Person of the Year.” A number of projects that Martin has played a key role in their formation and management have received prestigious international and domestic awards of excellence.