The Irish agribusiness sector was rocked this week by the departure of two high-profile executives from the industry. On Monday, the Irish Farmers Journal revealed that Mark Goodman is leaving his position as CEO of ABP International to “pursue new opportunities outside the group”.

Mark Goodman is the younger of Larry Goodman’s two sons and has worked in the ABP Food Group for the past 15 years.

Since 2010, Mark Goodman has served as manging director of ABP International, where he has expanded the business into markets such as China and southeast Asia.

Mark Goodman said he will remain a board member of ABP Food Group as a non-executive director

Meat industry watchers would have viewed Mark Goodman as the heir apparent to the billion euro Goodman meat empire, with his older brother, Larry Goodman Jr, more involved in property and investments.

Mark Goodman said he will remain a board member of ABP Food Group as a non-executive director, while day-to-day management of ABP International will be passed to his colleague, Martin McMahon.

Dairymaster

The sudden departure of Mark Goodman from ABP was followed by a shock announcement on Tuesday from Dr Edmond Harty that he is leaving his family business, Dairymaster, to pursue other opportunities.

Harty, who was named as the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012, has very much been the the face of Dairymaster and has driven the business into new areas, such as artificial intelligence (AI), sensors, robotics and data technology.

I’m delighted to be leaving the business in such a strong position

“I will be moving on from Dairymaster to pursue other interests. I’m delighted to be leaving the business in such a strong position, as a leading international high-tech dairy equipment manufacturer, and I’m very proud of our innovation-led achievements over my tenure,” said Harty.

“Going forward, I intend to pursue and develop other new projects and initiatives using the magical combination of innovation, technology and business,” he added. It is understood Edmond’s younger brother, John Harty, will take over the business. John has been head of operations at Dairymaster up to now.