David studied his BSc (Agric) at the University of Natal between 1965 and 1968. In 1969, he worked as a trainee at the Cobb Breeding Co, Chelmsford UK before moving back to Irvine’s Day-old Chicks to work alongside his father and founder, Mr William Irvine. David took over from his father as Managing Director in 1990 before assuming his role as Chief Executive Officer for Irvine’s Zimbabwe in 2009.
With over 40 years’ hands-on, integrated experience across all aspects of poultry production, David transformed Irvine’s into the largest poultry producer in Zimbabwe. David acts as the Chairman of Irvine’s Day-Old Chicks and is Managing Director of Irvine’s Zimbabwe.
Craig Irvine
Group CEO
After graduating Cum Laude from the University of Natal with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture (Poultry Science), Craig spent three years abroad with Cobb, Europe and Tyson, USA before heading home to Irvine’s. Having grown up in the business, Craig understands every aspect of Irvine’s, from the farm to the boardroom table. Committed and courageous, Craig has played an instrumental role in driving Irvine’s growth across Africa.
Craig was named EY’s World Entrepreneur of The Year Master Class Category for Southern Africa (2019) in recognition of his passion and persistence in developing and nurturing poultry farming businesses across Sub-Saharan Africa. Craig is the Chief Executive Officer of Irvine’s International and is a director of Buchan and all its subsidiaries.
Donnie Smith
Director
Donnie Smith’s passion for leadership has been the hallmark of his 36-year career in the food business. As president and CEO of Tyson Foods from 2009 to 2016, he led the company to focus on feeding the world great, affordable food, while also making a positive difference in people’s lives. Under his leadership, Tyson Foods achieved four straight years of record profits, multiplying stock value six times in seven years.
Throughout his career, Donnie worked to learn every angle of Tyson Foods’ business. He joined the company in 1980, working in poultry operations for seven years in Tennessee before moving to the company’s headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, where he started as a commodity buyer.
He was named director of commodity purchasing in 1991 and during the next several years added complementary responsibilities to his management portfolio: logistics, purchasing and information systems in 2006; and engineering, food safety and quality assurance, and environmental health and safety in 2007.
He moved into the company’s consumer products division in 2008 and was named Senior Group Vice President of poultry and prepared foods in early 2009, the same year he was appointed as President and CEO.
Smith is now focusing on his continued work to feed the world. He and his wife Terry are native Tennesseans and have three children and one grandchild.
Donnie earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and continues to be involved in his alma mater.
John R. Tyson
Non-Executive Director
John R. Tyson serves as Chief Financial Officer, overseeing Tyson’s worldwide finance and
accounting functions and representing the company in areas involving investors, banks,
ratings agencies, audits and other financial matters.
John also leads the company’s enterprise strategy, corporate development and sustainability
efforts, including serving as its Chief Sustainability Officer. A member of Tyson Foods’
enterprise leadership team, John reports to President & CEO, Donnie King. John joined the
Tyson Foods team in 2019.
John has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Harvard University and a Master of
Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Previously he
worked in investment banking for J.P. Morgan as a private equity and venture capital
investor. John has taught as a lecturer at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the
University of Arkansas. He also serves on the board of directors of Winrock International,
where he co-chairs the audit committee and is a term member of the Council on Foreign
Relations.
Dr. Sanjay Maharaj
Chief Operations Officer
Sanjay completed his BSc Master’s Degree from the University of Natal and joined Rainbow Chickens (Pty) Ltd as a Laboratory Technologist responsible for Virology and Vaccine Production. He completed his PhD in 1994 working on a vaccine for commercial chicken flocks, which soon became a part of the vaccination programme at Rainbow Chickens. In 1996, Sanjay was recognised as the top student in the Stellenbosch University Management Development Programme.
After being promoted to Technical Manager at the Rainbow Chickens laboratory, Sanjay joined the production team as Hatcheries Area Manager, before moving through various management roles within the company. In 2007, he was appointed as Agricultural Executive for the KwaZulu-Natal Region and in 2014 became the Agricultural Executive responsible for KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Limpopo. In 2018, Sanjay was appointed to the position of Agriculture and Breed Director of the Chicken Operations for RCL Foods. With 33 years’ experience in the poultry industry, Sanjay was appointed as Chief Operations Officer at Irvine’s International in 2021.
Dharmendra Misra
Chief People Officer
Dharmendra started his HR journey in the South African Police Services, leading the implementation and automation of a nationwide HR system. After moving into the financial services industry, he led the new people management process across the retail banking sphere. Dharmendra then joined SABMiller’s Global Business Services in 2013, leading the transformation and incorporation of SABM-Africa’s people functions into the global model, delivering a new people engagement model whilst developing a new leadership programme.
Part of the convergence planning team supporting people integration during the Anheuser-Busch InBev acquisition of SABMiller Plc Dharmendra later, as Senior Director of People, led the “implementation and transition of people” function across Africa to the ABI model.
Dharmendra was key in standardising people processes across Africa, the implementation of
a single payroll platform as well as developing a leadership and engagement model in
support of a culture of performance and inclusivity. Dharmendra was appointed as Chief
People Officer to Irvine’s International in 2020.
Jan van den Berg
Chief Financial Officer
Jan graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Accounting and CTA from the
University of Pretoria, he completed his articles at Price Waterhouse and is a qualified
Chartered Accountant. After completing his articles at Price Waterhouse, Jan spent 18 years
at SABMiller, now ABInbev, working across four continents in various senior financial roles
before joining Diageo in 2018, based first in Ethiopia and then later at the Diageo Africa
Emerging Markets division in South Africa. An accomplished finance executive with
extensive, global experience in operational finance, mergers and acquisitions and business
integration, Jan drives well-governed, future-focused financial management, cost reduction
and productivity improvement.
He is skilled at navigating cultural and geographic diversity and is passionate about
improving operational efficiencies, which consistently translates into business growth,
capitalised profits and streamlined strategic execution of business imperatives across
diverse markets and business segments. Jan joined the Irvine’s Group in 2023 as Chief
Financial Officer of Irvine’s International and is responsible for Irvine’s Group Finance
strategy, supporting Irvine’s finance teams across Sub Saharan Africa.
Patrick Murphy
Chief Commercial Officer
Patrick graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Natal and began his career with Alltech, a global organisation selling animal feed additives. He opened an office in the UAE, to better service the Middle East region whilst completing a four-year Advanced Management and Business Development Programme with UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. He joined the Irvine’s Group in 2009 as the General Manager for Cobb Africa, working across the Sub-Saharan Africa region growing sales and footprint.
Having worked in over 20 countries across Africa and the Middle East, Patrick is passionate about operating in informal and developing markets whilst identifying areas for new business development. He acts as Chief Commercial Officer of Irvine’s International and is responsible for Irvine’s Group Commercial Strategy whilst supporting Irvine’s customers and commercial teams across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Rudolf Pretorius
Non-Executive Director
Rudolf is a South African born financial services executive based in Mauritius since 2010. He
is a shareholder and board member of the Adansonia Group which offers corporate
administration and fund management services in Singapore and Mauritius to businesses and
investors with an African focus. In addition to being a Non-Executive Director of Buchan, he
also serves on inter alia the boards of:
Denham Capital’s African Mining Fund (Tremont)
Alphamin Resources Corporation, a Toronto Stock Exchange listed tin mine based in
the DRC
Bank Zero Limited in South Africa.
Zaïn Madarun
Non-Executive Director
Zaïn has over 20 years of experience in the global business sector in Mauritius and is a Fellow
Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Throughout her career, she has
gathered experience in corporate governance, corporate secretarial and administration, business
management and human resources management. Currently, Zaïn heads the Mauritian office of the
Adansonia Group.
In addition to being a Non-Executive Director of Buchan, Zaïn also sits on the Board of Alphamin
Resources Corporation, a TSX-listed entity which forms part of the Tremont Group, the board of
subsidiary companies of a mining fund listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and the board of the
global treasury arm of a South African bank.
We are Proudly African
Welcome to Irvine’s Group. Read about our story, our footprint, our values and what we believe in.
Our always is the Irvine’s promise; the areas we focus on and invest in.
Our offering is built on world-class facilities, capabilities and partnerships producing the highest quality protein.
From upskilling growers to empowering women owned enterprises, we invest in the entire poultry ecosystem.
We understand every detail of our business across every unique region.
Get in touch with us to see how we can partner across Africa.
