Daniel Moorfield

BCom (1992)

In 2023, Daniel Moorfield transitioned from a successful 25-year career in executive roles to become the CEO of SecondBite, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to rescuing food and combating hunger.

The power of giving back

In 2023, Daniel Moorfield felt it was time to give back. At the age of 52, after 25 years of holding senior executive positions in local and global businesses, this meant a career shift. He considered three criteria while looking for a new role: “something good for the environment, something good for people, and something that helps the underprivileged,” he says.

Eventually he took an opportunity at SecondBite, a national not-for-profit that rescues food, minimises food waste and provides it free of charge to those experiencing hunger and food insecurity. Moorfield began as SecondBite’s CEO in 2023, ticking off all three of his criteria.

Student life

After growing up in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Moorfield still credits his time as a student at the University of Melbourne as a turning point that broadened his knowledge of the world. Keen to work with mathematics "to do something greater", he chose a Bachelor of Commerce, finding what he desired in a range of classes.

Daniel Moorfield

“Accounting was important for me, and [so was] marketing,” he says.

Living in Queens College, he joined sporting clubs and enjoyed O Week activities alongside people from many diverse backgrounds.

These social foundations helped build a network which has proven invaluable throughout his career. After graduation, he trained to be a certified professional accountant, taking a role at Ernst & Young.

From here, he got his start in food factories, using the accounting management reporting and other finance skills he’d learnt in his degree.

Career growth

Moorfield worked his way up in different roles, including senior executive responsibilities at Mars, Carter Holt Harvey Building Products Limited, and McCormick and Company, both in Australia and in China. Next, at Ardmona, he led a long-term business transformation. Upon returning to McCormick and Company as president, he was responsible for sites  across the Asia-Pacific region, overseeing 900 staff. In 2022, the Corporate Knights Global Sustainability Index ranked McCormick and Company as the world’s 14th most sustainable corporation and number one in food.

After ten years, the desire to make greater change still remained, and Moorfield left McCormick and Company, proud of how the company had grown in leadership diversity.

Career change for good

Moorfield joined SecondBite in September 2023, having worked with them in previous roles in food manufacturing.

“I know that food is more than ‘food’ – it is community health, and self-respect,” he says.

SecondBite is Australia’s largest free food rescue organisation, with operations in every state and territory.

They rescue and deliver nutritious food free of charge to those experiencing food insecurity. In 2023, SecondBite reported that they had provided the equivalent of 50,084,390 meals, while supporting 1092 charity partners and food programs.

Impact of economics

Moorfield still uses the basic economic understanding he developed as a student to address the increasingly volatile world of food insecurity.

“It’s pure economics, it’s a classic ‘supply and demand’ issue,” he says.

"There is a huge supply of food on the farm and a huge demand from the consumer."

Despite the food surplus, one in three Australian households experience food insecurity. The issue, Moorfield says, comes from the economic system.

How do you make an economic model that works for everyone, to get the food to the people who need it?

“We need a model that is economically viable, that works for the farmer, works for the supermarket, works for the charity, and works for the people in need.”

“I am asking economics questions, and it's 35 years since I finished my BCom... That’s my job.”

This passion for using economics has not left Moorfield’s mind.

"Economists make a huge social impact in so many ways, as employees, and establishing businesses, so the impact of an economics degree needs to be appreciated."

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