Many of the founder-led and family food businesses we work with are based in regional Australia, close to the growers, livestock and raw materials they depend on. When a General Manager, Operations Director or CFO role opens up in one of those businesses, the first assumption is usually that the location will make it hard to fill. That assumption is partly right, but it's also the reason a lot of regional searches go wrong before they've properly started.

Regional Roles Really Are Harder to Fill

The data backs up that concern, and it shows the problem getting worse rather than better. Jobs and Skills Australia's Occupation Shortage Report for the March quarter found that the national vacancy fill rate fell to 68.2%, and that the gap between metropolitan and regional fill rates widened to 4.6 percentage points, reversing a period in which the divide had been narrowing. Put simply, regional employers are filling fewer of their advertised roles than city employers, and the gap between them is growing.

At senior level the effect is even sharper, because the pool is small to begin with. A regional dairy, meat or produce business looking for an experienced leader who has already run a manufacturing business of a similar size is fishing in a very small pond, and most of the people in it are well looked after by their current employer.

But People Are Moving to the Regions in Record Numbers

Here's the part many regional businesses miss. The Regional Movers Index, produced by the Regional Australia Institute and the Commonwealth Bank, reached its highest level on record in the March 2026 quarter, with people moving from capital cities to the regions outnumbering those going the other way by 29.7%. Toowoomba recorded the strongest year-on-year growth in arrivals from the capitals of any local government area in the country, while Greater Geelong, the Fraser Coast, Moorabool and Lake Macquarie all featured among the top destinations.

So the appetite for regional life is real, and it's growing. The issue isn't that senior people won't live in regional Australia. It's that many of them won't uproot their lives for a role that hasn't given them a strong enough reason to.

Why Strong Candidates Say No

In the regional searches we run, the reasons a preferred candidate walks away are rarely about the town itself. They tend to come back to a small number of things the business could have dealt with much earlier in the process.

• The role isn't clearly defined: A senior leader moving a family needs to know exactly what they'll own, what success looks like and who they'll answer to, and a vague brief reads as risk.
• The founder's intentions aren't clear: Experienced candidates do their own due diligence, and if they sense the founder isn't ready to share control, they'll quietly withdraw rather than move their family for a job they won't be allowed to do.
• The family's needs are an afterthought: A partner's career, schooling and housing usually decide whether a move happens, yet they're often left until the offer stage.
• The package is built for the city, not the move: Relocation costs, temporary accommodation and the time it takes to sell in one market and buy in another all need to be reflected in what's offered.
• The current employer fights back: Good senior operators are scarce, so a counter-offer is close to guaranteed, and a search that hasn't tested motivation properly at the start will lose its candidate at the final stage.

None of these are reasons a capable person can't succeed in a regional business. They're reasons the business hasn't yet made a credible case to them.

Selling the Role, Not Just Advertising It

In my experience running FMCG businesses, the regional roles that fill well are the ones where the business does its thinking before it goes to market. The strongest candidates for these roles aren't scrolling job boards. They're running operations or businesses for competitors, and they'll only consider a move when someone approaches them directly with a clear picture of the role, the authority that comes with it and the life that comes with the location.

That means understanding the market before the search starts. It's worth knowing who runs comparable businesses across Australia, what they're paid, which of them have regional roots or family ties to the area, and what would make them consider a move. A candidate who grew up in the Riverina or has family in the Goulburn Valley is a very different conversation from a city executive with no connection to the region, and careful market mapping is how you find those people.

It also means telling the full story of the opportunity. Regional food businesses often offer things city roles can't, including genuine influence across the whole business, a direct line to the owner, a shorter commute and a lifestyle that many senior people are actively looking for. Those strengths only count if they're put in front of the right person early in the conversation.

What Regional Businesses Should Do Before the Next Senior Vacancy

Before the next senior role opens up, agree exactly what the role will own and how the founder or family will work alongside it, so the brief holds up when a serious candidate starts asking hard questions. Build the relocation package before the search begins rather than negotiating it at the end, and include practical support for a partner's career, housing and schooling.

Start the process earlier than you think you need to, because regional moves take longer to arrange and a rushed timeline loses good people. And make sure you know who's out there, including people with existing ties to your region, well before you need them.

Location Isn't the Real Barrier

Regional food businesses will always draw from a smaller pool than their city counterparts, and the latest data shows that gap is widening. But with more Australians choosing regional life than at any point on record, the businesses that prepare properly are well placed to attract senior leaders who'll stay for the long term.

If you're a founder, CEO, or board member in a regional food, beverage or fresh produce business and you've struggled to secure senior talent, it's worth looking hard at how the role is being presented before concluding that location is the problem.

ELR Executive is a specialist executive search firm focused exclusively on FMCG, food and beverage manufacturing, and fresh produce. If you're facing a senior leadership decision and want clarity before proceeding, a conversation with John Elliott may be a useful place to start.