Media Release Feb 2008
Reckon helps bring bush foods to city plate.
The mention of bush tucker may not do much for your appetite but the cuisine has come a long way from roasting goanna on a spit or munching raw witchetty grubs ala Crocodile Dundee.
The Bush Food Sensations Aboriginal Mentor Program, a new 13-month initiative of the NSW Government, will soon be bringing kangaroo, crocodile, emu, witchetty grubs and many other delicacies to the table.
Launched in Newcastle at a gala event in late January, the program focuses on the expansion of ten Aboriginal food businesses primarily across the northern part of the state through effective marketing, management and administrative efforts. The aim is to enable each café, restaurant and catering service to sustain itself and in so doing become a valuable contributor to the local economy both as an employer and service provider.
“The long-term goal of the program is to help make the businesses export ready and part of the major tourism routes,” says Roxanne Smith, Aboriginal Business Development Manager with the state’s Department of State and Regional Development.
An integral part of the program is teaching business owners how to effectively market and administer their respective food businesses by incorporating development activities such as business diagnostics, market development, financial management, accounting and business mentoring.
QuickBooks Plus 2007/08 accounting and financial management software is expediting the path to business efficiency and accountability. Copies of the software were donated by Reckon to each of the ten businesses in the Bush Foods Sensations Aboriginal Mentor Program in Bonalbo, Bexley, Lismore, Corindi Beach, Dorrigo, Nambucca Heads, Rollands Plains, Ulamarra and Sydney.
Renowned bush foods chefs Steve Sunk and Laurant Gonford are providing their expertise on the cuisine side while state government personnel are setting up the various private enterprise contributions, including the QuickBooks Plus software.
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