Dreamtime Tuka's partnership with Earlyrise Bakery demonstrates the Region's ability to nurture collaboration, innovation and growth.
Herb Smith
Herb’s fondest childhood memories have stirred his passion for bush food and led to the creation of Dreamtime Tuka, a company that celebrates the cultural wealth and value of Indigenous bush foods.
Upon his retirement from the police force, Herb returned home to Wellington and rediscovered his grandmother’s cooking. It was during this journey down memory lane that Herb discovered a niche market within the “fiercely competitive national and international food industry” and found himself with an opportunity that he could not pass up.
We are proving that being located in regional Australia is not a barrier to doing business anymore.
Dreamtime Tuka’s business model is one that supports economic growth within regional areas by leveraging from key propulsive sectors that are well established. In the Dubbo Region, this was the catalyst for the collaboration between Dreamtime Tuka and Earlyrise Bakery, one of the Region’s largest food manufacturers. “The Dubbo Region is good for my business, it’s an advantage to manufacture high quantities of product in a large regional City without soaring overheads, we benefit from being located within a transport and logistics hub when delivering product and we can fly anywhere in Australia. We are proving that being located in regional Australia is not a barrier to doing business anymore.” Additional benefits of being located in the Dubbo Region include additional employment opportunities, a skilled workforce and the development of strong local supply chains.
“The reputation and credibility of Dreamtime Tuka as a supplier has been integral to our success. To date, we have supplied QANTAS with 1.5 million products in two years and is on track to reach 1.8 million products by August 2018.” All of which has been possible due to their collaboration with Earlyrise Bakery. John Stevenson, a fourth generation baker, believes that “the Region offers entrepreneurs and business owners opportunity to explore different markets, offer Australians unique products and thrive.”
Dreamtime Tuka is “kicking ahead” and its next multinational client is just a signature away.