Dr Yasmina Sultanbawa, a researcher at the QAAFI Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences, has received an Honourable Mention for 'Best Community Engagement 2016' at the 2016 B/HERT Awards Dinner for the project Kakadu Plum - Fruitful collaboration puts indigenous industry on the world stage.
Dr Sultanbawa has worked with a diverse range of organisations to realise the project. These include: University of Queensland, Australian Native Food Industry Ltd., Queensland Dept. of Agriculture & Fisheries, Australian Prawn Framers Assoc., Karen Sheldon Catering, Kindred Spirits Foundation, Charles Darwin University, Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corp. and Mamabulanjin Aboriginal Corporation.
At the centre of the project is a native Australian plum, the size of an olive, packed with Vitamin C and antioxidants and is transforming industries and Indigenous communities across the Top End of Australia. In collaboration with researchers, industry and government, communities have developed an innovative cooperative business to harness the Kakadu plum’s unique antimicrobial properties, which can extend the shelf life of food and beverages. The cooperative’s central business hub is supplied by numerous community-based collection hubs, which are Aboriginal-owned and operated businesses in their own right. This model is considered a benchmark for development of new native food industries.
About B/HERT Awards
Business Higher Education Round Table Awards were established in 1998 to recognise outstanding achievement in collaboration between business and higher education in the fields of research and development and education and training. The objective of the program is to highlight at a national level the benefits of such collaboration and enhance links between industry and universities.
