A shared vision to boost Australia’s Indigenous-led bushfood industry is the key to the partnership between The University of Queensland and Roogenic, which makes products with Australian plants that have nutritional and health properties.
The partnership incorporates research from the ARC Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods on the properties of leaves and fruits like Kakadu plum (Gubinge), Jilungin and wattleseed sourced primarily from Indigenous communities and small farms.
Centre Director Professor Yasmina Sultanbawa said the collaboration began more than 4 years ago, in Darwin.
“We met through one of our Indigenous communities and we just clicked immediately,” Professor Sultanbawa said.
“We had so much to discuss about future research and how to build the bushfood industry working with Indigenous communities – I knew their heart was in the right place and their values were like ours.
“They bring us the industry perspective and share information about the market needs, what the consumer wants.
“When the Indigenous communities start growing for business, they need to scale up, so that is where we begin our research.
“The communities must scale up because more product is needed, so we need to support those communities to create a quality, safe product and then provide market access.
“We provide research on the quality and safety of bushfoods, how much can be consumed, and what it does to the body, confirming Indigenous knowledge dating back tens of thousands of years.
“What we have now is a trusted partnership and a three-way research collaboration between UQ, Roogenic and Indigenous partners.”
Roogenic Marketing Director Jordan Bruno said the collaboration with the UQ team was amazing.
“We got along well, and straight away everything aligned with what we wanted to do, in terms of growing the bushfood industry and making it more equitable,” Mr Jordan said.
“It’s not an easy industry to work in – the supply chain is unique as a lot of these plants are wild harvested, don’t fruit every year, with fruit and leaves often different sizes and prone to natural disaster like bushfire.
“So, to be able to forecast sales and get stock in and make products is a challenge, but also enormously rewarding.
“We have profit-sharing strategies in place and ensure community is part of the value chain.
“It’s an incredible perspective to have access to such an amazing culture and to learn about it.
“As we’ve grown and seen the opportunity to invest in research, new products, support communities, Uniquely Australian Foods is always our first point of contact.
“It’s been a whirlwind and the growth has been incredible to see.
“The world is slowly being educated about Australian plants and we take real pride in that.”
Donations to this program can be made through the QAAFI First Nations Agribusiness Research Fund on UQ Giving Day, to fund research empowering Indigenous communities in agribusiness.
Images are available via Dropbox.
Media: Professor Yasmina Sultanbawa, y.sultanbawa@uq.edu.au; QAAFI Communications, Natalie MacGregor, n.macgregor@uq.edu.au, +61 409 135 651.
The Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) is a research institute at The University of Queensland supported by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
