Meet the Finalists - Female Agribusiness Leader
Gippsland women are making their mark across a huge range of food and fibre businesses throughout the region, and from an impressive number of entries, we have four finalists in the 2021 Female Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award.
The winner of this award will be included in the 2022 Women’s Leadership Program run by Leadership Victoria, one of our Founding Partners and sponsor of this prestigious award.
The fab four come from different LGA’s across Gippsland: starting with an agronomist in the East, an artisan goods maker in the Baw Baw Shire, a dairy products entrepreneur in South Gippsland and a native foods farm and cafe owner on the Bass Coast.
Let’s meet the ladies !
About Alex
Alexandra Keith - Bulmer Farms
A Graduate with 1st class honours in a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from the University of Sydney, Alex ( short for Alexandra) Keith has been an agronomist at Bulmer Farms since 2015, where she has learnt most of her vegetable growing and industry knowledge. She actively networks and collaborates with industry partners, mentors and other leaders not just to further her own career, but also to support the industry she loves to be a part of.
Alex was a participant in the 2017 Growing Leaders Program which provided an excellent foundation for developing leadership attributes and networking with the wider industry, whilst in 2020, she completed the Masterclass in Horticultural Business to further her capabilities in the industry.
In her own quiet, determined way, Alex Keith is inspiring women in Gippsland to think outside of the box for their careers and follow their passion and she leads the way in this once male dominated industry. Her profile and give back generosity to the industry is fostering career pathways for other young women in agribusiness. One of the many contributions Alex makes is mentoring and supervision of new starters, university students and work experience students at Bulmer Farms to maximise their opportunities in getting to know the horticulture industry.
About Laura
Laura Eddington from Little Bumble Reusable Food Wraps considers her biggest achievement to date to be the incredible team she calls her Little Bumble family. From the early days making wraps of the kitchen bench in Laura’s home in Gippsland’s Baw Baw Shire to a commercial premises in Warragul with a team of 9, this sustainable start up is kicking goals in the production of a naturally antibacterial, breathable and reusable beeswax food wrap range.
Laura- Little Bumble Wraps
Laura is proud to lead her team, learning from them and developing her leadership skills with them every day, recognising that every person has a different but important role to play. She encourages everyone to think outside of the box, come up with ideas for business growth, take ownership of those ideas and help foster them. Whilst she might be the Queen Bee, she firmly believes the success of Little Bumble is not hers to claim alone, rather she says it is the amazing collection of work from her team along with guidance from their customers and the community as a whole.
Laura loves that her business is helping families fight food waste, save money and reduce plastic pollution. She and her team are passionate about educating their customers to celebrate and respect Gippsland’s fresh produce, eat seasonally and be intentional with their food choices.
The Little Bumble team are leading the way by providing recipes and advice to customers on how to use the wraps to allow food to be consumed before spoiling, knowing that less food waste means a reduction in greenhouse gas, which helps improve Gippsland’s environment.
About Shelley
The Walker family identified a number of years ago the need to diversify from reliance on traditional dairy industry income streams and find ways for raw dairy products to be the foundation for an innovative, beneficial and financially rewarding product range, reducing their exposure to the volatility of the farm gate prices paid by the large processors.
Shelley took on the role of Marketing Director in the dual family business South Gippsland Dairy ( the brand and business created by the Walker and Evans families ) knowing they were creating something unique and valuable to both domestic and international markets where the trust in the start up brand was reliant on having real people to relate to, who are able to tell the story of where the product comes from and engage customers in that story.
Shelley has led the way in this position and taken responsibility for all public facing engagement right from the start. Her presence and the way she is able to explain the benefits of colostrum has been a crucial element in both the growth of the business and belief in the brand and its products.
Shelley - South Gippsland Dairy
She is determined to demonstrate to Gippsland women of all ages who might feel stuck in traditional roles ( like the “Dairy Farmer’s wife”) that anything is possible with the right attitude and planning. She takes great pride in the fact that the South Gippsland Dairy business is generating an additional income stream for some of the region’s smaller scale dairy farmers, income that might fund some off farm activities or purchases that they might not ordinarily have budget for or spoil themselves with.
Shelley trusts that this additional income from colostrum and what it affords a dairy farming family could be a very important contributor to mental health.
She continues to be an ambassador for the Gippsland region, promoting the region as a place where quality products are created from pure natural resources.
About Jude
As the owner of the Wild Food Farm and Cafe, Jude Mayall has engaged with many local businesses throughout Gippsland, keen to collaborate on events, purchase local ingredients, food and wine, and engage local musical talent for her venue in Rhyll on Phillip Island. She sees the Wild Food Farm being part of the local community and believes working with as many local producers as possible is an important part of “being part of the community”.
Jude Mayall - Wild Food Farm
With an involvement in the native food industry that goes back nearly 20 years, Jude is passionate about what she does and is always happy to share her knowledge and teach the younger generations about native food - her work in this space has resulted in her work on an educational series with local schools now becoming part of the curriculum for Australian native food.
Jude works with farmers, growers, wild harvesters and indigenous communities across rural and remote areas and she has an ongoing commitment to sustainability and education, working with local schools, groups, chefs and home cooks. In the Wild Food Farm, she has created a destination that allows people from all locations and all walks of life to engage in the growing process from the grass roots through to enjoying the final product as ingredients on the cafe menu.
Jude opens her farm regularly to groups of school students for tours and educational talks about the job opportunities available in hospitality, tourism and horticulture, using the example of her small scale growing operation as a starting point. her warm welcome and naturally engaging personality encourages people to ask more, see more and do more when on site.
