It takes a village
In order to deliver the freshest tea to our customers around the country, Nerada has always prided itself in employing local staff and supporting Queensland businesses, from sole traders to major companies.
The term ‘it takes a village’ is said to originate from an African or Native American saying: ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. And, while we don’t think of Nerada tea products as ‘children’ exactly, we certainly believe that it takes a proverbial village to cultivate, create, pack and deliver our range of teas to our loyal customers.
At this unique time in Australia’s history, when everyone is pulling together with so much goodwill, we wanted to acknowledge some of our local heroes doing the same for Nerada.
Tools of the trade – repairs, spares and maintenance
Even before the invention and adaptation of purpose-built tea-harvesting machinery by the pioneering Bill Benson in the mid-1980s, Nerada relied on Australian ingenuity and a ‘can do’ attitude to get the job done. Nowadays, that job is done by a multitude of local contractors large and small, including Tableland Toolmaking and Supplies (a great partner for over 20 years), Des Brennan Electrical (contracting to Nerada for over 25 years), and Eacham Hardware in Malanda – just a handful among the various enterprises too numerous to list here.
On the road – transport and distribution
Of course, we couldn’t distribute our products or access essential parts and supplies without companies such as Abdy Transport (supplying Nerada for 30 years), or Long and Ward, based in Malanda. Our bulk bags of tea are hauled from the Atherton Tablelands to Brisbane for packing by Australia’s largest privately owned transport company, Linfox. As for Jim Nielsen, who runs his independent courier service out of Malanda – well, we can’t praise him highly enough. According to Bev Poyner, plantation director Tony’s wife and the powerhouse behind our Tea Room, “Nothing is ever a problem for Jim – he’s just a guy who can’t say no!”
And even when we’re keeping ourselves on the road, we always try to support the local community – so here’s cheers to Central Tyre Service Malanda, Wrights Trucks & Trailer Parts in Cairns, as well as S&K Civil Contracting in Atherton for helping to keep our roads upgraded!
Out of the box – packaging, printing and PPE
From designing and making our tea packets (including supplying the glue to hold them together), to keeping our staff and customers protected, Nerada is looked after by Queensland locals.
Bev reckons Mark Peace, of CREATE Design in Cairns is outstanding: “He takes my ideas and turns them into something spectacular.”
And then there are our mates Andrew and Andrea of Brisbane’s family-owned Platypus Print Packaging. And that glue is supplied by another Brisbane family business, ABC Adhesives, where Chris has stuck with us (sorry!) through thick and thin. Our tags and envelopes also come out of Brisbane, from QLM Label Makers, where Tom and Nikki take care of all Nerada’s needs. And shout outs also go to the guys – particularly Onoke and David – at Azapak, another long-standing Brisbane family business, as well as Alexandra, who looks after us at Signet.
On the shelf – Distribution and merchandising
When you get to the supermarket or small grocery shop and our tea is waiting there just for you, we have our distributors and “merchies” to thank. We’ve been working with Queenslanders Royal Foods for almost twenty years. Jessie and her team do a great job of getting our tea onto the shelves of the independent grocery stores. Based in Brisbane they distribute Nerada in Queensland, as well as Victoria.
According to Brenden Minehan, our Sales and Marketing Manager, when it comes to the supermarkets, the merchandising team from Master Brokers in Brisbane are the business. “Master Brokers are owned by Anthony and John. Their experience, as well as their retail army of merchies, has been invaluable over the years. What they don’t know about the supermarkets is not worth knowing”.
These are just a handful of around 90 different companies, large and small, that Nerada is proud to work alongside. So, now you know that with every cup of Nerada you drink, you’re supporting a whole network of Australian businesses. Definitely cause for a celebration – perhaps with a cup of our finest Australian-grown black tea!