Be the Change Conversations with Lisa Wain from Jerakala

BE THE CHANGE CONVERSATIONS with Lisa Wain from Jerakala Beef

MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Business Matters and Life Matters caught up with Lisa Wain at the Big Top in Maroochydore, where she and husband Jasen recently opened their business, Jerakala Beef. We found Lisa and Jasen to be truly inspirational, as they are not only making things happen for themselves, but are also being the change within their industry.

Tell us about your journey so far? I’ve certainly done my fair share of jobs over time, from admin work when I left school to cleaning houses when I had my babies. I’ve poured beers and managed pokie machines, and done accounting, small business consulting and economic development consulting. But I’ve also been involved in farming and butchery plus a fair bit of retail since the age of 15 when my mum bought a small corner store.

We hear there’s a big trip on the cards? I’ve travelled a little bit for work and been to the Gulf fishing with the family a couple of times but I’ve never been out of Australia. But that’s about to change in December. India, here I come!

Tell us a little about Jasen? Jasen is a fifth generation beef cattle farmer, born and bred in Queensland. He has always lived in Mundubbera. He has been involved with cattle farming his whole life and also spent 15 years developing The Golden Mile Orchards for Australian Food and Fibre, among many other things. Property development is his thing!

Tell us how Jerakala began? We bought our first small cattle property of 250 acres in 1997 and that’s when we started the Jerakala Foundation. Jasen already had a lease on some state forest country where he ran a few breeders and we grew from there. We now have over 22,000 acres and run around 800 head of cattle.

What are you doing within your industry to BE THE CHANGE? Understanding that traditional agriculture on a property of our size was simply not viable, we have significantly diversified and value-added to our enterprise over the past few years.

Four years ago we moved a house onto one of our properties and spent a year renovating it into a gorgeous little bed and breakfast business. Then, two years ago, we purchased a small abattoir and butchery 40 kilometres up the road in Eidsvold to close the supply chain.

Wow, you’re working very hard! What is your goal? Our goal is to grow the foundation so that it can sustain (and pay) us, as well as our three children. And now we have a grandchild, I guess we had better keep going so that we can sustain our grandchildren over the longer term, too! It’s about planning for the next 100 years, rather than just the next five.

Tell us a little about the Freshfood Markets and your shop in there? One of our strategies for growing the meat retail side of the business was to sell through farmers’ markets. We tried for almost two years to get into an existing farmers’ market within 300 to 400 kilometres, without much luck. Shane Stanley’s Noosa Farmers’ Market was number one on my list and through my persistent following up, they offered us the opportunity to open a stall at the refurbished Big Top in Maroochydore.

And how is it all going? We are in four different farmers’ markets and experiencing substantial growth because of this. It’s scary and exciting at the same time!

How important is it for our local economy for the community to support the markets? The Shane Stanley Farmers’ Market at the Big Top is the first of its kind in Australia. Never before has a traditional farmers’ market been integrated with a modern retail environment, as it has at the Big Top. Farmers are basically selling produce direct from their farms outside the doors of Woolworths.

It’s a fantastic opportunity for us farmers to get in front of people who may not normally shop at farmers’ markets and to become price-makers instead of pricetakers. This, in turn, is great for the local economy with stall holders employing people to help out on market day. The markets also provide another reason for visitors to spend some of their travel dollars locally.

What will community support achieve? With support from the community the Big Top Farmers’ Markets will continue to grow and be something that other regions are jealous of.

What is your number one point of difference? Family owned and operated, Jerakala Beef is one of only a few closed supply chains of its kind in Australia. We breed, grow, process, value-add, and retail our own beef. While we do employ a couple of locals, we have one of our own family members involved in every step of the process.

Why do people buy from you? We are the real deal when we it comes to ‘paddock to plate’. We are the farmer and we are the people serving you at the farmers’ market. We can intimately answer your questions and we know exactly where the produce has come from, how it was raised and how it was processed.

What do you love about what you do? I love that as a husband and wife team we have been able to couple my passion for small business and his passion for farming and property development to create a solid foundation for the future generation of our family. Jerakala is made up of two words - jera, being a viking symbol for ‘harvest’ and kala - being Celtic for ‘destiny’ so basically we are harvesting our destiny.

What are some of the challenges? Well, other than droughts and floods I would say our biggest challenge is people and communication. We are nothing without the people around us working as a team toward a common goal. Employing people is one of the most challenging aspects of growing any business and it is even more complex when over half

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of the team are family members. It is also one of the more rewarding aspects though. I am proud of the young adults my children have grown into and I look forward to working with them for the rest of my life - after all, they will be funding my retirement eventually!

What opportunities are ahead for you? The beef industry is currently experiencing a massive upturn and record prices with a strong long term outlook. Fortunately we are in a great position to finally reap the rewards of our decades of hard work. Since opening our stall in the Big Top, we have been invited to take our produce to three other markets and we are now selling at Hervey Bay Pier UP Markets, North Lakes Markets and the first week in July will be a regular at the Noosa Farmers’ Markets. This is keeping us pretty busy at the moment. e

JERAKALA FARM, 20024 Burnett Hwy, Mundubbera Phone (07) 4165 4909, www.jerakala.com.au

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