5 minute read
STORE REVIEW: OUTBACK OASIS
Outback Oasis
In a remote community 378km north of Alice Springs sits Mirnirri Store, a small store with a big emphasis on affordability and nutrition.
-Words Thomas Oakley-Newell
LOCATED IN THE remote community of Ali Curung, 378 km north of Alice Springs, Mirnirri Store is an incredibly unique site which caters to around 350 Indigenous residents who speak the languages of Warlpiri, Warumungu, Alyawarr or Kaytete.
In 2008, the community engaged Outback Stores to manage the store that is community-owned, with a local board of directors and any profits return to the community. Outback Stores was founded in November 2006 to improve the health of Indigenous people in remote Australia by addressing nutritionrelated health problems, unreliable food supplies, and poor management practices associated with retail community stores.
It was an initiative led by the Commonwealth Government, with help from corporate retail experts who assisted in setting up the organisation in its early stages. Although Outback Stores currently manages 51 locations across remote Australia, a large number of remote stores are independently run and so do not have the same focus on nutrition and affordability.
Most remote Indigenous communities only have one store, with the next one sometimes hundreds of kilometres away. Ali Curung has just one grocery store and one privately-owned bakery, also selling a few pantry items.
The difference at Mirnirri Store is there is a much larger range of groceries and fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as takeaway food options. Another major difference is that store profits are returned to the community and utilised for activities such as sports carnivals, music equipment, and funeral expenses.
Outback offering
Crissy Cooper is the co-manager of Mirnirri Store, working alongside her husband, Joe Cooper. Originally from the Philippines, she has been living in Australia since 2013 and already had two years’ experience working in remote communities before starting with Outback Stores a year ago.
With Mirnirri Store being managed by Outback Stores, it has a greater emphasis on affordability and nutrition compared to independent stores. For example, you won’t find any food deep-fried in oil, with air-fryers used instead. Full-sugar soft drink can only be bought in small bottles and is also priced higher than diet soft-drink. Cold bottled water is located at the front of the store, with soft drink found towards the back. Neither will you find confectionery sold at the front of the store, like it is in most convenience stores.
The store’s availability of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as the pricing, is better than most competitors, because Outback Stores’ pricing policy considers and promotes mechanisms to keep healthy product prices as low as possible. The company is focused on improving affordability of healthy food, with fruit and vegetable prices maintained as close as possible to major metropolitan retailers.
“We want to give good service and healthy food to our customers,” says Cooper, who regularly assembles promotions including healthy food items at reduced prices.
To encourage sales of certain items, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, Cooper took the initiative of creating promotions including a variety of useful items at special prices.
Frozen kangaroo tails are a very popular item sold in remote Indigenous communities, so naturally Cooper included them in her promotions. But to Crissy’s surprise, a photo she shared of some happy customers with their kangaroo tail caught the attention on Facebook of people all around the country, and even overseas, receiving the highest engagement of any social media post by Outback Stores, with almost 3,000 people liking the post and 137 people commenting.
“I’m so happy that they really like the kangaroo tail promotion. And even people on the internet loved them!” says Cooper, who was shocked to discover that the social media post had attracted so much attention.
Cooper repeats the promotion every so often, changing them slightly each time. But the ones with kangaroo tails are always the most popular sellers.
“People will tell me ‘Crissy, we miss your promotion with the kangaroo tails!’ It makes them happy; they really love it.”
Cooper also makes sure there is always fresh fruit salad and other healthy snacks offered in the takeaway, as well as nutritious school lunches.
We love to see community leaders taking action to improve health outcomes and are always keen to assist in implementing the measures they choose.
- Anna Murison, Health and Nutrition Manager, Outback Stores.
“We love to see community leaders taking action to improve health outcomes and are always keen to assist in implementing the measures they choose,” said Anna Murison, Health and Nutrition Manager for Outback Stores.
Logistical challenges
The remote location of Ali Curung brings many logistical challenges, with the closest town a twohour drive to Tennant Creek. It is not uncommon for remote communities to be inaccessible by road for weeks or even months during the wet season.
Stock is often required to be flown in by light plane or helicopter during this time. Despite this, the range and quality of fresh fruit, vegetables and other healthy staples remains at a consistently high standard all year round, thanks to Outback Stores’ extensive experience in this arena.
Working in a cross-cultural environment where values, obligations, and priorities differ can present many challenges. Communities have comparatively small populations and can be very transient in nature. Seasonal weather, along with cultural commitments can lead to significant population shifts.
In general, suppliers have collaboratively worked with Mirnirri Store and have ensured a consistent supply of goods over the years. One of the key challenges remaining is closing the gap between the pricing of mainstream retailers and remote stores.
