My Berries supports Moreton Bay Regional Council’s new economic initiative

By Allison McGruddy

What a fantastic start to the year we’ve had. First up our collaboration with Arnott’s came to fruition with the launch of the Moreton Bay Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Tim Tam, then, in early February we championed Moreton Bay Regional Council’s (MBRC) launch of its Regional Economic Development Strategy (REDS). The event was held at the Eatons Hill Hotel where Stuart and I were invited onto the stage as panellists alongside some of the brightest minds within our region to outline our goals for economic growth for 2021-2041 and how that corresponds to the REDS. Mayor Peter Flannery led us through the council’s ambitious project identifying its four major areas of focus: Advanced Manufacturing; Tourism Sport and Major Events; Knowledge, Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and, most importantly for us - Food and Agribusiness.

MBRC are aiming high with plans to build a $40 billion economy, create 100,000 jobs and attract 16,000 new businesses to the area by 2041. They’ll do this by focusing on supporting high value adding industries, exports and innovation, supporting existing businesses, and, ultimately attract new investment into our region. You can read more about it here.

For those of you who have been following our journey, you’ll know how passionate we are about our local area and creating a safe and sustainable food product that we can share throughout Australia and overseas (for those of you new to My Berries, check out our story here).

We live in beautiful Moreton Bay where the weather is near perfect all year round and we’re a hop, skip and a jump away from some of the most pristine beaches and wonderful, lush hinterland in Queensland. It’s good for berries too and means that our local farmers can grow an abundance of fruit all year round. I was in my element when I spoke about this on stage. I’m sure Stuart wondered if he’d ever get a word in edgeways, to explain that this is why we do what we do and why we’re so excited to be such an integral part of the REDS and our region’s growth and development.

As a growing and relatively new Aussie Grown frozen fruit industry, we’ve come a long way in the last few years and we’re very excited to continue our development in 2021 and beyond. We will continue and build on our partnerships with other Australian food and beverage manufacturers such as Arnott’s, Nutradry and Beerenberg Farm and maintain our commitment to developing new value-added products to our brand.

Along with receiving the Churchill Fellowship Award in 2020 we are highly motivated to research and introduce new automation to increase throughputs to meet the demands of manufacturers and retail outlets both here and overseas. My Berries is committed to increasing employment and training opportunities for current and new staff members, thus getting behind the REDS vision to tackle the 16.8% youth unemployment rate within our region.

It’s a busy and exciting time and we can’t wait to see what the next twenty years holds for us and our community. Thank you, Moreton Bay Regional Council, for allowing us to be a part of the REDS launch.

#teammoretonbay