‘Be careful what you water your dreams with… Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.’ - Lao Tzu, Chinese Taoist philosopher

Ron Newchurch at work in the garden of his Port Victoria property on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula.

At two o’clock each morning, the mini metropolis that is the Adelaide Produce Market experiences its own version of rush hour. As South Australia’s main fruit and vegetable distribution centre, around 185,000 tonnes of produce (with an estimated wholesale value of $600 million) pass through its system each year, with more than 1500 traders doing business within the facility each day.

In 2005, Narungga man Ron Newchurch negotiated his way through the chaos of the market’s boom gates, trucks, forklifts and stalls, seeking an outlet for the herbs and vegetables he was growing on his Yorke Peninsula property. Carrying a few small boxes of produce, Ron remembers feeling overwhelmed and out of place but, having driven through the night to reach the market, was determined to try and gain a foothold in the local industry.  ‘I was embarrassed’, said Ron, ‘but I had nothing to lose. And it’s just fortunate that I ran into these two people, Juliet and Nigel, who said they would have a look at my stuff’.

‘Juliet and Nigel’ are Juliet Giangregorio and Nigel Tripodi, owners of Rainbow Fresh Direct, a family owned business that grows and supplies produce for the South Australian market. The couple agreed to trial Ron’s produce and for three months he made numerous round trips from the Yorke Peninsula to Adelaide to make deliveries.  ‘I wasn’t making any money’, said Ron, ‘because I would spend it on petrol. But I was trying to build up my reputation as a grower, and they were testing my commitment. And after three months the orders and the business we were doing started getting bigger’.

Today, the Newchurch family and the owners of Rainbow Fresh Direct have formed a strong friendship and strategic business relationship that is built on trust and mutual respect. Central to their relationship is a shared vision to cultivate opportunities for more Indigenous families and communities in the South Australian region to achieve economic independence.

Doing the groundwork

(L:R) Ron, Kirk and Liz Newchurch check the quality of herbs headed for the Adelaide Produce Market.

Ron’s own opportunity had occurred when his family secured an extended lease on their Yorke Peninsula property. Despite warnings from horticultural specialists that nothing would grow on the arid coastal property, the family established a native foods market garden, Bookyana Enterprises. Ron said: ‘We wanted to stay on this land, and so did our son Kirk. I’ve always been passionate about growing things, but had never been given those sorts of opportunities. So when we were given an opportunity to have a go at it, and make a living out of it, well we took it’.

With the help of extended family, Ron and Liz turned and nurtured the arid soil, installed irrigation systems, and constructed wind breaks to protect their crops from the coastal elements.

With a loan provided through IBA’s Business Development and Assistance Program they purchased a delivery van, and installed a commercial water tank. However, the fledgling Australian native foods industry proved a difficult one in which to gain a foothold, and after two years Bookyana changed its focus. ‘We needed cash flow’, said Ron, ‘so we switched to growing commercial herbs and vegetables. Now we are getting bulk orders; we pick it, wash it, pack it and away it goes – quick turnover. We know this land, we rotate our growing and we know what works. And we have become successful at that’.

Taking root

Ron believes that keeping Bookyana at a manageable size has contributed to its success. He said: ‘We could go two or four times bigger, but we have kept it this size for now because we make enough money off what we do. I believe if you work hard at managing what you have, then success follows you’.

From IBA’s network of business consultants, the family chose David Muller who has extensive experience in working with local Indigenous communities, and within the South Australian food and primary production sectors.

David has provided ongoing strategic business support and mentoring, and attributes Bookyana’s success to a continual review of goals and resources. He said: ‘We’ve rewritten the business plan twice, and we have a monthly reporting and accounting structure in place. I’m also a sounding board for Ron – we’ve had a lot of coffees here in Adelaide! Ron’s pretty grounded, but he’s also a visionary. He has some good ideas that we bounce around. The casual approach to a formal process seems to work well. I try and put some process around his ideas as well as helping at the strategic level: so if you want to achieve ‘this’, what’s the framework to get you there? Have you got the human capacity, the financial capacity, and how much of yourself have you got to give to it?’

Juliet Giangregorio believes the Newchurch family’s persistence, hard work and willingness to learn sets them apart. She said: ‘The most important thing in any business is your networks, and developing strong and loyal relationships built on trust and honesty. Bookyana have always been open to taking on our feedback about their produce and they have a willingness to improve. That can be difficult for growers, especially those that have been doing it for many years, but the Newchurch family will listen, observe and try‘.

Of the family’s approach to taking on such feedback Ron said: ‘It took a while – it was trial and error, and we threw a lot of stuff out in the beginning. But we had to get ourselves right, get our business right. Because we love where we live, and what we do here, and having family around and working together in the fields. And now that we have this right, we can take ourselves out to help others’.

Transplanting the knowledge

Ron Newchurch directing work at the Burrandies Aboriginal Corporation, Mount Gambier. Image courtesy of David Muller.

Ron was approached in 2008 by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) to provide training in market gardening  to other South Australian Indigenous families and communities, with a view to creating a local growers network. ‘There’s plenty of land and plenty of water down here’, said Ron, ‘but what’s not around is the training and employment. So I was keen to give it a shot. My job is to go around communities, both my own and then Mount Gambier and the west coast. And I work with communities and design the plots, design the irrigation and teach them all the skills, like the time to plant, how to package it all and the process of getting food to market in quality condition’.

Through his partnership with Rainbow Fresh Direct, Ron has been able to provide the Indigenous growers network with a guaranteed outlet for its produce. And in extending their supply relationship to the network, Juliet and Nigel have been able to guarantee their own access to quality produce, particularly seasonal herbs and vegetables that thrive in the cooler temperatures of the regional areas. Juliet says her family’s involvement in the initiative also provides great personal satisfaction. She said: ‘It is refreshing to be involved in any venture Ron embarks on, as he has so much passion and drive. He is genuinely committed to whatever he is involved in’.

Of Ron’s involvement in building the growers network David Muller said: ‘DEEWR would be hard pressed to find someone else who can go out there and do these things, because Ron has the standing and credibility. He’s very strong in his connections to the Indigenous communities. And it’s not easy for someone to go into new country. There’s plenty of people around who know how to establish and grow a market garden, but to be able to relate to community is different’.

Ron says he finds satisfaction is the gradual and systemic change he witnesses around him. He said: ‘We’re talking about people who haven’t had opportunities or choices. And they’re grabbing onto this and saying we want to be part of it. I can teach skills that get them working with the earth, creating strong family ties and communities. And you see such big changes in people. I see these families and communities working from six in the morning until seven at night. And then their faces when that first lot of produce goes off to market… What makes me feel good is knowing that, because of my business, ten or more families and communities across South Australia are reaping the same benefits I am reaping‘.

Plotting a better future

‘I’m always watching and learning’, said Ron. ‘I’m always thinking what can we do next, how can we do things better?’

Improving the nutrition and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians in remote communities is Ron’s next focus. Through a new initiative called Nunga Produce (‘Nunga’ being a term of self-reference for many of the Indigenous peoples of southern South Australia), Ron has again teamed up with Juliet and Nigel to supply high quality fruit and vegetables to Indigenous communities at more affordable prices. Of the new initiative Ron said: ‘This could create employment for our people in that market, too. We could bring in Nungas for the packing and forklift training. It could be Nunga worked and Nunga owned’.

In creating opportunities for his family, his own and local Indigenous communities, Ron is increasingly required to travel away from home. Son Kirk has now taken over as farm manager at Bookyana. Ron says he has found it difficult to step back from a hands-on role, but said: ‘The kids have their own ideas now. I might say I want it done my way, but I know I have to step back. My business and my family will always be my priority, but I’ve got a lot of other things I want to do as well, and I know Liz and Kirk can run the place without me’. Striding across the garden Ron suggests: ‘If I’m lucky maybe they’ll still let me drive the truck up to the produce market!’