The value of Community means more to Cater Care than just engaging with the immediate communities in which we operate; it means supporting, empowering and forming lasting relationships with them.
In doing this, we are guided by our values of Care, Pride and Community, and a genuine desire to continue to support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in which we work.
We have always valued a culture of diversity and respect, both within the company’s suppliers and team members as well as the clients and communities that we serve. We’ve always felt it is important to help drive engagement with Indigenous Australian owned businesses in partnerships that provide Cater Care with a quality service while allowing us a chance to reinvest in communities. Kevin Alley, our Indigenous Participation Manager, said:
“Over the next two years, my focus is to drive positive contributions to improve on what we do now, and implement new strategies to source, employ, train, and retain Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.”
Cater Care’s support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities includes education, employment and business opportunities, with acknowledgement of the past and a focus on working together. As a result, Cater Care continues to build strong ties with a range of Indigenous Australian businesses and local suppliers across our sites.
One of our most robust partnerships is with Abundance Produce, one of the largest Aboriginal owned produce companies in Australia. This partnership with Cater Care guarantees a steady supply of quality produce while ensuring employment and a reinvestment of profit into remote communities.
We also partner with smaller regional suppliers such as Waddi Springs Indigenous Beverages to ensure a diverse and flexible supply chain. These partnerships also support our clients in their own business endeavours, with Cater Care Retail and the Waddi Group opening a Waddi Specialty Coffee outlet in Cairns Airport.
As part of Cater Care’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) commitment to increasing our spend with Indigenous Australian businesses, we have supported Supply Nation as a registered member since 2015. Supply Nation is the peak body for Indigenous Australian businesses, assisting them to grow their businesses and network with new business partners. Working with an organisation such as Supply Nation supports access to a unique supply chain of locally and sustainably sourced products across the nation.
Across all our suppliers, both local and nationwide, Cater Care achieved a total spend in excess of $5,000,000 towards Indigenous Australian owned businesses in FY2022 – a substantial increase from 2021.
However, Cater Care understands that empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples cannot be achieved through purely financial means, therefore we also maintain a commitment to raising cultural awareness. National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week is a culturally important event in the calendar for all Australians and we are honoured to take part.
This year saw record high levels for our engagement with 189 sites taking an active part in NAIDOC Week activities – more than an 80% participation rate. Each site’s NAIDOC Week featured activities individual to the site, but all focused on respectful acknowledgement of culture, and featured a menu rich in native Australian ingredients and flavours.
Showcasing native Australian cuisine continues outside of NAIDOC Week, with our education catering brand gather. by Cater Care and our RISE healthy eating initiative making frequent use of traditional ingredients to ensure a varied, healthy diet for all our customers.
We continue to reflect on the steps our current RAP has taken to help close the gap, as well as the steps ahead. Cater Care looks forward to continuing to engage with First Nations businesses and communities with our next RAP.
If you’re interested in learning more about our commitment to Reconciliation, please visit the Cater Care website and view our current Reconciliation Action Plan.
